Budding apples, majestic mugwort and time for a sun dance?

The apple blossom is turning into strong little apples...all the trees are bowing under the weight. Once again, the mugwort is taking centre stage in the top orchard this year, bigger and bolder than last year. Della offered a wonderful lesson in the beautiful qualities of the mugwort last year and I've recently been told that this stately plant very much chooses her location. We love her for choosing our orchard!

We will be harvesting our 1st broad beans and mange tout this week but other plants, whilst they are happy to be in the ground, are not happy with the temperatures. It is just too cold for them. The nectar production is therefore lowered and the bees are really suffering. Perhaps we could do a sun dance to bring in the weather that nature needs to flourish.

Having said that the berries are very happy and we are heading towards our first ever successful crop of redcurrants. (Last year they were stripped before even thinking of changing colour.) The leeks that we've transplanted this week will love the moisture still in the ground and we need to clean up the other half of the garlic bed from a strange, leafy plant that we've yet to identify.