Baby bramleys to go with Pim's blackberries!

they look great, apple pie and custard,

Those look great - love Bramleys!

Now they do look good and healthy..I haven't noticed the apples here yet.

Adding this bit...Do the Italians use Bramleys ?

The Italians don't appear to be great apple lovers at all - they don't ever have Bramleys on sale as far as we know. We were really apprehensive about English apple trees surviving, much less thriving in our funny climate - but so far, so good, fingers crossed. We did water them copiously their first two summers until they were well and truly established, though. The only tree that appears to have problems is our Cornish Gilliflower, where the fruit develop late enough for the very high temperatures in August to "cook" the fruit on the trees before it ripens properly. We do seem to get harvestable crops of the other varieties in July, which is quite early, I suppose.

Oh Goody Goody Apple and Blackberry pie!

Oh I know! We always have to get friends and relatives to send us lots of Bird's custard powder round about the beginning of September!

lol I ve just been out for Birds Custard powder fo my trifle, we are having a family get together My sons birthday and Fathers Day ;0)

Yum! My Bramley apple trees arent doing well at all..had a wee blossom on one way back in March then nothing! :(

Oh Dear, Pixi - A year without Bramleys is, well, pretty awful. Do you have a Sainsbury's nearby? Ours were in bloom on April 1st, and the rotten weather then and afterwards made us think we would get very few apples of any kind, but we've been pleasantly surprised at how many are growing. Some trees are so heavily laden I've had (with tears in my eyes) to go round and take between half and 2/3 of the crop off, and that's AFTER June drop. Not a single Cox's Orange pippin, though.

Oh I can buy apples antwhere but I wanted them to grow in my garden :(

It'll happen, Pixi, honest! Your trees are only babies, aren't they?

Mine are the same, Pix...not Bramley...but loads of blossom...two miniscule apples...

I've just been up the garden talking VERY severely to my Cox's tree. It's only a baby, but it did have 3 tiny fruits on a couple of months ago, and it's shed all of them, and it's not good enough!

It's been funny weather this year, tho', Gattina...
Does it need another pollinator?
I realise that's probably a daft question from your point of view...
...but, I didn't know and I had to get another tree from a different group...and that's why I've got my first three miniscule apples...
...if the chickens haven't had them, that is...

Well, I did check in my little book of apples before we bought it, and at least four of our other trees are suitable pollinators, but I think maybe no-one has told the Cox's. I do know they have a reputation for being difficult.

So glad you've got apples Gat, and so early! We've four apple trees in our garden, but not sure any have been pollinated after our wet, cold weather. But still hoping . .

Btw, SO unusual, but the Cowslip seeds I promised you have NOT set - presumably due to the wet, cold, etc.

It's been a funny old year, Sheila, not to worry! The apples will probably be harvestable in about a month, I hope, as I have no Bramleys left in the freezer. :o( I supposed anything would have been a bonus, as the blossom was plastered to the tree by torrential rain, blown to kingdom come by high winds and prettily frosted by the night temperatures in April. We were incredibly lucky, or I must have done something right for a change. My Granddad loved apple trees - he'd have been so proud of me!
I can't believe the weather reports from the UK - you poor, poor souls. Surely July will be better? I'm not going to tell you about what's happening here - no-one will want to speak to me ever again.

Thank for the sympathy, Jan, but things are definitely brightening up here now. I actually SAT IN THE GARDEN all yesterday afternoon, and OH brought me a tall glass of Pimm's!!

How lovely to have Bramleys! They look so healthy despite what they've been through. I've missed them since living here, but manage to get by with whatever comes my way. Unfortunately the Spaniards seem to enjoy an apple called Amarillo (yellow) with soft slushy flesh - no good for cooking! I have no idea of the varieties I use for pies and cakes - I just chop about the boxes of windfalls I'm given and hope for the best!

yes only got them at christmas! lol Im impatient!

PS: What happened to Jessica Rabbit?

She packed her bags. Not feeling very Wabbity at the moment, Nariz!

Oh - I was just getting used to Jessica - very confident and assertive, I thought - bit of a diff!!!

I know...I quite agree, Mel...

Somehow, the mouse is just a bit not right, somehow...
...but, quite effective, non the less...;)

;-) We shall see....

We could put it to the vote........

I was keen on your real pic Jess.

The mouse just doesn't seem like 'you' at all!

Agree with Nariz..plus you must be nervous...with all those cats you have.

Gosh they are way ahead of ours !

I wonder do they taste different being ready in High summer, more sugar content ?

I'm not sure - I got very impatient last year and picked most of our apples probably earlier than I should have done. There were August thunderstorms in the offing and I didn't want to lose them. They tasted much the same as they do in the UK, but fresher, and of course, when they're your own, there's that indefinable sweetness, isn't there?