It’s spring, and an old woman’s fancy turns to shrubs, apparently. To which end, today I accompanied Mrs Trep out to a local (plant) nursery to stock up. Whilst she went a-rummaging, I took myself off for a wander round the nursery (you’re way ahead of me here…)
Having inspected the herbs, I wandered over to the fruits section and spied - a mulberry tree. Oooh - definitely an ancient fruit; I’ve tasted mulberries on a couple of occasions and they were delicious - now that would be quite a preserve to make. And next to it… a medlar. Medlar?! Medlar!!!
It was inevitable - always meant to be. One heated conversation later, and I bought a tree for the first time in my life. Medlar Nottingham. We just about got it into the car (at 7 feet it barely fitted into the back of our estate/station wagon). What fun!
To be fair to Mrs Trep, she has now all but taken this particular project over - mulling where the tree can be planted, perhaps to be surrounded by snowdrops, making sure it’s going to get enough sun. You’re supposed to plant them between November and March, so that’s fine. Tomorrow’s weather forecast is cold but dry, so that’s good for planting.
Damn. You know, I should have got that mulberry as well…
j