A Fruitless Endeavour

I was doing a quick assessment of how the fruit has done in the garden this year.  It has been dreadful and I’m just hoping that having had to put so little effort into fruiting this year they are all set up for a fantastic performance next year!

• Apples – none, not a single solitary one – we just didn’t have the right conditions for fruit to set.
• Apricots – none, good fruit set but then the weather was so bad that the fruit rotted before it could ripen.
• Strawberries – a handful, the rest were eaten by slugs or went mildewy in the rain.
• Raspberries – none so far and entirely my fault – I had propped up a coldframe cover next to them and it blew over in a gale and squashed the plants.  There is reason for some optimism though as they have recovered and are setting fruit which may ripen if the weather gods take pity on me.
• Quince – very few fruit set this year – may get ten or so.
• Mulberries – there are some ripening, but the blackbirds and thrushes have discovered them – and who can blame them.
• Figs – Two trees no figs, one tree about twenty.
• Cultivated blackberries – reasonable crop, but tending to go mildewy.
• Grapes – very poor sparse bunches, really rather pathetic, particularly when compared to previous grape crops.