Saturday 7th August 10

Woke relatively late but got going quickly and had a very busy day.

I paid a quick visit to Alligator and Country Fresh and brought back 2 full sacks from Alligator and one box from Richard. I loaded these immediately into the Compostumbler.

I was out at the front and heard our neighbour Marion doing her hedge with an electric trimmer so I went to say hello. Whilst talking to her I noticed the tree above, an ornamental Prunus of some sort, had got lots of fruits on it... the first time it's fruited since we've been here. They were like large cherries or small plums. I tried one and it was lovely, tangy and sweet. Marion had one as well, and liked it too.

So, later I got the big stepladders and picked as many as I could, and I got a tray full, at least three kilos. I then found the tree in our Roger Phillips 'Trees in Britain' book: it's a Pissard Plum, Prunus cerasifera var. atropurpurea, a dark-leaved sport of the Cherry Plum or Myrobalan. Here's a good article about this fruit tree.

Whilst I had the ladders in the front, I helped Marion by lopping some of her hedge, at the top where she couldn't reach, and I had loppers and ladders so I did it for her. I also put the ladders up against the big pine tree which I'm slowly removing. It is too close to the house, shades our front room and the roof, which wouldn't be good if I put photovoltaics on it. But I'm not removing it all in one go in case the ground swells with the increased moisture that would then not be being transpired, and puts cracks in the house walls. I removed several branches, and cleaned out the gutters too.

I then cut back the Wisteria. This is a thug... I cut it back last year before the work on our roof, and it is already up on the roof again. I was quite brutal. Our youngest helped me by holding a builders bag open so I could collect the large amount of prunings, which I'll shred tomorrow I expect.

So, a very busy day... later on I tried to prepare some of the Cherry Plums for drying but I don't think this will be the best way of preserving them. Stewing will be better.