We’re excited to have the best crop of marionberries that we’ve had in many years. Often, with cool weather (May gray and June gloom) preceding the harvest, the dreaded Botrytis fungus causes mold to develop just as the berries ripen. This year we had a warm, sunny May and first half of June. We also sprayed weekly with a biofungicide that is approved for organic use. Both may explain the bounty.

If you’ve not heard of or tasted marionberries read NPR’s Salt blog post What’s Behind Oregon’s Marionberry Mania? Some describe marionberry’s flavor as a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry. I rate them superior to any blackberry I’ve ever tasted. Years ago my sister in Oregon mailed me some “sticks” in a padded manilla envelope in January. Those marionberry canes thrived here in San Diego and we’ve given many plants away to others. The botrytis disease took hold in our coastal garden after a spate of foggy, cool summers.

It’s time to bring out the marionberry and apple recipe files.

Last week we harvested ten pounds of ‘Dorsett Golden’ apples from our small espaliered tree. It appears that this is about a third of the crop. Most years we get a smaller second crop in the fall.

Once again, plentiful, well-apportioned winter rains brought an abundance. It also may help that the apple tree is only about two feet from two stacking compost bins. More about the apples next week.

I returned the apricot and cabbage files to the drawer. We celebrate a generous apricot harvest of 78 pounds this year. I closed the season with apricot jam (from my mother’s recipe) and an apricot crostata.

A seasonal favorite marked the end of the season (and Father’s Day)—Pork and Red Cabbage Skillet. Red onions tossed with apple cider vinegar and salt are stirred into the cabbage just before serving. Toasted pepitas add crunch and color.

My two large rhubarb plants continue a strong spring run. I find many kitchen uses for this permanent edible. I developed a recipe for Triple Berry Rhubarb Jam that extends the berries and lets rhubarb play a supporting role.

I do purchase Trader Joe’s Fancy Berry Medley of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. It’s an attempt to approximate the triple berry jam my sister, Katie in Oregon makes from the berries they pick every summer.

I haven’t made many Sunday bouquets lately so this one graces our dining room table. We’re not back to church yet with Covid-19 but the flowers don’t know what’s happening in our world. They cheer me.

You may enjoy seeing what other garden bloggers harvested last week at Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres.

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