The Park sighed with relief as the rain fell this weekend. Dried up pools filled. Roots sprang into life and fruits became engorged once more. A drought like we have just been through causes considerable stress to our plant life, which is simply not used to it. It seems like the trees have been racing towards autumn with bare branches and premature leaf fall. The brown grass has given way to young tree saplings, which can put out deeper roots.And the whole thing feels a bit strange.

It is comforting then to see the blackberries coming with what seems to be a very good harvest. If you don’t like prickles you will find these thornless ones in the orchard.

Some of you might be interested in the variety of insects in the park just now. A national butterfly count is currently taking place and I was lucky to spot these two common blue butterflies in the park near the Langley Arms this afternoon.

We have a substantial crop of apples in the orchard this year. Our trees, some of which are around seven years old, are well on the road to maturity. As a result I am wondering whether to do some ‘pick and share’ days when the apples on the various trees come ripe. This might discourage early picking and sore bellies. Watch out for some notices on the trees shortly.

This brings me to our next orchard worksession which is this coming Saturday August 4th. Please join us at 10am for just two hours. We shall be preparing some ground for new tree planting in the autumn and discussing what types of fruit tree to plant.

Enjoy the summer.