The National Fruit Collection
I can most highly recommend a visit to the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale near Faversham in Kent. Last year I made the journey and it was well worth it. Above pictured is a 'Medlar' which is a lesser known fruit related to a rosehip. This fruit is left to ripen over winter till really soft and ripe, almost rotten. This process is known as 'bletting'. The medlar has a lovely sweet nutty flavour. Incidentally, the French translation for medlar is 'un bout de chien' - literally 'dogs bottom' - you can see why!
Quinces are coming to their best at the moment. Related to a pear, all the quinces at Brogdale are picked and shipped exclusively to Fortnum & Mason in London. All of them - except the windfalls which made their way into my kitchen for some delicious quince jelly !
Thousands of apple varieties to be found at Brogdale. Many of which are native to different counties in the UK and can be ordered from their shop.
Also at Brogdale is the National collection of pears, plums, cherries... and the National collection of nuts !!
posted by Matron @ 9:37 AM
5 Comments:
What a great day out! Gorgeous photos too.
Celia
What fantastic looking fruit, I shall try and drag my other half there sometime soon. As a kid I used to hate pears, maybe because they were tinned, but I love fresh pears now and take one to work every day with me.
Don't you just love to see ripe fruit on the trees? Nothing seems to illustrate nature's bounty better. Thanks for the great photos.
Interesting to hear that the quince are snapped up by F&M. I read, today, that a London Waitrose is selling sloes!
Quince jelly goes down well here! Waste not want not!
Which sort of nuts were you referring to..... Garden nuts or "Nuts" in the garden? lol
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