Baby nectarines

I’ve been a bit worried about the nectarine tree which had a hefty dose of leaf curl this year.

It also flowered just when the weather was wet and windy and there wasn’t much chance of pollination.

It’s never been a big fruiter: the nectarines it produces are wonderfully sweet and juicy, but small and few in number.

However there are a few coming along this season.

The first photo was taken a fortnight ago. The second photo (of a different cluster) was taken today.

A newly-formed nectarine

One nectarine is getting quite big

Neighbour to Granny Smith

Leaf curl – attractive but deadly

The nectarine tree has leaf curl.

A lot of the leaves are blistered, swollen and brightly coloured as well as curled; in fact this fungal disease would be attractive if I didn’t know it was so damaging.

Seeing as the tree’s finished flowering, Chokri and I gave it the after-flower spray,  but we left out the insecticide element and only used fungicide.

That way, if any bees had braved the windy conditions, they wouldn’t be affected.

It was a necessary precaution because the next tree along in the grid is the Granny Smith apple tree which is in full bloom.

Granny Smith blossom

Fallen peaches

Peaches - some fallen, some attached

The wind is knocking our peaches down to form little puddles of gold on the steep slope.

The tree grows out of the slope about half-way down. It was spared, along with the fig tree just below it, during the earth-moving project that allowed the burying of the septic tank.

The slope is very steep indeed. Sitting on it, I have to wedge either my seat or my feet in order not to slide down.

It’s so steep that the twigs of the peach tree not only touch it, but actually lie along it. With the result that fallen peaches and peaches that are still attached are in some places indistinguishable.

But I’m certainly not looking a gift horse in the mouth. This is the first year that we’ve had a significant crop on this tree, since I started serious treatment of its leaf curl, and the peaches, though not large, are particularly juicy.