Unusually large numbers of thrushes, mainly fieldfare (gråtrost), redwings (rødvingetrost) and a few blackbirds (svarttrost) in the garden at the moment, mainly on the rowans (wild and planted for the birds) and apples (need to harvest earlier than normal this year).
This year is a bumper year for rowans near the fjord, but poor a little inland due probably to frosts which didn’t affect us! Late frost at the time of fruit flowering iis very unusual where I am near the fjord (due to a combination of warmth from the fjord and the fact that there isn’t night at this time!). This has concentrated thrushes near the fjord where the food is!
There are an enormous number of yew berries on the tree next to the kitchen window this year and this video shows how a vine (probably Vitis coignetiae) has found its way towards the light high up in the yew, which is Taxus × media “Hicksii”, the Anglojap or Hicks’ yew, which is a hybrid of Taxus baccata and Taxus cuspidata.
Most will be left for the birds, bringing both waxwings (sidensvans) and blackbirds (svarttrost) close to the house!
Large flocks of noisy (in the positive sense) thrushes in the garden this morning. A flock of a 100 or so fieldfares (gråtrost) and a few redwings (rødvingetrost), song heard again today, were feeding on rowan berries, most of the birds lifting at the end of this video. At the same time there was visible migration happening. I counted a continuous stream of some 200 birds in 10 minutes moving westwards! A few waxwings (sidensvans) have also arrived. Yes, rowans are a must have in the garden although I don’t use them much myself.
My first ripe North American golden currants or buffalo currants (gullrips), Ribes aureum, were awaiting my return from the US today. This is probably the black-fruited cultivar “Black Pearl”. It has beautiful aromatic large yellow flowers, so qualifying also as an edimental! The taste is closest I think to Worcesterberries and blackcurrants.
We have two species of cranberry here: Vanlig tranebær (Vaccinium oxycoccus) and småtranebær (Vaccinium microcarpum). Found a bog covered in one or both species today. Have to return in spring for harvesting!
After 3 years, I’ve finally finished the last cultivated area in the garden on the steep slope below the pond. The soil is very shallow, so I’ve terraced with bare rock showing between the terraces.
I’ve planted mostly fruit and berry bushes here, but also Xanthoxylum piperitum (Japanese pepper), one of which is thornless. There are also 3 types of Jostaberry, two selections of “Green-berried Blackcurrant”, three golden currants (Ribes aureum), three different black raspberries, two Elaeagnus umbellatus, Gooseberry Xenia and a couple of unknown Ribes spp. from Bo Blomqvist and Knut Poulsen!
In the local paper was a report that it was a bad year for bilberries (blåbær) locally. I’m glad we didn’t listen and went anyway as it was pretty good as you can see with several kilos to dry and make bilberry leather with:
It’s been a long wait, but I can finally taste a few mulberries….both my bushes which are about the same age started producing after about 15 years, although neither tree had been looked after and had been more or less left to themselves. Both are in shady parts of the garden. I hadn’t really believed that they would produce berries, hence the neglect! I think they are both white mulberry / hvitmorbær (Morus alba), but one has red berries. I did have a purple-berried white mulberry at one stage so it could be this!
At the weekend at the Permalin Farm summer festival I met an English-German couple Johnny and Anna who were on a long campervan holiday in Norway, doing some wwoofing along the way. They had heard about the festival when they were in Balestrand (Sognefjord) and were recommended that they should try to visit me. They found my web site and discovered I was giving a course at the weekend and signed up!
They asked on Sunday if they could come and see my garden yesterday and said they were happy to help a bit too. We were planning to pick berries, so after the garden tour, we picked saskatoons / søtmispel (Amelanchier spp.).
The berries are now being dried!
For lunch we made an multispecies salad with Linbakst bread (100% linseed bread from the farm where we had the course). More pictures at the bottom.
Early ripe blackberries (bjørnebær) and plums (sviskeplommer)….will be overripe or rotten by the time I return from my trip to England, Ireland and Hurdal! So, I’ve dried those that are ripe!
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
