June 2015
An article in the papers last week said it was a bumper year for English apricots – and the proof is here in Hertfordshire – in Piccotts End! I planted my apricot tree (bought from Ayletts in St Albans) 5 years ago and every year until now it has yielded nothing. One of the problems is that it flowers very early, in March, and the buds are killed by frost. This year we’ve had almost perfect growing conditions and the results are a thrill to behold: a tree laden with blushed orange fruits the size of a large golf ball. Not only do they look great, they taste delicious. When I told my contact at M&S, who buys all their stoned-fruit, he told me I was days ahead of the commercial growers in Kent. ‘It’s a bumper crop and they will be in our shops from Monday’ he told me. So I’m claiming the bragging rights to harvesting England’s first apricots of 2015 here in Piccotts End!

Blue Gate Leighton Buzzard

In my last blog I showed a photo of a blue gate in the Med matching our own Blue Gate here in the village. No sooner had I posted it than I came across another, this time a lot closer to home, on the banks of the Grand Union Canal near Leighton Buzzard. Given this I’m expecting to come across quite a few more!