Hester Winterbourne

You have correctly identified the main snag with this tree - the pips.  Wine or flavouring spirits therefore is a good use as the pips can be easily strained out.  Jam is not so good as getting the pips out by pushing through a sieve is harder work and the resulting puree spits whilst cooking. A  mouli might work but I don't have one. Does make a rich flavoured smooth jam though.  This year I am moving house so have offered the berries to someone else but couldn't resist making hawthorn ketchup.  Wonderful colour and flavour and as the product is runnier the spitting is not such a problem.

I have a question if I may - is this a prickly pear or if not does the prickly have close edible relatives?

I'm just wondering if the asparagus is going to enjoy this set-up?  I find it is prone to slug damage.  I've dug up all my crowns in preparation for moving next year and am envisaging trying to give it something more like a shingle beach to grow in.  However, I do know of one plant which has been happily growing in a neighbour's rose bed for years!  Also, at the time you are wanting to find and harvest spears will the other things around it make it more difficult to find?

I have some morsels to add to this...

According to my mum, my father (who grew up in west Devon) solved the jam/cream scone question by having cream on one half and jam on the other and eating alternate bites.

Some people have mentioned using buttermilk as the liquid in scones/biscuits/soda bread, but I don't think anyone has suggested whey, which I've found to also work very well.  And I was also given a recipe for Italian canistrelli, which use white wine.  The recipe didn't seem to make sense and I sort of turned them into something more fluffy and scone-like than I think they're supposed to be.  But they were very nice.

Hi Nancy, I've been to Skye a couple of times and I'm awestruck by what you have achieved!  

Nancy Reading wrote: wondering at what stage to pick the fruit. I'm also wondering whether to sow or eat them! I can do both of course, since the pips will be rather large to swallow.

Each berry has several pips so you will not need many berries to get a good little potful of potential seedlings.  Also, mine has berries too so I can send you some seed if you would like it.

As for ripeness, leave them until they are very dark red if the birds will let you... when you pull them off the tree, they will come off the stalk with an almost "punky" feel when ripe.

I react badly to insect bites, not at first but a day or two later they start to itch infernally, and I've found hand sanitiser gives me some relief.

I can't grow horseradish.  That thing that you can't get rid of.  I've tried three times and each time it's just dwindled away to nothing...

A friend of mine had an electric comb that zapped the little devils.

For what it's worth, both my kids had head lice at some stage ( I never did, can't have had enough friends) and I never stressed out majorly over washing bedding and toys etc, more than the usual routine.

I re-use jars for jam and chutney as much as I can, but if not I buy from the local farm store.  I used to have some kilner-type jars, but found them too awkward in use and filling.  Ordinary jam jars, well washed, filled with boiling water and left to stand on the draining board, then emptied and put in a warm oven to dry out before filling, and the lids are boiled in a pan.