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Not a good season for grapes.
Those on our vine that didn't turn into raisins were sweet but there weren't many decent bunches.
The vineyards down in the fertile plain near us had mixed crops. Those that were well looked after, de-leafed, fertilised, watered and kept weed free had an average harvest. So they say. Everyone's an expert here and everyone knows their neighbours business better than their own.
Making wine is hard work if you want a few hundred kilos of your own vintage to drink with friends over the winter.
We finally stopped at the top of our road and collected half a dozen figs from the branches hanging over our neighbour's fence. They were small and sweet. We should have picked them earlier. There were a dozen at least squashed on the tarmac
Vaso and her son were collecting carobs from their tree one morning.
Vaso once collected carobs from all the neighborhood trees for her goats. She gathered them all, often bent double, not wanting to leave even one languishing on the ground or hanging from the tree. She then hauled the heavy sacks up the incline to her house, without breaking a sweat.
Now it's her son who's in command. They gathered a small bag for the chickens and left the rest to rot.
Another neighbourhood tree.
The pomegranates are still small and unripe. I'm hoping for a bag of these in a few weeks.
The white bougainvillia is starting to blossom . The white flowers should bloom into November.
Our 'new' water feature.
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Was the summer's extreme heat the cause of the poor harvest?
ReplyDeleteI like your water feature! Very Greek 😉
It was the heat they say though it didn't seemed prolonged this year. Just long enough to burn the young grapes
DeleteJC asked my question - was it too much heat? I'm thinking of trying to grow pomegranates here… maybe not enough heat🤔
ReplyDeleteI think pomegranites need a long dry summer. They seem to be growing nicely this year. But need a little more time. October I should think.
DeleteIt’s not sounding like a good year for wine at all
ReplyDeleteIt really is lots of hard work for not much in return.
The younger generation just isn’t as “hungry” as we were. They really don’t understand being so poor that you literally need all the free stuff you can get to help you survive
Unfortunately the way the world is going. They will soon find out
Most of the grapevines here are family operations. As the older generation dies off so will the vines be ripped out. I've already seen that happen. The supermarket is close by.
DeleteI really enjoyed seeing the pomegranates growing. I don't think I had realised they grew on trees.
ReplyDeleteThey're not a common fruit but are prized here. Supposed to cure blood diseases. That red colour lol
DeleteI dont know if i've evern tried carobs but there's soemthing about the texture of figs that grosses me out. Looking forward to seeing your water feature in action.
ReplyDeleteCarobs are quite sweet. You break them open and suck on the seeds. Much better to use, as Carobs flour. But it's quite a business turning them into a flour
DeleteMy Pomegranate in France had lots of good looking fruits, I didn't bother trying them as they've always been very sour. My oldest goes next month so maybe he'll open one to see if it's edible.
ReplyDeletePomegranites are another fruit that need a bot of patience. I usually juice the seeds. They make a very flavourful drink
DeleteIt always amazes me how much fruit and produce people grow here in the high desert. (We are at 5,800 feet above sea level). One of my friends mentioned there are tons of grapes at her yiayia's house. I've had them, they are super tiny but very sweet. There are vineyards all over New Mexico, and a few wineries as well. I did plant a pomegranate, and hope that next year I'll at least have one! It's still small at 4 ft tall. I also know people who have figs, and I asked for some from one of our festival bakers, but she seems unwilling to give them up even though she said she doesn't know what to do with them all.
ReplyDeleteIt must be such a pleasure to have fruit trees where you live.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting variety of fruit, not varieties we see down here in the south of the South Island, although people do grow grapes. And there are vineyards further Inland.
ReplyDelete