Quality controller

Not only is Bean the garden supervisor, but she is the quality controller of fruit growth: both Chez Mima and in other people’s orchards.

She is nothing if not diligent. She starts her rounds as soon as the fruit is set in spring and she will stop at every tree we pass until all the fruit has been harvested or fallen off in autumn.

In the blip you can see her checking the very immature plums on this tree. Once she was satisfied that all was well, she moved onto sniff gooseberries on bush in the background.

Interestingly she has never shown any inclination to eat the fruit once it is ripe and will only eat fallen fruit when I give her the go-ahead.

All of this can make walks very slow indeed although if I shake the biccy bag as I walk away, all of Bean’s thoughts of fruit are forgotten thanks to the possibility of a treat.

It’s been 25C and sunny, but my garden activities have been a bit curtailed by strong norwesterlies again. It’s been too windy to plant out the onions, but I barrowed compost into the tunnel house. And I’ve done several small jobs which otherwise end up being put off until tomorrow; mostly tidying up and putting things away.

There is a sourdough having it’s second prove in the fridge overnight, ready to bake first thing tomorrow. It is my fourth loaf and I am fully into the swing of the process. It is remarkably straightforward now I have got my timings right so that it has its first prove during the day.