Eating apples and cookers in Claire Street

I remembered that in the little passage way on the side of the Bangladeshi restaurant Meghna there was a rental garden with yellow plums, green gages, cooking and eating apples.
The eating apples are sweet but with a lot of blemishes. Very good for pressing.
I went today before going to the NVS as later this afternoon a group of the NVS and Skills Exchange members will meet up to pick more eating apples at Garden Walk to then go to Victoria Road to press them all into some lovely sweet juice.

Black berries

Our annual search for black berries used to be very easy. Just down the road on Primrose Street, or St Luke's school playground,  things have changed. The builders cut down all the black berries as did the groundsman at the school and On his way to work at Coton Primary School, Thomas used to see the progress of the black berries near the motor way bridge and then tell me when it would be time to pack up and get ready for some serious picking.  This year, all changed as he stopped his job there and I had no guide on when to pick. When I came today, I picked about 2kg and turned it into delicious cordial.
Still much more to come, so expect to be back in a week's time. I was told that Histon Road recreation ground had some good berries too. Have not got time this week but will try next week.
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Cooking apples in Stretten Avenue are ready

For the moment I arrived in Cambridge, I have been able to pick the apples in this garden. When I first saw the tree, it was over hanging the road so a mess on the pavement and road as well as in the next door's garden. This house is rented out so when the apples are ready there are no students present. The owner of the tree was an old lady who had just gone into a nursing home. Her children were happy for me to harvest. I remember baking a pie for her which her son took to his mother.

He also showed me that they had an apple tree and damson tree in the back garden.

Then last year, the house was rented out and I managed to pick the apples again.

Now a family has bought the property and they too were happy for me to harvest.

These apples are cookers, no signs of grubs very good quality

The 2016 apple season has started

After a lovely open gardens walk in Garden Walk, I spotted a most beautiful apple tree in Paul and Yusuf's garden. They told me that the apples are very early (ready on the 1st August) and that they don't keep at all and taste rather 'cotton wool' like (don't know how that tastes but does't sound nice)

I asked them if I could try and press them, so a week later, armed with my apple picker and some bags I went to pick this abundance of lovely red apples.  Before starting Yusuf had baked a most delicious Hungarian cake to go with the coffee. After a lovely chat, I set to work and came back home with a large crate of sweet red apples.


The first pressing of the season was preformed in our new garden in the sunshine which resulted in some bottles for Paul and Yusuf as well as for Darren and Sarah as Maddy came to help out and learn how turn apples into juice.

Contrary to the description the boys gave me, the juice was sweet and fresh and gratefully received.