Sometimes, things have just gone too far into wrack and ruin to save… like overdone pasta, my post- Christmas body, and also some of the fruit trees in my garden.
We have been incredibly lucky to inherit a mature, thoroughly planted garden, not least because I really wouldn’t know where to start. Unfortunately, due to neglect in the few years before we bought it, there are areas of the garden that lend themselves to the phrase ‘wrack and ruin’. There are overgrown pear trees, unhappy damsons, and straggly apple trees. With the oversight of my mother, some pruning have been done (Yep, I’ve been allowed to be in charge of a blade up a tree!) but it is slow progress, and some diseased trees have just had to go. Hopefully like my Christmas belly will over January.
So, what to replace them with? We had an awkward round lawn to the side of the house that was sheltered but not sunny enough to be anything useful, so we have decided to helpfully plant a range of fruit trees all together – our own mini orchard, saving time and my arms. We found a fabulous website that sells old Welsh varieties – old pears found on Snowdonia from 1860, Denbigh plums and apples used to make beautiful ciders from midwales. I think my favourite name is ‘Cariad’ Cherry but I am most looking forward to making juice with Pig Aderyn apples – they sound delicious, and will get munched as well as drunk, I am sure.
It is now just a matter of waiting for the trees to grow - and making sure the pesky rabbits don’t eat them. I can’t wait to eat varieties that have been around in Wales for hundreds of years, and that have been cultivated for our dank, soggy climes. A whole range of preserves awaits!
* Pig Aderyn = Bird’s beak resembling the top of the apple
* Croen Mochyn = Pig Skin named for its rough russet skin