Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
4th October 2025
Abundant Apples
If you have noticed fruit trees laden with plums, damsons, pears, and apples, this autumn then you won’t be surprised to learn that it is indeed the best year for fruit for years.
One cider producer in Somerset started picking their crops in August – the earliest in their 120 year history and another producer is expecting an eventual harvest of around 3,000 tonnes of apples this year, compared to 1,000 tonnes last year.
It’s being described as a vintage year as although the fruits are smaller than usual, they are also super-sweet and all because of the long, dry, hot summer weather we’ve had – and in particular, the early, warm, wind-free spring which allowed bees to get around all the flowers and fertilise them successfully.
Try to make the most of this year’s bumper crop if you can because the chances are next year’s will be less enthusiastic as the tree recovers some energy.
Vast Veg
It has also been a successful year for many ‘competitive growers’ too, although the summer must have been a real challenge. At Malvern Autumn Show last weekend, the CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship saw 6 Guinness World Records broken. 132 dedicated growers battled it out and new records were made for the longest radish – nearly 8m and grown by Joe Atherton who, not surprisingly, is also known as the ‘King of the long veg’ and who broke his own previous record.
Although growing methods are a closely guarded secret, he did share that his record-breaking radish was grown using long guttering pipes set at a 45-degree angle in a polytunnel. The tallest runner bean plant measured over 8 m (that’s the plant not an individual bean, as a friend thought), and was grown by 81 year old Peter Glazebrook, who also broke the record for the longest aubergine at 49 cms. Kevin and Gareth Fortey grew the longest sweet pepper at 26.7 cm. And Chris Marriott’s celeriac set the record for heaviest at 8.01 kilograms. That’s about the same weight as a large pet cat or a young goat goat.
A new category for the tallest luffa (loofah) plant was won by grower, Graham Barratt who grew a lofty record breaker of over 11 ½ m. He explained that as you obviously can’t grow these plants straight up in the air in a polytunnel, he had grown it up and down his polytunnel, training it to a washing line.
All of the giant vegetables can also be eaten, and were going onto kitchens at schools, care homes and other grateful recipients – with the exception of the luffa of course, which although is technically a vegetable, is much better used in the shower than the saucepan.
In the Pink
I was given a few ‘Surprize’ apples last week. Surprize is the variety and, although I hadn’t heard of them, they won me over as they are delicious and indeed do offer a surprise. The apple has lovely glossy orangey skin but when you bite into it the flesh is pink. It tastes ‘more’ than appley but I couldn’t really put my finger on what that extra flavour was. It’s super-sweet and juicy and smaller than a lot of apples making it perfect for lunch boxes.
A little research shows that it won ‘Gold’ at the National Plant Show in 2017 for best new variety, and if picked now and stored well it is still excellent for Christmas.
The blossom attracts bees, and at this time of year, any fallen fruit is eagerly eaten by thrushes and other ground feeding birds. The only slight drawback is that Bullfinches are apparently very partial to the spring buds.
Now that I am a fan of pink apple flesh, another variety I’ll be planting this winter is the new ‘Tickled Pink’. Described as a cross between an ornamental Malus and a productive apple tree with the merits of both, it can double as a pretty garden tree and a free fruiting orchard apple. The leaves complement the fruits, being a lovely dusky purple, especially when young, and the flowers are rose pink. Let’s face it, that’s a perfect addition to any garden. The medium sized dark red fruits ripen for use a little later than other varieties too – in October – and the flesh is possibly more red than pink. www.chrisbowers.co.uk are offering trees on dwarfing ‘M9’ stock, which grow to about 2 metres and are also suitable for cordon or column growing if preferred.
Wasp Warning
With bumper crops of fruit will come bumper gangs of wasps, and last week, whilst picking up fallen apples for a client, I noticed a couple of hornets picking on the wasps. Not a great working environment, for sure.
Wasps consider hornets to be ‘King of the Wasps’ and are usually keen to keep out of their way, but of course the lure of free alcohol lulls them into vulnerability, making them easy prey for the murderous hornets.
My recommendation would be to keep well out of the way of both of them, and if you are clearing up windfalls then wear gloves, as many fallen apples will be ‘stuffed’ with drunken wasps.
Black and White
Or maybe wear a black and white striped suit. A recent Japanese study revealed a novel way of reducing the amount of biting flies and other irritating insects around grazing cattle. To improve animal welfare, they experimented with painting black and white stripes onto cattle with a water-based pigment. It worked – and has earned them an Ig Nobel Prize.
The stripes apparently disrupt the flies’ vision, making the cattle less appealing targets and therefore reducing aliments and stress caused by biting insects.
Black cows painted with a zebra-like pattern experiencing roughly 50% fewer fly bites than unpainted cows or cows painted with a solid black stripe.
Pet Blessing
Tomorrow, Sunday 5th, at 2.30 pm, the annual Blessing of Pets will take place at St. Michael’s Church in Llanvihangel Crucorney, near Abergavenny, NP7 8DH. This year’s Service will be conducted by the former Bishop of Monmouth, Bishop Dominic, a great animal lover.
Yogi took me to the Blessing of Pets for a few years and we both highly recommend it. It is a great gathering of all sorts of pets, from dogs and cats to reptiles, rabbits and other beloved pets.
Sadly there will be one much-loved regular missing this time. Earlier this year, Sebastian, the little black miniature Shetland pony passed away peacefully in his field aged 25. He certainly lived life and touched many lives, and will be very much missed at the Blessing this year.
Organiser Sian Lloyd says, ‘All animals and pets, great and small, are welcome to join us. There is easy access to the Church and ample parking. For further details you can call Sian on 07889 581181.
I can’t promise you’ll see any zebra-striped cows at the Blessing, but you and your pet will receive many blessings in beautiful surroundings.
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