Three Ps for June
- Kim Malaj
- 3 minutes ago
- 2 min read
June for us was full of ripe, sweet and plump wild yellow and red plums, near perfect potatoes, and juicy pears.
It's the first year we've had a zero frost damage and a successful harvest of wild plums. We've made several rounds of plum suko (juice) and wild vanilla plum jam. Plus an amazing bounty of picking and eating straight from the tree. For several visitors and guests of the Orchard Guard Tower it was their first time trying these varieties and they came back for more. We have black and sugar plums coming up next month.
Our first pears ripened the second week of June and a second variety is just starting to ripen at the end of the month. We have a third variety coming late July.
We finished the mulberry season with a few rounds of shaking, picking, drying and squeezing a final round of pekmez (molasses). Note to future self, order more jars at the beginning of May. The mulberry trees are shaken once a day for the chickens and piggies to enjoy.
We added two additional pigs Sancho and Pancho. They've made quick friends with our Mister and Roger and even with a few of our guests.
Our greenhouse and garden have been providing a steady source of climbing beans, potatoes, onions, garlic, spinach, kale, arugula, tomatoes, zucchini, parsley, basil, cilantro, and cucumbers. We've harvested chamomile, lavender, mint, and mountain tea all dried and stored. Our melon row is nearly ready to pick a few watermelons, the melons and eggplants are slowly starting this year. Art built new shelves for potato storage.
We've also been enjoying a few figs. We have seven varieties and two that ripen in June. We'll have to wait until August to enjoy the true bounty.
Coming soon are the cornelius cherries aka thana, quince, apples, walnuts, hazelnuts and chestnuts. Followed by jujube dates, pomegranates, persimmons, orange, lemons, and olives.
The vineyard has been steadily growing and the shade over the hammocks has been a huge blessing as we reached boiling temps.
The pomegranate orchard is holding steady. We've had a few strong winds that have broken a few young branches but overall it's doing well.
The last broody hen hatched 7 chicks and we are averaging 6 to 8 eggs a day at the moment. The grand total of our 2026 hatched chicks comes to 74. The predator cages over the smallest chicks have prevented any losses as we've had several big birds circling this month.
Our predator birds aren't the only ones hanging out above and around the homestead. We've had a few birds nest nearby including the house sparrows, swallows, magpies, blackbirds and great tits.
Our guests staying in the Orchard Guard Tower have enjoyed the bounty of the garden and food forest as well as the cool comforts of air conditioning. We've been over 40 C the last few days and for readers in the US over 100 F. We've also reached a new milestone as we have now hosted guests from the thirty countries in purple. We have a few dates available in July and August. Are you coming to Albania?
Our monthly flyover of the homestead.
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