Potatoes, politics... plums and peaches

Buying plums has been a dilemma for us for a while now. Back in the summer there were farmers in Kent recording bumper crops that were going unpicked, as supermarkets had pre-ordered imported ones from abroad. At the GVG we had a great supply of Victorias, Marjorie Seedlings and damsons from within a few miles of the shop, and some of them were made into jam to keep us going through the winter. A reasonable supply from southern Spain has followed, but recently golden plums have been from South Africa... but have been very popular in this 'lean season' and have ripened reasonably well post-picking.

Today, Argentinian peaches were the 'new-in produce' and Howard force-fed me one to convince me it did taste ripe and sweet, not bland. Peach trees are very difficult to grow here, for several years we have battled with growing one - inside the greenhouse it gets infested with red spider mite (despite biological controls) which then decimates our aubergines (but not the tomatoes?) and outside it succumbs to peach leaf curl and the frost takes the blossom. This week we have finally given up and replaced it with an apricot tree, which prove to be easier. Maybe you'll see Wellhouse apricots in the shop in the summer to accompany the Italian ones we had last year. In the meantime, there is a box of Argentinian peaches skulking in the GVG displays priced at 50p each, and I am harbouring a guilty conscience.