I mentioned in my last post how the snow on April 1st killed all the apricots in our local fields and how we would not therefore be making apricot jam this year. Well, yesterday before sunrise I ventured once more down to the orchards and found a single wild tree on the perimeter of the land full of ripe fruit, evidently unaffected by the cold like the rest.

She isn't much to look at and at a glance it is difficult to notice the fruit which are all high up towards the top.

I had to climb to get access to the prize and was able to snap this shot on my way up which shows the empty apricot trees in the orchard behind it, without a single fruit.

Yet somehow this humble little tree was able to do what the others could not.

But why?

These apricots are smaller and slower to develop than their friends below so at a guess I would say this is a wild variety and ultimately better suited to untimely frosts in Spring.

The trees in the orchard below are grown for their ability to produce early, large fruit which can be sold off at a great price as the first stone fruit of the region each year. But the pay-off is susceptibility to small fluctuations in the climate.

Bonus treat

I chose to break from my usual morning routine and go for a walk that morning because I could see there were clouds on the horizon and imagined sungazing would not be possible. However, once at the top of the tree busily picking apricots, the clouds parted and the wonderful light of a new day gifted me its magic.

For a moment I paused and received my Light gift with gratitude.

Made all the more poignant by the physical gift I was already in the process of receiving!

You can be sure there is no one in the village who cares to climb and pick this tree, so these fruit would have been food for bugs had I just walked on by like everyone else.

Thank you tree for your service and for your lesson.

After sungazing I was in the end able to find one tree in the orchard which had in fact survived the cold. Below you can see them on the left side of the box, slightly larger than the wild ones on the right.

They all taste the same to me. Bloomin' marvellous :)

I will return to the trees when this lot are gone in a week and we will be drinking fresh apricot smoothies every day for a month. That's how it works when you eat fruit by the seasons.

Ah yes, now we can make apricot jam too!

This is great news because there is only one pot left from last year.

Though I must say I am favouring cherry jam at the moment. A new one for me I would never have tried if it wasn't for the abundance of cherries a month ago.

I will of course be saving seeds from these two apricot trees because as the years go by we can expect the frosts to bleed later and later into Spring affecting more and more of our agriculture & permaculture. That's how it goes at the outset of a Grand Solar Minimum and if you are not already doing so I strongly suggest looking at ways to get independent with your food supply.

As I write these notes I can see that the word permaculture is not even recognised as a word!

Which is quite ridiculous I think you will agree. And very intentional because it is only THE most important word for humans in these coming decades. And those who strive to understand & master it during these times of change will be the ones who thrive while others struggle.

Okay that's it. Gonna try and keep these short and sweet in the interest of time!

Love & Light everyone 🌱