Invincible Pear

It's called invincible as it flowers twice, meaning if the first gets hit by frost you'll get a later crop. Apparently sometimes you'll get two crops on the tree ripening at different times. 

These are my first pears from our tree here (I think I have three trees in fact) . Quite sharp at first bite, but enjoyable to eat. Lovely to have at the very tail end of October fresh from the tree. 

 The pears were good this year, but I'm really looking forward to when my dwarf trees start to produce. This was the first one really from what I planted a few years ago. That said I did have some tiny Asian pears, but they were too small to eat, I should have thinned the fruit! 

Other than Conference, what's your favourite pear?

Another Simple Wooden Axe cover

Talking with John in the comments on my last post, I thought I'd share another wooden axe cover on the course from a young carpenter, Ethan, who had this one in oak. 

 Very simple design that makes the axe easy to recognise in an instant, protects the edge and has a nice decorative element to it. 

 I think in the days before phones, TV and social media doing something like this around the fire would have been a nice way to spend an evening while chatting with friends. 

Do you prefer a more simple design like this? Or more complicated one like the previous post? I may have to make another one yet. 

Carved Wooden Axe Cover

So back on the Medieval Carpentry course in September, one of the carpenters, Gavin, had an axe with a wooden carved cover. I saw it and thought this was such a great idea. 

I asked him if it was okay to copy it and make one for a magazine article. He was fine with it. 

It Was tomato Leaves!

I think tomato leaves are the herb I never knew I was growing! 

 Can't wait to experiment more with them next year!

An Incredible Pesto - What's the Secret Ingredient?

I made an incredible pest the other night. It used an ingredient I've grown for 20 years and have never used. 

 What do you think I used?