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It’s a really good year for pears! Most of the trees we harvest from are full of them. But if these very hot and dry conditions continue, the trees will get stressed and drop a lot of that fruit early. Those will be mostly useless to us. But what remains should be high in sugar and tannins.

A few years ago, I prompted Anu to hop up on this stone bench beside me. Now she hops onto it every time we pass it, usually to pose, this time maybe for a rest. Funny how these little habits get engrained 😄

This thing doesn’t have mute reposts yet, does it?

I need to calculate the weighted centre of this orchard, because this tank is not at it. Such long rows…

I was just about to go up to the phase 1 Perry pear meadow orchard to water some trees, but that blob on the rain radar running between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe and beyond to the SW is pointing this way. I guess if I go up with two watering cans it’s guaranteed to rain! 😜

Meeting the council to discuss shortly. Hopefully nobody was triggered by my 7:30 email with suggestions 😜

Barry M@barmas.bsky.social · 2d ago

Right, have a plan to try address this diplomatically while highlighting the urgency in a practical way & suggesting another method (or another system but will cost). Have to be careful not to antagonise those responsible. So awake since 2, just after 5 now, I may as well get up. 2 hrs sleep 😩

Good morning. Disturbing deer families on this pre-sunrise walk. Not that Anu cares, there’s non-flaked corn to be had for breakfast!

Feels Like Devon: Perries And A Cider From Rull Orchard. Jack discusses the evolution of Rull Orchard with its founders, Claire and Mike, including their commitment to sourcing unique perry pears. By Jack Toye. #cider #cidre #apfelwein #perry #orchards 🥂

Feels Like Devon: Perries And A Cider From Rull Orchard

Jack discusses the evolution of Rull Orchard with its founders, Claire and Mike, including their commitment to sourcing unique perry pears.

cider-review.com

The guys from the council told me they are watering these trees twice a week. I come up here fairly often, and I’m pretty fucking sure they are not. But I can’t accuse them of that, so instead seeking an alternative watering system that I can control.

More watering. The beavers continue to raise the water level in the Kertel. Slippy. Nice to see the trees responding to the care, but still too many suffering for my liking.

New post on #Fuggled, a quick trip through the top 5 VA ciders I have enjoyed in the last 12 months. #craftcider #VAcider #VirginiaCider www.fuggled.net/2026/08/top-...

Top 5 Virginia Ciders - 2026

a blog about beer, pubs and homebrewing. Based in Charlottesville but with a view of the world.

fuggled.net

Grand! All five new releases up on our website, with four new mixed case options. If you are in the EU, we can ship too 😉 kertelreiter.de/en/cider-en/ kertelreiter.de/en/buy-cider/

Barry M@barmas.bsky.social · 4d ago

I should really get these up on our website and start selling them. Just one more release to label.

Right, off to the cellar to label a perry and listen to the latest @cidervoice.bsky.social

I should really get these up on our website and start selling them. Just one more release to label.

Finally out the door! I can’t do late nights anymore, I noticed. 😄 We are going on a pear hunt. This lovely Tree is right in the middle of the village, belongs to a neighbour. Really small and very early pear, as a child the owner stuffed them into his pockets when heading out to the harvest.

Showered and fed. I’m supposed to leave for a large double birthday party soon, but would rather rest my weary bones and have a snooze. Not feeling 100%. Getting old…

The weather doesn’t know what it’s doing, but I hope it rains. Over to “nursery 1”, which then became an overflow patch from the bigger nursery. These trees were not supposed to be here this long.

Right, some office work done: nursery 2 spreadsheet updated, mails sent to cancel a bunch of insurance policies, and flights booked for Turin (for the Slow Food Terra Madre Salone del Gusto end of September - more on that anon). Flask of coffee made, some outdoor work needed.

The level of water in the Kertel has been rising, as has the Schefflenz into which it flows. More swimming space in the heart of the village. The beavers have been upgrading their dam! There’s another smaller one downstream.

I just said out loud “fuck me, that’s good”. German ciders tend to be acid-led as we simply don’t have tannic apples. Which is fine, tannic apples of England & France are really outliers in the tapestry of European cider culture. But there are some, & this guy has made it work amazingly. So bitter!

I’ve been at the nursery again, checking the updated spreadsheet, and indeed I had missed one tree. Now I know what we’ve got. I haven’t had a drink in two weeks and kinda feel like I’d like one now, if only to catch up on tasting notes!

"The home brewing community is not a tax problem to be solved. It is a seedbed for innovation, employment, and economic activity". EBCU is concerned about how some European governments are starting to look at home brewing: www.ebcu.org/blog/2026/07...

We’re at the old orchard to have a look what’s going on. This White Transparent is a regular cropper, and the earliest apple we have, but we never use it. Good for making Apfelmus, or eating fresh, but already going mealy. Not that Anu cares! Such a striking, bright colour.

Over to the nursery to stake a few of the more flexible pear trees. Looks like another and of rain is coming!

Behold my new shed

It was another 20 minutes before it opened it's wings and moved to a different position on the flower

It won’t be much, but that larger blob of rain is heading our way. 🤞 Got to 39.4°C today.

On this morning’s early walk, we went along the edge of the local forest to kinda scout for possible fatwood sources. Of course none seen as all broad leaved trees here, but did spot a surprise apple tree! I wonder if it was planted or is a seedling. 🤔

It’s been another day of meetings, a couple nicer ones than yesterday, relating to various fruit tree planting projects I’m running in cooperation with the local council. We may have scope for even more plantings in future, due to some new developments. But enough to focus on for now.