on the button Issue 61 | Page 12

In our garden September usually sees the tail end of the vibrant and varied coloured flowers in our garden, but depending on the weather we may see some later blooms. Also now is the time get to try . . . by Steve Maddox . . . the fruits of our labour We moved into the house and the garden already had 3 fruit trees; a pear, an eating apple and a cooking apple. These needed attention regarding pruning but were in fairly good shape. We have now lived in the house for 34 years and have always been amazed at the amount of fruit we pick each year. Although removing the eating apple tree we still get abundant fruit from the other two and the pears are particularly juicy once ripe. We now also have some Rhubarb, Grapes and Figs on hand in the garden, and looking to put in some Blackberries and Raspberry canes. Mostly the fruit does not go to waste and Julie makes crumbles, pies and fruit cocktails on many occasions. I have also been known to make my own fruit Gins from the produce in our garden. It started when we found some Sloes while out walking and took some home and processed some Sloe Gin. This turned into Gins being made from other fruits turning into Rhubarb Gin, and some Damson Gin from our next door neighbour’s tree. I also found that we 12 on the button issue 60 August 2017 | 01462 834265 | [email protected] | www.on-the-button.co.uk