REMEMBRANCE DAY ON THE PLOT Today, while I stood on the allotment in contemplative silence at 11am to remember heroes past and present, living and dead (including horses) I noticed a marble-sized fruit on a twiggy branch of my Discovery apple tree. Obviously confused by the unpredictable weather (this day it has been lovely and [...]
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Posts Tagged ‘apple’
11 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman REMEMBRANCE DAY ON THE PLOT
Wednesday, November 11th, 200927 October 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman EARLY AFTERNOON IN THE ORCHARD, BY THE FIRE
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009If I was to leave the fruit garden to nature it would soon be swamped by creeping buttercup and grasses. Then goodness knows what else’d come in and try to take over en route to becoming a small wood. Over the last half-dozen years I’ve carefully nurtured my collection of nuts and top fruit to [...]
Read More »19 October 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman SPREADING THE MASH
Monday, October 19th, 2009My van can smell of various things depending on the time of year and what’s been transported in the back. Right now, when you open the door, a sweet residual smell of apples perfumes your nose. That’s because I had a dozen bags of apple mashings in there over night, only unloading and barrowing them [...]
Read More »16 October 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman LAST SUNSET ON THE M25
Saturday, October 17th, 2009I had the last Sunset apple of this season whilst filtering off the M3 onto M25. I picked it out from the glove box, where it’s been since Tuesday, held it to my nose and inhaled deeply. The scent was strong, of apples, and welcome alongside the black asphalt and blue and white directional signs which [...]
Read More »7 October 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman FUN WITH AN APPLE
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009We had a little bit of fun yesterday. ‘We’ is me and my mate Jon and the fun was up in the Council Chamber at the Town Hall. What happened was that recently The Donkey Field Community Orchard was granted a 98 year lease by the Town Council who actually own the land between the [...]
Read More »19 September 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman THE TIDE OF LIFE
Saturday, September 19th, 200919 September 2009 THE TIDE OF LIFE The elderly woman has gone on. Over the seasons she loved her garden and tended it until recently with her old man. They had their phases just like the moon. He got into topiary and the box stands as homage to this. She went for flowers and [...]
Read More »31 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman COUNTING APPLES, A VIEW FROM CHERRY ORCHARD TO GUY’S MARSH AND LITTLE LONDON
Monday, August 31st, 200931 August 2009 COUNTING APPLES I managed to get out the house for gardening shortly after 2pm. It was lovely. The swirling 36-hour mist had gone on and been replaced by brilliant late-August sunshine. The weather grumblers should be pleased, although there remains a decent breeze. I’m sat beneath St James Hanging, a precipitous slope [...]
Read More »20 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman ON WALKING UP THE HILL WITH POTATOES, CONTEMPLATING EATING PLUMS
Thursday, August 20th, 200918 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman LATE SUMMER WORK IN THE FRUIT GARDEN, FIRST FIGS
Wednesday, August 19th, 200918 August 2009 LATE SUMMER WORK IN THE FRUIT GARDEN Did the first substantial clearance work amongst my fruit trees since late spring. Cut, weeded and raked beneath the canopy spread of seven year-old Worcester Permain and Sunset. Lots of apples on both. Last year I lost virtually the whole crop, literally, in amongst the [...]
Read More »14 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman THE ACCEPTABLE & UNACCEPTABLE CONSEQUENCES OF SHARING
Friday, August 14th, 200914 August 2009 THE ACCEPTABLE & UNACCEPTABLE CONSEQUENCES OF SHARING I’ve an apple called Scrumptious down at the far end of my plot. It’s a great little tree, been in six years or so. Not sure of the rootstock, but figure it must be dwarfing as it’s no taller than me and right now is [...]
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