First apple

What's that splash of red on our apple tree? Why, it's an apple. Indeed the very first one on the tree, planted five years ago. While our garden has proved fruitful, with lots of blackberries (turned into delicious smoothies by my wife, blended with raspberries and blueberries), sour cherries, white raspberries and wild strawberries, our apple tree has not, until now, borne any fruit. So it's a pleasure to see at least one apple on it.

This is, in any event, a bumper year for Polish apples; prices have fallen to the point where many growers are not bothering to pick them. The price for industrial apple (for juice) is 10 grosze a kilo - literally a penny a pound.

Colleagues in the office bring delicious apples in from their family działki, with the right balance of crispness, sweetness and acidity. The unsprayed apples might have blemishes and be an odd size, but are tastier than the standardised hypermarket bought apples. I await with interest what our first apple will taste like!