April 2001

Our web site is now up, at http://applejournal.com/fruitwise/ This was kindly designed and hosted for us by Mike Berst at www.applejournal.com, a USA web site dedicated to the apple and small growers, well worth viewing. We should be able to post details of events and sales come harvest. Colin Mercer has also kindly put a link on the www.Botley.com site, so we have finally arrived in cyberspace (or should that be ciderspace?).

Julia has simplified the market garden this year by trying to grow fewer sorts of vegetable more efficiently. The main sorts will be broad beans, courgettes, pumpkins, French beans and mange tout peas, as these are all high-value crops for which we have steady markets, and which like our soil. The garlic is 3 inches high and growing strongly.

We’re on the last of our stored apples. Huesgen’s Golden Reinette have kept well, but are not as tasty as Suntan, a late winter apple raised from Cox and Court Pendu Plat in 1955, the year I was born. This last apple is very old, esteemed by the Elizabethans and brought to England by the Romans. The flavour is good if not outstanding, it’s main virtue is toughness- it has after all been cultivated for more than a millennium. The flavour is rich and complex, with more than a hint of pineapple. The fact that Court Pendu Plat, our oldest known apple, evidently contains genetic material that was able to breed a fantastic new apple with Cox, seems to me a very strong case for keeping the old varieties going. They are not just a link with gardeners of the past but a reservoir of irreplaceable genetic material for the future.

Here’s a recipe from Julia’s mum for a warm pudding.

Malvern pudding

Cook 250g peeled, cored and chopped apples per person, with the zest and juice of a lemon. Sweeten to taste. Place in a heatproof dish. Make proper English custard with eggs, flour and milk, when thick and cooked pour over the apple. Sprinkle a generous coating of Traidcraft Demerara sugar mixed with cinnamon powder over the top. Dot with butter and place under a hot grill until the top is melted and bubbling. Enjoy!