Red currants:



Mix:


The bush:


Can dry the things too I suppose.

Such a short season for them, 1-2 weeks at the Central Market if that. At Christmass time which is nice.

Ummm stuffed up something in my garden plan: the cherries (and I bought two more cherry trees this year 

The cherries will take up a LOT more room than I had planned, like one whole deep–ripped strip. I can get some of the space back:



dwarf apples or perry pears in between the fan–trained cherry trees:


I CAN grow the cherries as “minarettes” or small trees then can space them less than a metre apart. However, minarettes give the smallest amount of fruit.

Just going to have to winnow my list of preferred cooking apples or put them in the front yard etc. Front yard is likely where the vege patch will go. OK, panic over 

OK, going to grow the dwarf cherry trees as trees. Means the dwarf apples and perry pears are moved to the front yard: less lawn to mow!

Hmmmm

Going to plant the cherry trees at 2m spacing—advice from miketrees.

No dwarf apples, will plant some semi-dwarf culinary apples (granny smith, coxs orange pippin, Belle de Boskoop etc) semi-dwarf trees among the cider apple trees (which are also semi dwarfed.) Means 2.15m spacing—bees will be buzzing happily along the rows, pollinating my apples.

Will still plant the perry pears in the front yard, maybe 2 rows of them, oh yeah!

Interesting. I thought rain split cherries by the water sitting on the skin of the cherries. Nope—too much water in the soil and then in the cherry.

Plenty of mulch up to the drip line is the answer.

Jovial Monk wrote on May 7^th, 2018 at 7:24pm:


Why?

Ah, as well a currants and gooseberries the blackthorn, a tiny plum usually referred to as sloe, can be grown on the backfence of my block. Sloe gin!

Quote:


I bet some useful birds and insects will make that tree their home. Or use the tree as a sacrificial tree—not planning on drinking heaps of sloe gin!

Two bottles Tassie gin and a heap of sloes will likely do me for a few years—not a big spirit drinker. I guess I am intrigued by making my own sloe gin because living in Tassie I can grow sloes and make the sloe gin I have read about in many books, from Agatha Christie to more modern novels.

Can make a windbreak from them—plant them in 2-3 rows at an angle, angled one way in one row, angled the opposite way in the next. Nah, one will do. They do attract pollinating insects and birds love them (and mybe leave my other trees alone? Nah. . .damn birds!