A succulent, sun-warmed strawberry; a sweet, ripe pear dripping juice down your chin; a crisp, rosy apple fresh from the tree – all it takes to grow fruit is a finely tuned set of taste buds, and a little care.
Fruit trees and bushes can be beautiful in their own right – apple blossoms in spring, fruit-laden trees in autumn. The gleam of golden raspberries and the translucent globes of gooseberries. A feast for the eye as well as the stomach. The fruits we recommend here are all on our “easy” list -those that you can grow with a minimum of fuss to produce maximum crops. Have a try. It’s tremendously satisfying.
Growing success
Most fruit needs a sunny location, though raspberries, currants, and gooseberries will tolerate some shade.
Bearing fruit year after year is hard on plants, so give them the best possible start by enriching the soil with generous quantities of well-rotted manure or other organic material.
Place container-grown fruit at the same level in the ground as it was in the pot, and bare-root plants (available in the dormant season) with the junction of stem and roots just below the soil level (there will be a dark soil mark to guide you), spreading the roots as wide as possible.
Water plants regularly during their first summer; in future years, tree fruits benefit greatly from a thorough watering during prolonged dry spells. Feed with a high- potassium fertilizer such as rose food in spring and add a mulch of organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure to keep the soil in good condition.
Pruning varies according to the type of fruit, and we have advocated the simplest possible methods for each one. One important tip – always cut just above an outward facing side shoot or bud. If you grow and take care of your fruit, serious problems are unlikely.
Some restorers prefer to use glaze that requires firing (reheating, which is potentially damaging to the object). This cure (sets) by the addition of a small amount of hardener. Clear glaze can be used as a finishing layer over designs painted manually. You can buy the glaze from most hardware stores ¡ª they also stock an accompanying thinner for cleaning brushes.
Most of us never have the nerve or opportunity to find out about the soil before we move into a house. It is usually a matter of trusting general impressions and discovering the reality of sand, clay, or rich loam after we move in. Most real estate agents do not take kindly to prospective buyers turning up to view a house with a spade under one arm. But a quick look at the soil can tell you so much.
