It used to be that when young city marrieds occupied their first suburban house, rented or bought, they were likely to find a garden with a fruit tree or two. One such couple moved from a first house which had a modest number of small apple trees to a bigger house which had a garden stocked with a pear tree of great quality espaliered along a high wall, a plot of raspberries and several good, well-established apple trees and some currant bushes. Their next move brought them more apple trees and pears, and - a lovely surprise - a greenhouse with a juicy peach tree, which fruited well and demanded only reasonable care. But now, with supermarkets bringing in fruit of good quality from all over the world - cherries at Christmas from some South American country - why should busy young people try to cope with the garden produce? But some keep doggedly on. They point out that supermarket apples often are tasteless compared with the home-grown varieties.
Also, there is a sense of achievement in having your own supply. And it's good, after a hard day at the office, to be active in the garden, stooping, digging and caring for your own produce in the spring and summer with longer days. One young man remembers the cookers from a huge tree which he, as the youngest and lightest, used to climb and gather in. Later they were laid on the upper floor of the barn on newspapers. They lasted from late October or early November until some time in late March or early April, when a sudden rise in temperature would spoil the few left. But having your own apples for five or six months was a great satisfaction. Now, with a house of his own and a serviceable back garden which had been well tended, but on which he intends to improve, he is studying catalogues of apples and other fruiting trees and bushes.
McNamara Rose Nurseries of Dunsfort, Midleton, Co Cork, have a catalogue with a good variety of apple trees. The eye is inevitably caught by a winner: "Irish Peach 1819: dessert; rich sweetness, slightly perfumed, juicy flesh. Brown-red flush flecks all over pale yellow medium. A beautiful garden variety. Pick and eat late August." He knows this variety from his childhood. Unfortunately marked "Sold out." But there are others he has ordered. He has already apples, a peach tree, a plum, and a magnificent old pear. Currants, too. Wish him luck.