Seeds and Berries

We've been planning our seed collecting walk (NEXT SATURDAY, THE 11TH AT 2.00 - MEET AT THE CONTAINER, AINSBURY AVENUE), but having decided with great enthusiasm that we'd do the walk, we find that some seeds are completely absent this year.

I wrote that there weren't any sweet chestnuts this year, and now have to admit to being wrong. Recent winds have brought leaves and unripe fruit down from the sweet chestnuts, and with less leaf cover we can see some fruit up there in prickly bunches, but whether they'll ever ripen is doubtful.

Still, at least it's there - which is more than can be said for rowan and holly berries. We haven't discovered any. The berries above are in our garden, and the only others I've seen have been in gardens, so obviously they aren't exactly the same as the wild native rowans. Likewise the hollies.

And does this mean we'll have a very mild winter? I'm not convinced that the trees can plan in advance according to their own internal weather forecast. Especally as the garden varieties seem to have a different view of the future months!

However, the planned walk will gather a good selection of other seeds and berries, and we'll be handing out collecting bags and instructions and hoping that people will successfully grow a selection of good native trees for planting later when they're sturdy little miniature trees. There's a good demand for them and we'll be suggesting Forest of Bradford as a future home for our Buck Wood babies. CA