Eating the garden

Every Friday during the summer months I cut our lawn and every week I bang my head on the branch of one tree as I try to walk underneath it. I moan and complain about this and threaten to cut the branch off. My wife is most unsympathetic. “It’s a medlar tree” she says “and you’ll love the fruit that we get off it.”

When I took time to examine the fruit I thought it looked most unattractive

Those of my readers who are of a methodical nature may wonder why there is no photograph of the tree itself. To be honest I was a little out of sympathy with the object and really only stared taking pictures when the kitchen was taken over by the cooking process of the medlars.

At first I thought they looked horrid and what was worse was they seemed to be going bad. I was told “You have to let them blet!” At least they didn’t smell. Judge for yourself though they don’t look pretty when they are “bletting.”

My wife knew a lady who began growing and producing medlar jelly commercially. This lady has produced a book on how to make medlar jelly, medlar juice and even medlar cheese!

Those of you who know me well will undoubtedly understand that there is no way I am going to explain the preparation method in detail. Culinary skills? Huh… I’m the one who thought that an air fryer referred to someone who preferred to cook in the garden.

Anyway if I explained how to cook medlars and they tasted horrid, you’d blame me and say it was my fault. No much safer if I simply show you the photographs and let you get on with it. You could purchase the book if you get stuck.

One thing I will say is that the end product is, what my friend David calls it “very moreish” I like the medlar jelly on bread at tea time – or in the night when I can’t sleep!

This year we’ve got tons of the fruit from the tree (you think I exaggerate?) we could be eating it non-stop until Christmas, but I am told it freezes, there again, so do I in this weather.

See you.