I'm back again with a gardening report, an interesting one as we're getting closer to harvesting a thing or two. In my country we (should) have 4 seasons, but lately, due to global warming I suppose, we only have three. Spring is on it's way of disappearing, summers are too hot and dry, winters are mild and we get snow and frost when it's not needed.
Last year was marked heavily by the pandemic, we got stuck in the city and started late. This year however is different and I'll show you how.
We only have currant, raspberry and gooseberry, that's the whole fruit arsenal. This year they got proper care, old branches were trimmed in time, giving room for the new ones and this is the result.
These currant branches are full of fruit, already turning red. In a month they will be ready for harvesting.
Right now we have three types, red, white and black, but only the first two are bearing fruits. These on the photo are white.
This is the black currant, a new entry as of this year. It's going to need a couple of years of growing in order to harvest fruits.
Gooseberries
These gooseberries are three years old and already look amazing. I've not seen so many fruits on one bush ever. These branches are on the ground already because it's hard for them to hold that weight. This is from the Netherlands and will be still green when ripe.
The good thing about gooseberries is that the outer peel of the fruit contains a lot of pectin, which is a thickening substance, used for jams. In this case there's no need to add extra pectin to the jam as these fruits already contain a lot, enough for the jam.
Raspberries
Raspberry is like gold to me as everyone love them and raspberry is quite expensive. If you go to the farmers market, you can buy a small amount of them for the price of 1kg of other fruit. That is the value of it. To make jam, you need a large quantity that costs a lot. I'm making a mix of raspberry and currant jam as the raspberry aroma is always dominant. Over the years i accumulated a considerable quantity of jams as we had more than we could use, that's why I started selling the excess. I'm usually gifting a good portion to relatives and friends, but even so, I've been having more that we need. This is how my jams have become famous, I've got pre-orders for them. I'm not making this for money as you can't make a fortune with what I make, but I'd like to help those who can't afford to have a garden and grow their own fruits.
This year we are very lucky to have so many fruits. We're not there yet as a month or two is still needed for the raspberry to ripe, but things are looking good. In this case again, trimming the old branches in time had a good result.
Looks at those branches full of fruits. I can't remember having so many, except for three or four years ago, when we had a record harvest. The good thing about raspberry is that it's spreading like wildfire. Basically it has no barrier, what you see here is outside the fence already. Normally this part should have been cut out but I would be a fool to do that. Yes, it doesn't looks good but who cares. This is not a show off garden, this is for a good purpose and quite many people are going to benefit from it, so let it grow.
Walnuts
Walnuts are also part of out fruit collection, but this year is not the best for them. There's a cycle they say. You have one good year and the next one will not be as good as there's a need for rest. I'm not sure if it's true, I'm just an amateur who's learning, but if it's true, there are still plenty factors to influence the evolution. Last year wasn't good either, but we still have walnuts from two years ago, still very good, so we're safe.
I don't know what's happened this year, but the neighbor has peach, pear, cherry and plum trees and there's no fruit on any of them. So I consider us very lucky to have such good year for the currants and raspberries.
Grapes
This year is not the best for grapes, we're going to have some, but not like some years in the past. I don't know what's happened, why the decrease in quantity, but it's ok as I'm going to have what I need for some jams and syrup. Wine is not the main goal here. Wine we have from previous years, which is becoming better and better. Aging vine is always good. There's always a next year, with new opportunities, so it's not the end of the wold, really.
The Purpose
All you see here is 100% organic, no chemicals are used. We've worked hard to maintain it clean and organic. The only fertilizer we use is compost made by us, using the weeds we collect from the garden and biodegradable household waste. That is what we use when growing seedlings. The other fertilizer we use is an 100% organic one, that you spray the leaves with and gives the plants the necessary nutrition. This is a certified product for organic gardening.
My main goal with this is to grow healthy fruits and vegetables, plus can as much as it is needed for winter. My jams have minimum amount of sugar and no conserving substances at all. If you go to the grocery store and look at the label of the jams, you'll see many contain 33% fruit, 33% sugar and the other 33% other added substances you have no idea what they are. You don't see that with my jams. Mine is 90 - 95% fruits and the rest is sugar.