Having a berry good time

The berry-picking season has got off to a good start in John Stoa’s world!

The fruit-picking season has got off to a flying start with strawberries enjoying the long, sunny weather followed by a period of plentiful rainfall to make sure they never suffered from drought.

I was picking my early variety Christine from the end of May.

Other mid-season varieties as well as my everbearing autumn variety Flamenco are all bearing crops.

I just hope the season keeps going but at present it is strawberries for breakfast, lunch and a snack in the evening almost daily, and Anna makes sure there is plenty jam and scones.

There has been plenty surplus to add to the freezer to keep us going well into next year.

Mice have been a nuisance, nibbling the outer seeds off berries which then quickly rot, so action will be taken.

I know they just love a bit of blue cheese; well it will be their last meal.

Redcurrants look to be the next crop to ripen up and they also need to be netted as the local blackbird is very partial to a few.

Redcurrants are quite prolific croppers, so Anna gets plenty for the kitchen and freezer and I get my 10lbs to start off my wine-brewing season.

This will give me three demijohns to lay down after fermentation and siphoning off the lees.

I usually leave them for three years to mature before bottling up.

Blackcurrants are already very heavy with crops, so my Ben Conan, which is blessed with very large berries, had to be staked to prevent the branches laden with berries from trailing on to the soil.

Saskatoons are a favourite added to rhubarb for jam, as the berries are sweet and the rhubarb balances this with some acidity

Blackcurrant Big Ben also has very large berries with even sweeter fruit, so can be used in desserts, compote and jam, as well as wine.

Gooseberries are another fruit that is cropping at full capacity but the recent thunderstorms with torrential rain did a bit of fruit thinning.

However, there is still plenty left to swell up and ripen.

They are brilliant as compote, added to some jams and surplus put in the freezer as well as leaving me with my 10lbs for brewing.

Raspberries are still growing and as yet the fruit is still to start to colour up but again looks like another great crop, though constant watering was necessary during the dry months from April till early June.

Saskatoons are starting to colour up, so they will get netted so blackbirds cannot get access, otherwise they would strip them bare in a few days, even those berries not yet ripe.

Saskatoons are a favourite added to rhubarb for jam, as the berries are sweet and the rhubarb balances this with some acidity.

However, I need another 10lbs for my brewing programme.