This is what they looked like before they went into the jam (and some into the rumtopf!). They came from a tree which is maybe seven years old and this is the first time I can recall having any fruit from it. But this is a recurring theme in our garden, the peach trees deliver a massive crop one year and then nothing for three, the walnuts do the same. And we are also only here about one week in four so it’s all too easy to miss fruit at the right time for picking / eating / jamming.

We were selling jam during the Buitenwatersloot Festival in Delft last week and a lot of people were asking what medlars are (néflier in French and also mêlier or mesplier, mispel in Dutch). So as I’m in Lavignon this week I took a photo. The tree is full of them! We wait to pick them until late in the autumn (October-ish) and then let them “mature” (which is a polite way of saying rot), this is called “bletting” and makes the fruit edible, either as it is or - of course - in jams and fruit cheeses.