The Louise Bonne of Jersey pear tree is a hardy creature, it kept its fruit despite the late frosts. It and the medlar are the only ones to have come through this year, barring one single damson. However the dry September may be the reason it’s now dropped most of the fruit. Fortunately, being unripe pears, they are tough and can be gathered up anyway. I’m trying to ripen a couple but mostly I’m cooking them lightly in my porridge, and they are good. The tree was planted 2 years ago, so I think it’s 3 years old now.
The apple tree seedlings have grown quite well.
The cloister garden is very overgrown again. I think this will continue until we’re able to have a proper surface put down. On the plus side, the self-seeded cornflowers are providing late food for the bees, and the single mighty cornflower plant in the raised bed has got its second wind.
I am hoping that the time will come when people actually want to come here for a few hours, every month or two, to help keep it all under control…I’m happy to pay in pizza, beer and cake!
Work on the gatehouse continued during September and has reached the point where we need to get the arches in. You can begin to see the scale of the gatehouse, and how grand the archway will look.
This is the end of construction work for the year, but Brother Alf will work on casting the blocks for the archway out of concrete and crushed limestone.