An April free of frost is what we wanted and its what we got this year, that and a lot more too!
The warmest April for ten years in these parts has had the orchard out in its finest floral glory and – fortunately – there are still bees there to do the pollinating.
Even more fortunate, albeit long overdue and not yet enough, is the news last week of the EU’s ban on the outdoor use of imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam i.e. the neonicotinoid pesticides that have had such a devastating impact on bee populations across Europe.
Back in the days before Bayer & Co, my German farmers’ almanac had this to say:
April warm, Mai kühl, Juni nass, füllt dem Bauer Scheuer und Fass
April warm, May cool, June wet, fills the farmer’s barn and barrel.
We’ve had the warm April, so now we wait to see whether May fits the pattern or not…
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An Edible Landscape 