The Apple Club Newsletter

Summer 2001

Welcome to the third issue of our apple club newsletter. We hope that you enjoy it.

The fruit we grow

Present day strawberries are all descended from one common ancestor of relatively recent origin. It all began with the exploration of the Americas by Europeans in the 1500's. The North American native strawberry (Virginia strawberry) was the first to be discovered, and it was imported into Europe in the late sixteenth century. It was a popular arrival because although its flavour was only reasonable, it carried much larger fruits than the native small- fruited species of Europe.
Then in 1714, another strawberry was brought to Europe; this time from Chile by the French explorer Frezier. Although it bore few enough fruits, the fashion of the time was to plant that which was new, and so the Chilean strawberry was planted in the fashionable gardens of Paris.
While traditionally these two strawberries had never met, inhabiting different sides of the American continent, when brought together to the gardens of Europe, a hybridisation became inevitable.
And so from these crosses of the 1700's came what we now call the cultivated strawberry. Inheriting the properties of both its parents; size from Virginia and flavour from Chile, the wonderful strawberries of today arrived.

Fungi are at war in our trees

Does your tree have it; now here's how you tell - the leaves go pure silver and you know its not well.
There's full scale warfare going on in the heart of our plum orchard. It all began with an attack on the plum trees by a disease called Silver Leaf. This fungus enters the tree, and feeds happily within its transport system. However, the effect on the tree is not so happy. Slowly but surely its system gets blocked as the fungus consumes the heart-wood of the tree. This was a battle which no tree would win.
Just when we were beginning to despair, we heard of another fungus that would take care of our trees. Available from Sweden and called Trichoderma, this is a beneficial fungus which attacks the silver leaf disease. An ally for the plum tree.
This fungus is natural in trees, and once within them, begins to search for its favourite food - other fungi like the one causing silver leaf disease.
We contacted Sweden, and were sent some tablets containing the fungus. We were told to drill holes in the infected trees, and insert some tablets. The helpful fungus would enter the tree and protect it from silver leaf disease.
We did as were told and waited for an effect. The fungi did battle in the heart of the trees. What, we were wondering, would be the outcome? Then slowly the trees began to recover. Now almost all are healthy again. With not a chemical in sight, and the disease gone for good, nature's wonders never cease.
   

Ireland's No. 1 Fruit Farm.

We're delighted to announce that we were recently awarded the title of National award-winner for the fruit sector. Each year An Bord Glas and the National Standards Authority of Ireland conduct quality audits on Ireland's fruit farms. In common with all participants in the quality scheme, last year we received two unannounced audits. As a consequence of our performance in these audits, we were adjudged to have the No.1 fruit-farm in Ireland for 2000. That's not bad when one considers all the other excellent participants ranging from strawberry to blackcurrant to apple growers nation-wide. It's a feat we hope to emulate again this year, but to do so will require another great effort. We hope that you, our customers, will keep us on our toes.

In the fruit garden

Raspberries
Your raspberries will soon be ready to harvest. However, there are other things you can do too. Excessive new canes should be removed, to leave about 10 per metre of row. This will allow more light to the base of the plant, and ensure that remaining canes grow healthy and strong.
If you have a lot of birds (especially blackbirds) in your garden, make preparation to cover the plants. Otherwise they might enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Strawberries
Your strawberries are now getting ripe. Set some bait for slugs and snails. Some beer in a cup buried to the brim, usually attracts them away from the fruit. A few hens can take care of them too, but they can take a liking to strawberries also.
If the weather turns wet and fruit begin to spoil, remove all the rotten ones that may appear. This should halt the spread of the rot, and when the rain stops, you'll have good fruit again.

Apples
Spring has been good to most apple crops. Take a look at you trees and see how many fruits you have. Thinning is now the vital task, as most trees have too many fruits. A healthy two metre (6 foot) tree should have about 50 fruits. Any more and quality will suffer. Thin down to get this number, leaving the largest fruits evenly spaced. If your tree is not well, consider leaving fewer fruits, or perhaps give a liquid feed.

Recipe: Strawberry jam

1 kg strawberries; fresh or frozen
1 kg "sure-set" sugar
Juice of half a lemon (optional)
Jam jars, waxed discs, cellophane covers, elastic bands, adhesive labels

1. Hull and wash the strawberries and drain well
2. Rub a large saucepan with a little butter or margarine
3. Put the fruit into the saucepan and mash or crush (or use a liquidiser).   Add the lemon juice.
4. Add the sure-set sugar and heat, stirring until it is dissolved, then bring to the boil and boil vigorously for four minutes.
5. Allow to cool for a few (4-5) minutes, stir to distribute the fruit, then pot and cover.
6. Use freshly cleaned jars which have been pre-heated in a cool oven. Fill the jars right to the top as the jam will shrink back a little when cold.
7. Wipe any jam from the outside of the jar and then place a waxed disc, waxed side down, on top of the hot jam, making sure it lies flat.
8. Add a cellophane cover, lightly dampened on the upper side, when the jam is still hot. Use a rubber band to hold the cover in place.
9. Label the jars with the name of the jam and the date made.

The Dublin/Cork motorway

As many of you are aware, a new motorway between Dublin and Cork is currently under construction. The government have told us that this is going to be a toll road. The local phase of this motorway is supposed to run from Cashel to Mitchelstown, more or less parallel to the existing NS. A group called NAG have set up to oppose the notion that a motorway is necessary between Cashel and Mitchelstown. Traffic volumes on the existing road are about 7000 vehicles per day. According to the National Roads Authority (NRA), this will rise to about 15000 vehicles per day by the year 2020. On this basis, they recommended to the government in 1999 that the existing NS be widened, and indeed this has already been done between Cahir and Mitchelstown. However, the government ignored this advice, and decided to build a motorway instead. And it's not that they'll be getting much European money for this; Europe will pay 10% maximum.
The capacity of the new motorway will be 55,000 vehicles per day. With only 15,000 vehicles per day forecast to use the road by 2020, NAG asks what is the need for a huge motorway? A huge fortune ( 125,000,000) of taxpayers' money will be spent to build a road between Cahir and Mitchelstown which will never be used at even half capacity. The countryside will be despoiled and communities severed, to get people from Dublin to Cork a few minutes quicker. And what for, but to get to the traffic jams a little bit sooner. And this motorway will not benefit the people of Tipperary. Who will stop off the new high-speed freeway to take a look at Cahir Castle or have a cup of tea. No, it'll be full speed ahead until you stop at some motorway "service point" where there'll be only one shop and you'll probably be ripped off. Ripped off, just like the people of Tipperary will be if this monstrous motorway gets to go ahead.


Newsletter Archive