Thursday, September 03, 2009

Signs of Fall and Fruit Harvest Sampler

Our family took a short trip to Las Vegas, and during those 4 days, the burning bush (Euonymus alata) started to turn red, a sure sign that Fall is approaching:
Euonymus alata (burning bush)
Although the crazy apple tree doesn't think so (see full story):
Apple in blossom and fruit
I still don't know what variety of apple my "mystery apple" tree is, but it is crisp, with quite a bit of tartness.
Apple
Some of the apples (the ones which got the most sun, I guess) are quite red:
Apple
My golden raspberries are back in fruit again:

This is poor photo, but it is curious to me that the late raspberry crop pollinator seems to be this large black wasp, which have been buzzing about the raspberries for the past few weeks:
Black wasp
My grape vines bore grapes for the first time this year, so I can finally find out what type they are. When I was given the cuttings a few years back, I happily took them, but didn't find out at the time. Well, I see now that my 3 vines are 3 different varieties of grapes.

I have a dark one, which only bore 2 bunches of fruit, and looks like it may be a wine/juice variety:
Dark grape
The most prevalent is a green one which also looks like it may be a wine/juice variety, with firm skin:
Green grape on vine
The third variety is also green, but the fruits look more delicate, like a table/eating grape, and when I sampled some today, they were already quite sweet:
Green eating grape on vine
I have room for a 4th vine, and hope to just buy a nice eating variety (or ask my neighbour who has a very sweet green one).

The espalier apple tree has borne 2 types of apples, neither of which is ready yet. If I look back, I'll see what the varieties are, but I'm too lazy at the moment. This is the "top row" apple:
Espalier apple
...and the "bottom row" apple (the "middle row" one didn't bear this year) - I love the bright red of this one!:
Espalier apples
The espalier asian pear bore a lot of fruit this year, and happily the fruit is very sweet even when small, so I have been doing some late "pruning" (sampling) of the fruit recently. Again, I am too lazy to look up the varieties, but this is the "top row" asian pear:
Espalier asian pear
...and "middle row" asian pear:
Espalier asian pear
...and "bottom row" asian pear:
Espalier asian pear
I also picked another sample of the italian plum, which is not yet ripe, but also very sweet already. And some late strawberries. And a poor Bartlett pear (one of the two this year) which fell too early. The handfuls of blackberries didn't last long enough for the photo of my little harvest from my garden walk today:
Samples of fruit
It made for a tasty treat for the kids to sample with me:
Fruits from the garden
Fall may be fast approaching, but this is a very delicious time of year in the garden, indeed.

10 comments:

  1. My wife keeps hinting for us to move out of our apartment into a place where we can have a garden. Your photos have provided me additional inspiration.

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  2. Tim - A garden is a wonderful thing, and brings a lot of joy. I hope you will make the move - all the best.

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  3. What a bounty of fruit you have. I love your espaliered fruit trees. Some fruit can be grown up here but not a great selection.

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  4. Next time you are in LV, I could meet you briefly for coffee. It would be fun. Hope you had a great time here!

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  5. Laura - Thanks for the thought - that would be fun! We didn't see everything we had hoped, in only 3 nights (2 really, after we spent 8 hrs in the Seattle airport!), but saw some great shows, including "The Lion King" at Mandalay Bay. I was surprised the kids really liked the trip, and asked if we'd go back again next year.

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  6. It is starting to look like fall here in Iowa also, the apples look good enough to eat. :)

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  7. Wow!! You are really lucky..harvest of love...

    I'm following your blog now. see you around.


    http://theurbanbalcony.blogspot.com/

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  8. Such beautiful fruits! I love the grapes. We have a vine at another house and in the four years we've owned that house the vine has never borne anything like these grapes. They look so good!!

    I noticed the giraffe below. You are most talented. I can see the giraffe for sure but really love the way you painted it. It is a real work of art.

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  9. MMMM! What a delicious harvest! What a funny coincidence, I just happened upon your blog for the first time this morning, searching for toadstools, and you left me a comment at the same exact time. How funny!!

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  10. Wow you sure do have a selection, and your photos are so professional - did you start all the tress yourself - glad to hear you found relief from your injury - peace

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