Wednesday 25 August 2010

Mists and mellow fruitfulness.







Sing a song of sixpence,
a pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds
baked in a pie!

If anyone fancies baking a blackbird pie then I can supply enough blackbirds! I am not feeling charitable towards them this morning - although by lunch time the feeling will have gone off and I shall love them again - for their chirpiness and for their wonderful song. But at the moment they are not top of my list. Why?

Well - Autumn is really here in the Yorkshire Dales - of that there is no doubt. In the morning the fields are silver with dew and the goassamer of the spiders; in the evening there is a sharp chill in the air; the berries are all ripening and hanging red on the trees? Pardon? Did I just say that? Well correction......

...yesterday our Mountain Ash (rowan) tree was absolutely festooned with orange berries, the best it has ever been. At about two o'clock a small flock of blackbirds descended and as I drove out of the yard to drive to Hawes up the dale they were swinging about in the tree and popping orange berries into their beaks as thought there was no tomorrow. When I came back two hours later there was not one single berry left! How come that the wild rowan tree about one hundred yards up the lane is still festooned with berries and will be until the fieldfares come? Is there no justice - and the farmer spends a fortune on bird food for our wild birds.

I have just posted a few shots of Autumn happenings. As far as the plum tree is concerned - it is so laden with fruit that some of the branches are touching the ground. My two freezers are full of raspberries, strawberries, peas, runner beans, broad beans, gooseberries and courgettes out of the garden - so now I must pop into Leyburn and buy the ingredients for plum chutney and sugar for plum jam. Guess what I am going to be doing for the rest of the day?

22 comments:

Acornmoon said...

It can't be Autumn already, we have not had our fill of summer yet!

We seem to have an abundance of sparrows, three generations this year I believe. I hope they make it through.

Titus said...

Weaver, that's my garden! With the exception of the wonderful plums.
My rowan was spectacular too, but the blackbirds have, as they say, done for it.
Hard winter to come, then.

Jinksy said...

What a harvest you have gathered in - never mind the blackbirds...

MorningAJ said...

I was hoping to find some rowan that wasn't too close to a road because I want to try rowan jelly this year. But the only ones I've found so far are too close to car fumes. I'm jealous that you have one in your yard!

Loads of wild plums round here though.

MorningAJ said...

I gotta tell ya.... the next word verifcation is plumie!

Helsie said...

Winter is lingering still here in Queensland with cool days of 20 degrees and chilly nights of 10 - 12 but I'm afraid it won't be long before the heat arrives again. Spring is very fleeting and hardly celebrated in our gardens anymore as water to grow flowers has become very expensive so I'll just have to get my fill of green grass and pretty flowers from the internet.
Cheers
Helen

Elisabeth said...

Autumn for you Weaver, and a chilly spring for us, It's freezing cold but the blossom trees are out in force.

Elizabeth said...

No blinking mists and mellow anything!
I'm not ready for it and still plan to go to the beach for several more days.......

Re Palgrave I still have my father's copy given him as a school prize way back in the last century.

Probably the best poetry anthology ever....in my humble opinion.

Lori at Jarvis House said...

Unfortunately, I have blackbirds too. They monopolize the birdfeeders and the other birds don't stand a chance. They push out all of the seeds until they find the ones they like. The other wild birds feed from the ground where the seeds have fallen. But they are comical and fun to watch.

steven said...

weaver we have a black cherry tree in front of our house. each spring it flowers and then the fruit arrives. the birds have a feast and like your rowanberry, within two days it is bare! i know they are grateful - as am i - for the astonishing bounty. enjoy putting away your preserves! steven

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

So lovely to see the blue sky against the red of the berries.
We have had so much rain today.

Heather said...

How lovely to have a freezer full of home grown produce. Hope your blackbirds don't have stomach ache from being so greedy - rowan jelly would have been a nice addition to your larder.

Bovey Belle said...

I have Damsons to pick, but not as many as your prolific plums! - the branches seem to be ripening at different rates.

As for those naughty Blackbirds - I wonder why just the one tree and not look at the one up the lane?

No Rowans locally - our one at the gate just had a few berries on, but it IS a rescue tree (farmer was grubbing up his hedgerows years ago) and we have obviously planted it where it's none too happy. I have to take a short drive for rowan berries for jelly.

Pondside said...

We're not having a very good year for plums - ours are a bit small and bitter yet - but I have hopes! A blackbird pie?.....well it would all depend on the flakiness of the pastry!

Unknown said...

Hello Weaver,

Let's hope Autumn isn't too eager to arrive! We still seem to have plenty of Rowan berries around. Perhaps there aren't so many blackbirds?!

Gwil W said...

yesterday I picked plums

the thing here is that there are lots and lots of dragon-flies zooming around, more than ever before, they are said to be after the flying ants

and the peaches are late

things are different this year

Totalfeckineejit said...

We harvested our runner bean today, it was very nice.

angryparsnip said...

Gosh your freezers sound very fabulous...
I don't have your Blackbirds I have Cactus Wrens. The cheeky little DEVILS !
What they love is are my Tangelos. December 3 2009 post, With their long beak they poke holes into the fruit and then eat it later. The other little birds come after and finish off the rest of the fruit.
This is my favorite fruit and I have to fight them for any ! I have other citrus trees but do they eat that fruit ? No !

Very tasty post !

cheers, parsnip

Penny said...

Heavens, autumn, we were there in early October last year and well yes it was autumn, lovely wish I was coming back. Blackbirds, introduced, I didnt see them until about 20 years ago when the garden was really coming into its own. I love their song but dont love what they do to the garden or that they drove our beautiful native thrushes away.

Cloudia said...

Autumn silver! Oh thank you






Warm Aloha from Honolulu

Comfort Spiral

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for the comments, it does seem to have been a good year for the birds all round in the UK doesn't it?
I have of course forgiven the blackbirds - but I have also got the idea for rowan jelly from some of these comments and am going in search of rowan berries myself today - I am as bad as those blackbirds!

Karen said...

Ah, the bounty of summer heralding the glories of autumn! Titus says it will be a hard winter. I say this country mouse will hunker down and survive until another spring.