Apple Sunday

Sunday was one of those soft grey and damp days of early autumn - our garden patiently waiting for us to give it a bit of a tidy-up . . . .

so late afternoon found us collecting some more of the bumper apple crop that we have,

and there are plenty more waiting in the wings!

Any day now I'm expecting a delivery of wooden crates to store our goodies, in the meantime I've found a few cardboard boxes and have stacked them in my mini garden shed.

The overflow are outside the back door - wrapped in newspaper in an attempt to keep the blackbirds from scoffing the lot.

Some articles in the media suggest that domestic gardens have produced better fruit this year than the commercial growers. When I look at our apple trees, laden with fruit, I'd be inclined to agree.

I guess in a garden like ours (and the many others just like it) and unlike commercial mono-cultures, we have a great variety of plants including wild flowers, which means there is more food for bees and more places for them to live, encouraging a healthy population of bees to pollinate our plants.

And significantly, most of the pesticides used in agriculture, especially the systemic pesticides, are toxic to bees - so maybe our gardens will be the last refuge for these insects.

Bit of a worry, in my opinion, as we rely on them for so much - time perhaps to join the Uk Natural Beekeeping Alliance.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, time to start on the apple chutney . . . . .