Oh Dear; Annual Waste.

This pains me, but there's little I can do about it.

There are Pears by the hundreds,

Quinces by the score,

Apples by the bucket load,

And even Marrows by the dozen on the compost.... I could go on!

We eat as much as we can, and we preserve as much as we can. We encourage others to take whatever they want. And we despair as we watch so much good fruit and veg' go to waste.

It's something all us country folk get used to, I know; but it doesn't make over production any easier.

The Great Fruit Wastage.

We wait for months for the trees to bear fruit. We dread a late frost, we quivver at the thought of hail, and we 'pray' that the pot of pestilence doesn't spill-over.

Then, when all has survived, and the trees are filled with fruit; we can't cope. We make jams, pies, and crumbles. We freeze, bottle, and dry. And we simply eat as much as we can.

But there's always waste; and I hate it. It really troubles me that I have planted all these trees and cannot do justice to their bounty.

The problem, in the country, is that everyone has a glut, and no-one needs hand-outs. I've told some of the local children to help themselves to peaches (middle picture), but otherwise.....

There is an Amish saying 'better to burst your stomach, than to waste food'. They're right, but I can do nothing about it.