Late afternoon toward the end of August. Sunlight, deepening to amber, pours into the orchard. It picks out the colours of the meadow flowers: the purple, thistle-like knapweed, now reaching almost waist height; a straggle of pinky-blue vetch; a clump of deep pink marjoram. Where the grass is shorter, golden spots of bird’s-foot trefoil gleam, commonly known as ‘butter and eggs’; hidden deeper in the undergrowth are the violet spikes of self-heal.

Altogether there are 27 species in the seed mix we scattered some seven years ago under the newly planted fruit trees. Every year I watch the progression ...

 

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