APPLETIME

There's nothing quite like a Bramley – it's texture, flavour, size and abundance make it the perfect cooking apple – whether in crumbles, tarts, amber, charlotte or snow – look no further.

Fortunately, Bramley’s grow prolifically in the orchards of England, sometimes even along roadside verges, and if you're very lucky – in your own garden. We were one of the lucky ones to discover a tree amongst the hitherto wild and unkempt section of our garden in France. From just a single fruit in our first autumn living there, to a couple of hundred or more by the end of year 6. Such a find – and with blackberries gathered from the opposite bank, desserts were organized and freezer filled for the months to follow.

Back in Somerset (famous for it's cider apples) apple picking and storing was a main feature throughout September and October – all the fruit neatly packed away in boxes before the clocks 'went back'. Of course, eating apples were also collected but not in such numbers as most were 'eaters, not keepers' – for instance the lovely Russet and our own rather special Beauty of Bath.

My father was particularly fond of a crisp 'Cox' and these would be wrapped up carefully, and hopefully could still be enjoyed at Christmas.

I still like to continue a sort of apple time tradition and keep a close eye on local trees and orchards – preferring to buy from places I can see and visit, or even to collect 'fallers' from an occasional wayside track or lane.

There's something rather uncanny about the way a few apples hang onto the branches of trees alongside busy roads and motorways... Long after all the leaves have gone the bright oranges, reds and yellows shine out to attract and draw the eye towards the hedgerows, sometimes lasting well into the New Year. I like to think of these as nature's own baubles to remind us of Christmas past and the promise of things to come.

For my pictures I've selected a few Bramley apples, a bowl of Cox's Orange Pippins, and our small, stalwart and productive tree in blossom in France.

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