As the days lengthen, and before the serious heat of summer starts, there is a real opportunity to establish new plants, and let them settle.

I have been lucky enough to be gifted willow cuttings, and they’ve been living in a big bottle of water, growing roots, and waiting to be planted. This month is their lucky month! I have planted half a dozen around the food forest. Bearing in mind I’m working in a (relatively) small space, that might seem excessive. The answer is, “It depends”. While the garden is still in the early stages of being established, I need fast growing, shade-giving plants and trees to add support to the other, slower-growing and/or vining plants. Willows fit the bill perfectly. In time, I will coppice or pollard them, depending on their situation, and will be able to use the prunings for basket or fence making. This idea of successional planting comes from Syntropic agriculture, an arm of permaculture, which plants densely and then harvests the excess in order to repurpose it; via soil building as mulch, or uses like basketry or for fueling wood burners etc. This video is a great example of how this looks after some decades, and what I hope to achieve.

The frogs are ramping up the songs and some mornings their racket wakes me up as the sun is rising! Much better than an alarmclock!

I get used to watching tiny fruits appearing, only to see them drop a little later as a protest at the lack of water, or if it’s been particularly cold (although we’re not expecting that to happen now for a few months). These baby peaches seem to have survived, and I’ll be keeping a careful watch on when they’re ready to harvest. The lemon and lime trees are also laden with babies, so hopefully there will be good crops all around this year!

Happy May gardening!