This spring has been spectacular as far as fruit flowering has gone. The honeybees have had a steady supply of nectar and pollen, from gooseberry, blackcurrant, plum, cherry and pear through to a most prolific few days of apple blossom. Just a week ago the apple trees were a mass of pink and were buzzing with bees. Now they are all green again with the promise of lots of tiny little fruitlets. A lot of these may fall off in the "June Drop", although hereabouts the June Drop might not happen until July! If there isn't a natural thinning, there may well be far too many apples and some hand thinning later on will give a better quality of fruit. However with twelve mature apple trees, this is a huge and fiddly job and to be realistic there is not going to be time or possibly the inclination to get this done.
The honeybees - master pollinators of fruit, and with the bonus of honey too. Bumblebees also work very hard and wasps and myriad species of hoverflies will all pollinate your fruit for you
A good set on the gooseberries - and growing quickly! Spreading some chimney soot at the base of the bush seems to help prevent mildew. It is also coming up to the time of year when the dreaded gooseberry sawfly can strike, which starts off with masses of tiny little grey caterpillars which if allowed to chomp at will can completley defoliate the bush. Catching at an early stage, the tiny caterpillars can be removed while they are still clumped together on one part of the bush.
Tiny little pears look as if the late frosts didn't do too much damage, and pollination has been successful. But it is a bit too soon to think there will be a crop of pears as they may well fall off yet. This is Conference, one of the most reliable varieties for planting in the north - another more recent one is Concorde. Many of the types familiar from the shop shelves will really struggle to produce fruit in the north due to late frosts and less warmth and sunshine during the summer.
Amazing apple blossom...fingers crossed for a good crop of apples.
Coming soon - The Grape Vine goes mad, and more planting and sowing in the veggie patch.