The new arrivals are coming fast here at the farm. Another warm stretch brought out the Black Tartarian cherries, along with a few Vans. The rest of the Vans will be ready in a few days and the Bings should be ripe in a week or two. We love all the cherries but the small sweet/sour Tartarians are a real treat. We got them as part of a grafted “pollinator” tree, but the fruit turned out to be a real bonus. We like to cook and mix drinks with cherries, but we usually eat the first batch out of hand. This bowl of cherries is no exception.
Meanwhile, the lavender is just starting to pop. That means bees, bees and more bees. The bees, honeybees and native bees, simply love the lavender. They will work the lavender all summer and the flowers will move and buzz all day when the sun is out. It never, never gets old- for us, or the bees.
And we have loquats. Lots of loquats. We need to do something with them (marmalade?) this year. We know they are getting ripe, as the woodpeckers and squirrels come calling for the fruit. The woodpeckers are cool, the squirrels, not so much. The woodpeckers just take ripe fruit, we can live with that. The squirrels take a bite and drop the unripe fruit. Varmint.
Otherwise, the garden and orchard are always in (slow) motion. Plenty of blueberries and strawberries. Raspberries will be ready tomorrow. The figs are ripening. Apples, pears, peaches and nectarines are all growing, and probably need thinning. The nasturtiums and squash are in bloom and there are tiny yellow flowers on the tomatoes. The eggplant even recovered from a serious beating (eating?) by the snails. And the roses are still roses. Have a few…
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Putney Farm 
Beautiful images!
Thanks!
Ahh to live in California! Other than eating loquats off the tree or making preserves, is there anything else that the fruit can be used for?
Not sure- we are looking for recipes to try. We did find a cocktail recipe (of course), but just a few other recipes. You may see a post soon…assuming the squirrels don’t get them all first
Lovely photos! I didn’t know what a loquat was until a few weeks ago when they appeared on a fruit tree in my (landlord’s) yard! Not sure how I hadn’t noticed them before in 5 years of living here… but they’re right next to a guava tree and looked similar to guavas, so…. It also took some google-imaging and some farmer’s market comparisons to figure out that they were called “loquats” (first one of my friends from Mexico told me they’re called nísperos, so that helped). Now I just need to figure out if I want to make something with them!
We need to figure out what to do with ours and we’ve had them for years (we feel shame…;-). The kids do snack on them, but we are looking for good recipes…we will see if we find something.
every farm needs a varmint or two… Love the roses especially. It’s all so pretty!
Thanks…if we only had 2 varmints. The loquats are nothing, the fight for the peaches is just beginning- the “heavyweight” varmint come for the peaches 😉
I am soooooo jealous! the soil around this part of Golden stinks, it is all sand, and i can’t get anything to grow but weeds! i put in beautiful roses and lavender and butterfly bushes last year . . . and they are dead dead dead . . . . wah! thanks for the lovely pictures that let me pretend that i am walking through your garden!
Thanks, but sorry to hear about your soil. Carrots and radishes may work in sandy soil…and they are pretty easy to work with…
As I always said .. you live in the Garden of Eden – so lovely your photos … everything is rich and plentiful. Over here our fruit trees have just started blooming.
Wonderful and delightful post again.
Thanks…enjoy the trees in bloom. So beautiful. We miss it already. Although the fruit is always welcome…
The cherries are just wonderful! I would love to watch them develop. They are probably one of my favorite spring fruit, but oh the prices! I still buy them as a treat to myself, and would be in heaven to have them as part of my own resources! We once had a loquat tree, and I think it was underappreciated at the time. I have been thinking about planting another, as well as a guava, not so much for me, but for the birds. I do think a marmalade is probably a very good option!
Marmalade is the likely option for the loquats. And we are thinking about planing one of those guavas, but not sure what to do with those either.
As for the cherries, we had no idea how well our trees would do. If you have the space, a dwarf tree or two will give you a LOT of cherries. The blossoms are pretty, too.
If we ever move and have to plant again, the cherries would be one of the first things we plant. They give you fruit in just a few years and aren’t quite as susceptible to pests. And they taste great!
Gorgeous photos! Loquat Marmalade or chutney perhaps? Delicious no matter what!
Love the photos!! 🙂
thx!
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