Waiting for Autumn

Sumer is one of the best times of the year with fine weather, holidays and the cold of winter seemingly a million miles away. For Wych's Brew the summer sees a bit of a lull as the anticipation of Autumn grows. In fact, growing is what is going on - a lot of growing. The spring saw the blooming and the blossoming and now the fruit in the orchard is developing, and developing rapidly.

June saw the cherries come and go, and thanks to some very hot weather we had a bumper crop of delicious baby cherries that we managed to take before the birds moved in (at least, we got quite a lot of them). Now there are a variety of of different fruits developing gradually; apples, crab apples, pears, plumbs & quinces, all getting closer and closer to ripeness. The early signs suggest that this may be a bumper year based on the volumes we have seen so far and how heavily weighted down the branches are.

So what is making this year a bumper year? And what could happen from here? The first thing to mention is that the spring was warm, steady and favourable for pollination. The blossom survived any upheaval and mass pollination happened. With a lot of dry weather around and good conditions where frosts were limited, there has emerged a lot of juvenile fruit on the trees. This has been followed by a combination of high heat and also some wet weather which contributes to great fruit development. Grape growers in La Rioja would tell you of the need for cycles of high heat and plenty of irrigation so that the grapes can gain their thick, flavour-rich skins and the juicy flesh so important for wine making at that level.

So far 2025 has had all of the ingredients needed for a great crop, but we are not yet at the harvest point. There is plenty of work for nature to do yet. If the summer is too hot then some of the harvest could be lost. We still need plenty of wet weather in the orchard as well. However, if the weather turns and becomes too wet then the crops could also suffer. The next few weeks will be key to the final success in late August and into September. So far it looks good - fingers crossed!