The birds have been feasting

The birds have been feasting on fruit and this has prompted harvest of the main pear tree (the last week of February) as well as the apple Mrs Peasgood Nonsuch (beginning of March).  

The pears were beginning to fall anyway so we picked the ones of a decent size and have left the rest.  We left small ones another year and they grew to a decent size with a bit more time and without the bulk of the crop on the tree.  The apple Mrs Peasgood Nonsuch is a young tree and had 15 beautiful apples.  I felt annoyed when the birds started to eat them as they weren’t quite ripe.  If only they’d stick to the one apple instead of three or four!!  I had a few days grace with the pears – once they begin to ripen it is full steam ahead preserving them for the rest of the year, so that’s been the task this week.  They are badly affected with codling moth so that means cutting bits out and I always cook the peelings and very small fruit to ensure any grubs present don’t live to complete their life cycle and re-infest the trees next year.