This is a truly magical time on the farm - although the daffodils are now fading everything else is waking up.
The buds have largely burst on the vines, tiny popcorn like nodules that dot the length of each vine essentially 'pop' and pinky tipped green leaves start to peak through and gradually unfurl. One particular variety of white bursts early and the green leaves are all out already. This is wonderful, but it means we will sleep uneasily when late frosts are lurking in the valley.
What does it sound like? Birds (our favourite is the Barn Owl), and bees (this one in the marjoram). I suppose that most people come here to appreciate the absence of sound; our urbanite friends love to sleep here, and I am always so keen to get back to where I can think peacefully, in the glorious darkness.
The trees are almost all in bud, leaf, or flower. We planted around 3000 of them in early 2022 and so many of them were twigs. Lets be honest, some of them were glorified living toothpicks. Then we had the drought... so their first year was less about growth and more about survival. Have a look at this Scots Pine... it is now taller than me!
We are also starting to see the incredibly colourful impact of our commitment to biodiversity. The pond edges are bright yellow with marsh marigold and the pasture that blankets our vineyard is full of tiny little flowers. One of my favourites is the hairy violet - up close it looks like a tiny little orchid.
What else can I tell you? It just smells 'awake'. Healthy soil has a comforting hug like smell and the pollen has its own perfume too - it would be great to be a dog and really have a good nose around.
