Braeburn apples on the tree

Fruitful Times

Posted on by Ann Mackay

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There are hardly any flowers left in the garden now, so almost everything is in shades of green, with a few leaves turning yellow here and there. (There are still the purple leaves of the smoke bush in the front garden. With a bit of luck, these will turn some interesting shades of yellow and orange – if they don’t get blown off first!)

During the last week, I’ve seen a bit of colour from fruits and berries in the garden. We finished picking the fruit from our apple trees a couple of days ago…you can see the last of the fruit on our Braeburn tree above. Our other apple tree is a Cox’s Orange Pippin which had already had its fruit picked a little while ago, so the Braeburn’s apples give later colour.

Near the apples we have a holly bush. I was considering cutting it back a lot this year because it has grown somewhat tall and spindly. I’m glad I didn’t do it, because this year there are more berries on it than I’ve seen before. This means a feast for the blackbirds!

The blackbirds (which are my favourite garden bird – alongside the robin) must do quite well here. We have two grapevines, one of which is huge and shades an arbour. The blackbirds seem to be constantly in and out of this when there are ripening grapes. We only eat a few of the grapes ourselves (they don’t get very sweet), so we don’t begrudge them to the birds. There are plenty of other berries, including the orange-red berries of our rowan tree and, later on, the ivy berries. It’s just as well that we have these to distract the birds, because blackbirds are partial to apples too… 🙂

Holly berries
The holly has more berries than usual this year.
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Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

16 thoughts on “Fruitful Times”

    1. Yes, the Cox has a good flavour but I prefer the Braeburn because it stays crisper. We don’t have enough yet to have any spare for cooking though. Unfortunately, the warming climate will probably be a problem for the Cox here – it’s said that they may be better grown further north in future.

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  5. Thank goodness for fruit in autumn! Your Braeburn look so appetizing, Ann, I would love to pick one and take a nice bite out of it. 😊
    Like you, I also love blackbirds and robins (I get to see them when I visit my Dad). I hope your blackbirds will enjoy the holly berries.

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  6. Are Braeburns good for baking, like pies? I look at them in the store from time to time, but I’ve just never tried them. I do miss good homemade applesauce, but without a tree or two it doesn’t seem practical. They’re so expensive in the stores now I’d go broke trying to produce the quarts of the stuff my mother used to put away!

    I was interested in your comment about your holly berries. Two of our native holly species are just loaded with berries this year — more than I’ve seen in perhaps two or three years. It is interesting.

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    1. I don’t really know! We don’t do much baking, so haven’t tried them in anything much. We just eat them as they are. In the UK most baking is done with Bramley apples. But I have used them in a stir-fry with onions, red cabbage and balsamic vinegar, to go with venison. (Not recently – hubby is vegetarian and I don’t often eat meat these days.) It could be worth trying your recipes with the Braeburn – they have a tartness mixed with their sweetness that could work.
      I’ve noticed lots of holly berries elsewhere – seems like a very good year for them!

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