From blossoms to ripe delicious cherries in less than two months. The top photo was taken at Easter and on Saturday we had our first cherry harvest since we planted the tree eight years ago.
I remember my mum jokingly asking me to bring my own baskets to the first "harvest." The first year the tree produced only three cherries. Eight years later it's more like 20 to 30 kilos. Not bad.
Yummy.
Our walnut tree is also getting taller and taller every year, bestowing us with delicious walnuts. I picked some green walnuts for my cousin who is going to make walnut liqueur with schnaps.
I´m not quite sure, but I have a feeling, that cherry trees over here are mainly for decoration. Plum trees, I remember from my childhood. My grandparents were interested in gardening, even to the extent, that my grandfather sold strawberries to the marketplace in Hki ( short for Helsinki ).
ReplyDeleteMy maternal grandfather was my idol. He died too early. I was about 14 at the time.
Mette: It's pretty much the same in Slovenia. I remember driving through the country for All Saints' day and passing a property with a majestic apple tree standing on the slope. All the apples have fallen off and were lying on the ground. It was a visually striking image of an otherwise barren landscape with red and yellow apples everywhere. An image of wasteful opulence as mum put it.
ReplyDeleteIt's ridiculous, but people would rather buy fruit than pick their own trees.
I'm so sorry to hear about your grandfather. It's always unfair when good people die young.
As a child I remember the orchards of Kent having acres of cherries,and the cherry pickers had great fun picking & bringing picnics for their lunches,now most of these have disappeared due to the cost of labour,and we important them instead!!
ReplyDeleteI still manage find a few in the farmer's markets but very expensive.
How wonderful to grow your own walnuts,my HB brought back some last year from Bulgaria a friend's garden.Ida
Ida: In Slovenia there is still a lot of arable land, but the farmers are really struggling to make ends meet. I try to support the local economy by buying straight from the farms when possible or checking the source of supply in stores. Unfortunately most of our lettuce and other vegetables come to us from Italy and we import milk from Austria. Sad times we live in. But yes, our walnut tree is spectacular, will post about it one time.
ReplyDeleteHello:
ReplyDeleteWe spend most of our time in Budapest where we are very fortunate to have wonderful markets virtually on the doorstep. We buy our fresh food daily and always local produce in season. This, of course is in direct contrast to when we are in the UK when all things are available all year round.
We love the anticipation of seasonal changes and, of course, have been enjoying cherries for some time now. We enjoy seeing the baskets of luscious fruit displayed on the open market stalls by countrywomen, often in 'national' dress.
We are delighted to have found your blog which is full of interesting posts. We shall look forward to returning.
Jane and Lance: I've been to Budapest a few years ago and I was smitten with the city, the striking architecture and the Danube river.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you popped over to my little corner of the blogosphere :-)
Our cherries are really behind in my part of the world - but there's nothing that I love more than a delicious cherry!
ReplyDeleteVanessa: Well, at least you'll be able to enjoy them when they are ripe and yummy. We've already eaten or given away all of our harvest.
ReplyDelete