It will come as a surprise to many, who believe Aurillac is France’s coldest city, that peaches actually grow here. I visited Claude’s garden on 8 August, where he has been cultivating this fruit for almost half a century.
Carefully recorded information about the origins of the fruit varieties conserved in the British National Fruit Collection should help the French clean their own records from the few mistakes they contain. Continue reading
In the last two years the garden I visited in August 2016 has flourished under its owner’s tender care. June is a great time to see apricots and peaches in this now luxuriant orchard.
A 2,500 square-meter orchard nested in a corner of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris is what remains of a Carthusian domain which once hosted a big and internationally renowned fruit tree nursery. The monks left long ago, but their delicious varieties are back.
Seeing lemons and oranges on trees in Lisbon this Easter sparked my interest in citrus fruit. I carried out library research to learn about this fruit family of Asian origin while looking out for trees in the streets and gardens of the Portuguese capital. Continue reading
I am now following Florida Fruit Geek, an American blog ‘celebrating the abundance, diversity, and health benefits of food that grows on trees’ in warmer climates.
As we are in the most active part of the winter pruning season for apple and pear trees in France, we look at an example of bad pruning and its consequences, in particular the growth of unfruitful ‘watershoots’.
