Medlars and Jerusalem artichokes for sale

After dropping off some replacement cards at the farm shop I checked some of the shelves inside the shop. They quite often sell small quantities of locally produced products, mostly foodstuffs. I was delighted to find the last of these medlar fruits, probably the spare capacity of a local garden or more likely an orchard. Gloucestershire is renowned for its fruit orchards, particularly apples, and medlars were often grown in apple orchards.

I liked that Ashley had added this recipe for making a medlar jelly, which is delicious. I grew up with a medlar tree in my parents orchard in Surrey, but they never bothered to harvest the crop. For best results the medlars need to be ‘bletted’, which is best achieved by letting the picked fruit rest until they soften, prior to the cooking process. This crop were already soft enough to use and nearly going over. Some fruit flies testified to that.

Beneath the medlars was another cardboard box holding only a few Jerusalem Artichokes. I have grown them quite often and do like them, although many would say they are an acquired taste! Another time I might have bought everything you can see, but at the moment I sadly have my hands full with other tasks. If this had been mid January I would definitely have made some jelly. My immediate task is to do some printing for the market, and then make the Christmas cake, which is already rather late.