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In
the fruit garden
Raspberries
Your raspberries will soon be ready to harvest. However, there
are other things you can do too. Excessive new canes should be
removed, to leave about 10 per metre of row. This will allow
more light to the base of the plant, and ensure that remaining
canes grow healthy and strong.
If
you have a lot of birds (especially blackbirds) in your garden,
make preparation to cover the plants. Otherwise they might enjoy
the fruits of your labour.
Strawberries
Your strawberries are now getting ripe. Set some bait for slugs
and snails. Some beer in a cup buried to the brim, usually
attracts them away from the fruit. A few hens can take care of
them too, but they can take a liking to strawberries also.
If
the weather turns wet and fruit begin to spoil, remove all the
rotten ones that may appear. This should halt the spread of the
rot, and when the rain stops, you'll have good fruit
again.
Apples
Spring has been good to most apple crops. Take a look at you
trees and see how many fruits you have. Thinning is now the
vital task, as most trees have too many fruits. A healthy two
metre (6 foot) tree should have about 50 fruits. Any more and
quality will suffer. Thin down to get this number, leaving the
largest fruits evenly spaced. If your tree is not well, consider
leaving fewer fruits, or perhaps give a liquid feed.
Recipe
Strawberry jam
-
1
kg strawberries; fresh or frozen
-
1
kg "sure-set" sugar
-
Juice
of half a lemon (optional)
-
Jam
jars, waxed discs, cellophane covers, elastic bands,
adhesive labels
1.
Hull and wash the strawberries and drain well
2.
Rub a large saucepan with a little butter or margarine
3.
Put the fruit into the saucepan and mash or crush (or use a
liquidiser). Add the lemon juice.
4.
Add the sure-set sugar and heat, stirring until it is dissolved,
then bring to the boil and boil vigorously for four
minutes.
5.
Allow to cool for a few (4-5) minutes, stir to distribute the
fruit, then pot and cover.
6.
Use freshly cleaned jars which have been pre-heated in a cool
oven. Fill the jars right to the top as the jam will shrink back
a little when cold.
7.
Wipe any jam from the outside of the jar and then place a waxed
disc, waxed side down, on top of the hot jam, making sure it
lies flat.
8.
Add a cellophane cover, lightly dampened on the upper side, when
the jam is still hot. Use a rubber band to hold the cover in
place.
9.
Label the jars with the name of the jam and the date made.
Winners of spring competition:
Helen
Maher, Tipperary Town
Aine
Ryan, Piltown
Brid Flood, Ballypatrick
Jack
Holt, Carrick-On-Suir
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