A Year at Otter Farm by Mark Diacono

Author:Mark Diacono [Diacono, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gnv64
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2014-07-14T18:30:00+00:00

Beetroot rosti, agretti & Manchego

Beetroot with labneh, hazelnuts, parsley & elderflower dressing

Crisp kale, beetroot, blue cheese & walnuts

Grape, beetroot & mint smoothie

Apricots: Moorpark

APRICOTS

Site Well drained, sunny and sheltered

Harvest July–September

Notes Fruit mostly on last year’s growth, so a tree needs a balance between new and old wood. Establish a structure of main branches, then cut new growth back in summer to 20cm long shoots, which will hopefully carry fruit next year

I HAVEN’T BEEN the luckiest with apricots. Although some years I’ve had basketfuls of beautifully ripe, rich fruit, other years the trees stand fruitless and blank as if saying, ‘Well, what do you expect, we’d prefer it somewhere hotter.’

They are fussy little devils and need a home they’re really happy in. Ideally that home is somewhere closer to the Mediterranean than East Devon, but this is where I am and since the choice is giving them a go or not, I know which I’m doing.

Their apparent randomness in fruiting can make them seem a little cursed, as American Sherman tank drivers believe. Since World War Two apricots haven’t been allowed in, on or near their tanks, after a supposed string of breakdowns when tins of apricots were nearby. That said, in English folklore, dreaming of apricots is supposed to bring good luck. Who to believe.

I’ve come to think that apricots are just very sensitive. They seem to have an invisible switch: if it is ‘off’ they struggle, accumulating disease and fruitlessness before finally giving up the ghost; if it is ‘on’ their leaves are glossy, the fruit plentiful.

Give them what they want and they’ve a good chance of being ‘on’, They need a well-drained, fertile soil, and a south-facing, sheltered spot where the sun can touch their leaves more than the wind. Every little sliver of help you give them can make the difference.

I’ve planted a few on the ‘off’ side of the line, making those that remain – a mix of old and new varieties – particularly precious. I watch them like a hawk for any hint of disease but so far they have flourished; once they are established and healthy, they seem to stay that way.

Spring is the pinch point for apricots. The blossom comes early, so shelter from the worst of the spring frosts and harsh winds is crucial. The lack of pollinating insects that early can be even more of an issue, leaving even healthy flowers unpollinated, so I use a soft, thin paintbrush to dab pollen from flower to flower.

The new apricot varieties may have superior frost tolerance and produce a little more than old cultivars such as Early Moorpark, but they can’t match them for flavour, and both fruit equally reliably in a good spot.

Fresh, English apricots. Over half a kilo yesterday, 120g the day before that, 400g today. The smell is incredible – the difference in taste between the ones you buy and these is like that between juice and squash.

—10 July, 2007

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