September Nature Notes

by David Tidmarsh - 15:14 on 27 September 2013

Kens Nature Notes

Harvest is upon us, bumper crops of Plums and Apples abound in our group’s orchard. I sampled some plums today and they were delicious, fresh from the tree, the apples I am leaving for a few weeks more. The weight of some of the apples have even broken the branches they were growing on. We have about seven trees growing in a small section of an allotment and they are of dwarf root stock; which means they will never grow any taller than they are now, which is about five foot tall. Unfortunately some of the fruit are touching the ground and are the first to be attacked by predators.
A few years ago I failed badly in my attempt to make cider, it is probably a fairly simple system to master but I have yet to master it, so I quite enjoy just drinking the apple juice fresh from the press. It is never a clear refined drink when you first squeeze the apples it has more of a brown cloudy look but it tastes lovely.
I have yet to collect any “Conkers” but judging by the berries on the Rowan trees and the Hawthorn hedges there should be plenty about, we strung a few conkers together a couple of years ago and they seemed to keep the spiders away, but they have dried out now and are in need of renewal to fulfil their original purpose.
There is still the odd flash of colour as you walk around the paths and because these are some of the last of the singular wild flowers that have been slow to show are all the more enjoyable to behold.
Most of the crops seemed to have been gathered in now, thanks to the exceptional summer that we have had, however having been a dry season a lot of the grain may not have grown as good, thus producing smaller yields meaning less tonnage for the farmers and ultimately less cash.
Buddleia seem to have been late flowering this year but are still giving a last flush of colour, don’t think there will be many butterflies on the blooms at the moment with sunny and warm days now in short supply; Autumn seems to have suddenly started.
Spotted my only viewing of a frog last night as I was walking the dog on his late evening stroll, I am always fascinated by these creatures, last time I had a compost heap it was always covered in a heavy rubber sheet and the frogs and toads seemed to be quite happy under the rubber as they would have been in a pond.
Blackberries are at their peak at the moment, these have always been a good source of food to collect, many memories of a family day out with my mum and dad and Aunties all out with our basins collecting as much as you could carry, usually been made into lovely blackberry pies, delicious with custard. These were well before the days “foraging” was to become fashionable, happy days!
Oh for those long gone halcyon days. Ken.

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