Fruits

It has been a busy few weeks here with builders and plumbers continuing on the various projects.

We now have our spring connected, and  water flowing through the taps throughout the house and garden.  It is ironical that since the spring was connected we have had rain.  I do not know if I should be pleased as this will obviously help the spring water supply and has saved me from watering the garden, or mildly upset as I have not had the pleasure of using our own water and can water the garden without constantly thinking of a water meter whirring round!

My big antique copper jam pan has been working overtime.  June is the month when so many fruits seem to be ripening.  Paul and Isabel at Casa Castalda have a wonderful crop of raspberries this year.  They brought over raspberry canes from Scotland, and boy do they flourish here under Paul’s careful nurturing, in the glorious sunshine.

I went with the intention of picking 3kgs of fruit, but got carried away and came home with nearer 7kgs!  It was kinda surreal picking Scottish raspberries in Umbria.  The resultant jam is a great successs, good colour and full of flavour.  Oh and they are well travelled fruit having come home via the circuitous route that took me to the top of Monte Subasio to watch the paragliders taking off in the still early evening air.

Our gardens have been generous with cherries, trees overflowing with dark sweet small fruits.  Balancing precariously on a stepladder I harvested 10kgs of fruit and have made the most interesting cherry jam.  A laborious task that involved pitting the cherries.  I lost count after 3474 cherries………..

The apricots are almost ready for picking, the first time in three summers we have had apricots, large juicy fruit, that is if the builders do not get there first, the fruit seem to disappear whenever they are working close to the trees.

There is a particularly fine plum tree here with the most exquisite fragrant blossom every spring.  The fruit is small and sour.  Paolo and Harald called over yesterday and brought a large bag of plums they had picked in Paolo’s mother’s garden in Assisi.  They are now all combined and marinading in sweet white Umbrian Dulcis wine from Lungarotti, cinnamon and a touch of ginger on their way to be yet another home-made preserve.