It’s not fair really is it? It’s finally warm enough to sit outside and enjoy a bit of al fresco dining but then we get attacked by swarms of wasps!

Well the only good thing we know from this sign is it means it’s plum time!

Although I didn’t plant the 20 plus trees I have the variety that is ready now, I believe they are ‘Marjorie's Seedling’.

They produce a heavy crop of darker, smaller fruits than the larger redder fruits of the Victoria that come later.

To be honest I prefer the taste of these earlier plums, which have a slightly sharper taste, not as watery as Victoria so I find them better for use in cooking, especially in plum cakes.

Getting an expert in

My cherry trees are older and have got a bit overgrown they are too large for me to attempt to prune so I ‘got a man in’ as pruning should be done in spring or summer not in the dormant season to avoid risk of silver leaf disease and canker.

As they are established trees he removed crossing, weak, vertical and diseased material, hopefully this spruce up will give me many more cherries to come. Now I just need to netthem so I actually get them before the starlings take them all!