Country diary: The allotment is flying at full mast

Hove, East Sussex: I'm greeting friends with juice and jam and taking plums to the pub, although, there is still some mystery surrounding 'mast' yearsIt's a mast year on the allotment. Branches heave with apples, plums and pears, while sloes, hips, hazelnuts and haws ripen in the hedge. I greet friends with berries, juice and jam; I've taken plums to the pub.Such abundance is welcome. The wildlife has feasted too, and I've saved apples in case of waxwings (do waxwing winters track mast years?). Eventually, the fruit will be finished by detritivores such as earthworms, who will transform it into nutrients to be reabsorbed by the trees. I love this cycle of life. Continue reading...