Summer is progressing and the fruits of the season are beginning to swell and colour on Our Smallholding.  Trees and bushes are laden again this year. I have requests out for jam pots in every direction.

Every year it seems that no matter how many jars and pots we've collected over the preceding months there are never enough to preserve the abundance that July and August provide.  The most frequent item on the shopping list is sugar.

Blackcurrants

The blackcurrants have been better in other summers. They are overcrowded and overshadowed and should have been moved last autumn.  That's a priority task for October/November

Gooseberries

Like the blackcurrants, the gooseberries should have been moved last autumn but they are producing a plentiful supply of fruit which has been swelling and is waiting on the sun to sweeten.

Raspberries

No matter how well we protect the raspberries and strawberries, the birds seem to find a way to have dessert. Having fruit ripening on the canes in the evening time is no guarantee that we will have fruit the following morning.

It's the early bird... you know!

Plums

The branches on the plum tree are weighed down  again this year.   Last year we had to remove a large branch which although it was supported, had split and would allow disease to enter the tree.  Yet another large branch has split under the weight of it's fruit this year.

Apples

There will be a bumper harvest of apples again judging the the fruit that's swelling at the moment. These are a very sweet cooking apple - name long forgotten.  There are several much younger eating apple trees which are already producing a surprising amount of fruit.

Salads & Herbs

The herb rockery close to the back door had become over-run with strong grasses, creeping buttercup and dandelions to the point where it had become impossible to manage.  I covered both soil and rocks with cardboard this spring to eliminate the weed problem, the only plants left are thyme and parsley.  The parsley has been happily growing and self seeding in the herb rockery for the past six or seven years.

Most of the herbs are now moved and lemon balm, oregano and sage are happily growing among the lettuces, mizuna and nasturtiums this year.

Yet another autumn task will be to introduce more soil and rock to the herb rockery, sloping it to face the sun. A permaculture technique, it will increase soil temperatures and enable plants that like heat to thrive.  Along with the sloped elevation the rocks act as radiators to absorb, store and slowly release the sun's warmth.

Cabbages

Cabbages are ready to cut. These are a few plants from last year that were planted late.  There is a further crop of cut and come cabbage which will hopefully provide greens in late summer and autumn through to winter.

Potatoes

In a few short months since the potatoes were planted they've have closed in to exclude light from weeds below and are blossoming.  They're inter-planted with nasturtiums, marigolds, and beans.

It's not just the herbaceous plants and shrubs that produce flowers with beautiful form and colour  Aren't potato blossoms so pretty!