Fruit Growing

We started growing as much fruit as we could but the growing, picking, pruning and weeding and challenging weather conditions, it turned out to be too ambitious.

Over the years we have developed some excellent relationships with commercial fruit growers which means we are able to concentrate our efforts on growing fruits and vegetables which are hard or impossible to buy or prohibitively expensive.

These days we grow tomatoes to pick green for our Exmoor Pond Weed Chutney, marrows for Devilishly Devon Chutney, Runner Beans for chutney, Boysenberries (a tayberry/blackberry cross), Blackberries, Tayberries, Gooseberries and Redcurrants.  We also grow a number of unusual summer squashes which we supply to a number of our farm shop customers.

We have tried two varieties for our Blackberry & Apple Jam; Black Butte and Lochness. The Lochness wins hands down.

This is a cross between a dewberry, tayberry and blackberry.  If I were to describe the flavour, it would be very similar and some would say preferable to a blackberry.  They are round, plump, juicy and not as seedy.  I believe we are the only grower in the UK and therefore supplier of this jam.  Boysenberries are grown widely in New Zealand though.

We grow one variety and use only one variety in our jam, Ben Tiran. Stocks are topped up with some from a local Blackcurrant grower in the Blackdown Hills, near Wellington in Somerset and Mr Snell from Herefordshire.

We grow an early variety, Jonkheer van Tets, and a later fruit one, Rovada. This should ensure we have some redcurrants regardless of the weather.

The very popular and traditional Invicta is the one we use in our jam. This is a bucket full we picked, we have topped and tailed them ready for jamming.

We grow a stringless variety. The flavour is lovely but they are not commonly grown on a commercial basis because the beans are far from straight! However, they are ideal for our Runner Bean Chutney.

With Brexit brought the demise of a number of local fruit growers.  Most of the damsons we use are grown here, we have a number of well established trees.  Victoria Plums are now purchased from a fruit grower in Gloucester, the nearest grower to us now.  Apricots are impossible to grow in our climate at the moment but that could change.

Quinces are a strange fruit, the variety we use is called Vranja.  They look like a very large pear but deep yellow in colour and very hard.   This fruit is available from Mid September for a few weeks only.   We make quince butter and quince jelly.  We also make a quince paste for Country Cheeses in Tavistock, Totnes and Topsham, but you would have to be quick to get this as stocks do not last long!  If you go into their shops you may see some of our quince mice, ideal for your special cheeseboard or to decorate a cheese wedding cake.

We have a number of pear trees now quite established and crop extremely well.  One thing we have learned is that this fruit does not ripen on the tree, they have to be picked and stored in a warm dry place to ripen.

We have a number of pear trees now quite established and crop extremely well.  One thing we have learned is that this fruit does not ripen on the tree, they have to be picked and stored in a warm dry place to ripen.

We also grow a number of squashes, mainly for ourselves but the farm shops we supply expressed interest in them, so we now grow more to be able to supply them.  In the mix is Spaghetti Squash, lovely roasted and then you take a spoon to scrap it length ways and it comes out like spaghetti.   Tromboncino Squash is very long, curls and has a bulb bottom, it is referred to as a Summer Squash, it has a firm flesh and is lovely raw and ribboned in a salad or very lightly cooked.  Green Pumpkin we grow for Sri Lankan customer of ours for his curries.  We also grow Butternut Squash and Crown Prince.