June in Devon – a great time to be enjoying English summer fruits. These came from the now-wild Wheatland Farm fruit cage, which we share with the birds.
The fruit cage used to be just that – a cage. But sometimes birds would get stuck in there, and we never managed to keep up with the weeding. Eventually, we took it down and just let nature take its course . Now the fruit patch is a jumble of black currants, logan berries, raspberries and little tiny gooseberries. Sometimes we remember to harvest, sometimes it’s mostly the blackbirds that benefit. It gets used as a blackbird nesting area fairly frequently, with food on the doorstep.
June is when our Devon orchard has tiny apples, but nothing to eat, and every apple in the supermarket seems to have been flown in from South America. So we try to make a point of not buying, and instead having fruit that is at least European, and better still, from our Devon garden. Even if we don’t get the sort of crop you might make jam with, currants raspberries and loganberries freeze well. So we add a handful at a time to the bag. That means we can bring back the taste of summer at any time in a smoothie, or with a cake filling. Yum!
Previously on #30DaysWild
This time last year: Painted lady butterflies had arrived at Wheatland Farm. They are summer migrants to Devon, and some years there are lots, and some nearly none. We haven’t seen any yet in 2020.
This time in 2018: The fruit was coming from the wild strawberries growing at Otter Cottage
This time in 2017: We’d found a colourful yellow underwing moth while cleaning the eco lodges. They make a bright splash of colour as they fly off. If you leave the outside light on at night, this is one of the most common species you’ll find visiting your lodge.