It's Summer in the Patch. Thursday December 10 2015

The gusty winds of yesterday have died down and the sun is shining after a few drops of rain this morning. It has been the driest Spring I have ever seen here so regular watering had to start early this year. The farm irrigators were switched on in early October which is really unusual so we just have to hope our reserves of water in the dams and river are enough to keep the dairy herd going until the Autumn rains.

Meanwhile in the patch, it is all go....or rather ...grow! 

The berries seem to have starting ripening earlier this year so I have already started picking raspberries, strawberries, loganberries and even the odd blueberry in the last couple of weeks.

It looks like I am going to get my best Jostaberry crop yet. This cross between a gooseberry and blackcurrant makes a delicious jam. It is a bit sour to eat fresh unless you wait until the berry is really black. The hard pruning I gave the bush a couple of years ago seems to have done the trick in boosting the crop. Last year I only got a handful of berries but last night picked that amount in a few minutes and there are plenty more to come. There is even a self sown Jostaberry near the chook shed which has fruit on it. As that one is not netted, the birds might get those ones though.