After a lovely day on Wednesday, the weather turned murky with mist and fog in the morning only slowly clearing, leaving the afternoon dull and cloudy.
On Saturday there was very little difference between our daytime high temperature of 7.1°C (44.8°F) and night time low of 5.2°C or 41.4°F.
 |
| Temperature & Rainfall Records 02-08 November 2020 |
I always think of our quinces as being the last fruit of the season. This year they were picked at the beginning of October.
They are a little bit different from all our other fruit in that they cannot be eaten raw. The fruits only soften on cooking and are delicious added to apples or eaten on their own. However, we do have another fruit, growing on a tree in the garden, which is still to be picked.
These are medlars and the fruits are still very firm. The fruits have to blet before they can be eaten. I'm not sure whether the fruits are best left on the tree for this to happen or whether they should be removed and stored inside until they soften. I've read that once softened the fruit tastes a little bit citrusy but to be honest, we've never got that far. I find it very difficult to tell difference between bletting and rotting. Maybe I'll give them another week or so on the tree before deciding what to do.
Posts
Sure that wasn't smoke from bonfire night? ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhich bonfire night would that be Mal. They started on Thursday night and have continued through to Sunday night. I've no doubt that bonfires have contributed to the mist. We haven't seen the sky since last Wednesday. Monday morning has started of with thick mist.
DeleteBlet. A new word! Yippee! I love new words. Had to look it up. Difficult to find on American Wiki. It doesn't mean in your case Basic Law Enforcement Training. Wiki then referred me to the English Wiki which a delightful page on it. I like your murky picture. Smoke came to my mind, too.
ReplyDeleteThere was an element of smoke in the mist after lots of bonfires celebrating bonfire night. The weather forecast has been for mist or fog clearing away by lunchtime for the last few days. It's been nearly a week since we've seen the sky. All very damp and miserable especially in our second lockdown.
DeleteGlad you managed to find out the meaning of blet. The definition is one thing but it doesn't help very much to tell when medlars have actually bletted.
Regarding the medlar bletting: bletting means the rotting associated with overripe fruit, so rotting and bletting are almost synonyms.
ReplyDeleteMedlars should be harvested when they come off the stem easily with a little quarter twist or gentle tug. You can disinfect them with very salty water, but this is not essential if your storage space is nice and dry & cold. Store them so that they are not touching each other, with the eye downwards for about three weeks, assuming that you picked them around the first week of November. When they are soft all over, they are ready! They will continue to blet/rot and remain edible for a while: a perfectly bletted medlar can have its flesh sucked out through the eye when the skin gets soft enough.
You can also leave them on the tree and pick them when you observe wrinkled and brown skin all over the fruit, but you will probably lose a fair few this way to falling and birds etc. Another option is to pick them before they are bletted and freeze & thaw them several times - I haven't tried this myself, I'm told it works fine but isn't as tasty as bletting them normally.
If yours are still on the tree, they should be looking ready right now, or very soon. Enjoy!
Thanks for the info.
DeleteSome of ours are still on the tree but the majority have fallen off. If only I could tell rotting from bletting.