🍎
Apple (Malus) · Blackberry · Blackthorn · European crabapple · Hawthorn
📍 26 Madehurst Gardens, Norton Lees, Sheffield S8 9JP, UK
🗓 Season: August · September · October · November · July
🔍 When is it ripe?
Apple (Malus): Background skin colour shifts from green toward yellow; seeds turn brown when ripe. Fruit separates from the spur with a gentle upward twist. Aroma develops near the base. Wild Malus fruit is often small and tart — excellent for cider and jelly.
Blackberry: Fully black (not red or dark red) and comes off the stem with no resistance — zero pull. Dull rather than shiny; a shiny black berry is still slightly underripe and tart. Eat the same day for best flavour.
Blackthorn: Sloe berries: small, round, blue-black with a heavy bloom. Intensely astringent raw — traditionally harvested after the first frost, which breaks down tannins. Best used for sloe gin or jelly. Spiny branches — wear gloves when harvesting.
European crabapple: Tiny, yellow-green to red fruit, intensely sour. Too astringent to eat raw but ideal for jelly and vinegar. Ripe when colour is fully developed and fruit gives slightly.
Hawthorn: Deep red haws (berries) develop from green. Ripe when dark red and slightly soft. Edible raw but mealy — better for haw jelly, syrup, or wine. Contains a large stone. Improve after first frost.
Remains of Lee Hall Orchard. In a clearing slightly north of the pond, over the other side of the path that heads east towards Blackstock Road. Very overgrown with brambles and nettles, but not impossible to access. More trees including cooking apples east of the pond, but well hidden and over grown. Blackthorn intermittently either side of path that heads east towards Blackstock Road. Hawthorn and Blackberry pretty much everywhere.
1
Views
0
🍃 Yes reports
0
🚫 No reports
0
Notes
Recent sightings 0
No sightings yet. Be the first to report!