Rained out at the Apricot Centre

Today's visit to the Apricot Centre was a new experience. It rained! Quite hard and for quite a while. I brought my course-mate Anna with me today and we started off the morning with a cup of coffee and a chat, followed by picking raspberries, more raspberries, a few blackberries. The raspberries are going to become jam--my favorite flavor! The apricots were a bit tricky as the ones left on the tree were quite high up. We used a step ladder, but that didn't get us to the top. We shook the tree to see what we could shake down, but that wasn't very successful and might result in a bruised arm. The sap that comes out of the trees is really beautiful and looks like amber. Anna and I admired it as we climbed about the branches trying to reach the fruit. We managed to pick our way through the whole lot of raspberries which was quite an accomplishment. I must say, raspberries are easier on the back to pick than strawberries. After we finished up that job, we went over to plant some leeks, radishes and beetroot in a raised bed that Aidan had prepared. And then something happened that hasn't happened at the centre since I've been there. It rained. It chucked buckets of rain. At first, we kept working. Using the trow to drill a line in the dirt, drizzling in seeds and tucking them in to bed. Then it poured. It was a shame that some of the work didn't get done, but I really enjoyed hanging out in the glasshouse, listening to the rain come down. It wasn't all sitting about. We did manage to pull up a bed of larkspur that was at its end. It was sad in a way to be pulling up the beautiful deep blue and purple flowers, but room must be made for the next batch of things to grow. Today's takeaways included two little boxes of blackberries and raspberries and a bouquet. The rain was a good thing since it has been on the warm side and pretty dry. I think the raspberries (and the rest of the lot) will benefit from a good dousing. I know I enjoyed it.