Tips for your fruit
Urban apple trees
Growing gooseberries
Growing blackcurrants
Growing raspberries

Useful links
Common Ground - Apple Day
Urban Harvest
To contact the fruit scrumping group at Transition Belisize please email Paul Mackay [pauljmackay@gmail.com]

Lauriston Place - Varieties

REDCURRANT

Red Lake - A reliable variety and is a popular all rounder. The fruit on the long trusses making it easy to pick. Produces large fruits with heavy yields. The flavour is good and juicy. Picking time late July.

BLACKCURRANT

Baldwin - An old variety which was the most popular choice until Ben Lomond came along. Growth is quite compact and the tart fruit hangs on the plant for a long time. Picking time late July. 

Ben Sarek - Compact growth making it a ideal choice for the smaller garden. Heavy crops of large fruits ready for picking in mid July. This variety has frost and mildew resistance so a good choice for colder sites. 

Ben Connan- Flowers and fruits late so will miss the frosts. A large sweet berry. Mildew resistant. Heavy cropping on a compact bush. Picking time late July. You can expect heavy crops year after year.

© Blackmoor 

CHERRY

Summer Sun - The UK's most reliable cropping cherry tree. It will crop heavily, even in seasons when others fail. The delicious cherries which ripen from red to almost black will be ready towards the end of July. Summer Sun cherry is an excellent dessert cherry with good frost tolerance particularly suitable for colder more exposed locations. Origin is Norfolk. Self fertile. 
 
Celeste - A compact self fertile variety. Large, dark red fruit. Good as a patio tree on dwarf rootstock. White flowers. 

APPLE

Apple Winter Gem - bred in the 1960's in Kent by Hugh Ermen, and carry a Cox-like aromatic dessert apple. The tree is a disease resistant late - and very heavy cropper, producing its red and russet apples for use between October and March.

© Ashridge Trees

Apple Lord Lambourne – o+ne of the earliest of the scented eating apples. The tree is easy to grow and produces beautifully shaped round fruit. The colouring is dark gold over green, with just a touch of russet. The flesh or a ripe Lord Lambourne is aromatic, creamy-white and quite crisp and the flavour is pleasantly strongjuicy and acidic. Like many of the aromatic apples, Lord Lambourne is a very good juicer.

© Ashridge Trees

PEAR

Concorde –  The Concorde pear was developed in England as a cross between the Conference and Comice varieties. The Concorde inherited the shape of the Conference pear and the sweet, juiciness of the Comice. Conference pears are popular in Europe and have an elongated shape and russeted skin. The Comice is well-known in the United States and has a crisp texture.

Concorde pears do not dramatically change color as they ripen, retaining their green color even when ripe. It’s best to apply gentle pressure to the neck of the Concorde, and when it gives way, you know the fruit is ripe and ready to eat. Ripening brings out a more golden, slightly softer and mellower flavor.

The Concorde’s dense flesh makes it an ideal pear for cooking as the fruit holds its shape and flavor in baking, poaching or in jams and preserves. Concordes are very slow to oxidize, or turn brown, when cut. This feature alone makes it an excellent pear for salads, fruit compotes and desserts.