"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message

I have been pulling apples, pears and quinces this week. The pears are
still hard, hopefully the timing is right and they will ripen off the tree
this time.

The Granny Smith apples are beautiful; crisp, sweet and slightly tart. We
had some visitors and I pulled one off the tree and offered it around.
They said "aren't you going to wash it?" I said "why?"

The quinces are marvellous, truly the prince of cooked fruits, pink and
luscious. The medlars are a few weeks away yet. Such rewards make all
the fuss with nets and such worthwhile.

We too have had wonderful apples this year but I lost all but a couple of my
quinces because I ran out of bird netting so could only cover a few of them.
My peaches are jsut about to be right for harvest. I've had a few and they
are stunning. Nectarines were also good this year.