I have always been optimistic about the establishment and progress of the Sombrun Forest Garden Project, and I hope this has always been reflected in the tone of the Blog. In its own gentle way, the project continues to move forward. There have been three notable advances this year:

In six years, the original walnut tree that I inherited has gone from a weak specimen to a healthy vibrant tree. This is not down to external inputs other than the application of urine, but to a general improvement in soil health and unseen mycelial activity. Worm activity has also become remarkable around the tree, and they are literally ploughing up the ground! The garden has come to the aid of the tree. This year there was the biggest crop of nuts ever, and for the first time, they matured properly and fell out of their green casings to the ground. Until now it was the whole, slightly immature unit that fell, and the casing browned and hardened around the nut on the ground, encouraging mould and burrowing insects, making it hard to get at the actual nut. And this new development has in turn led to a far higher percentage of healthy edible flesh when shelled, so far I would put it at higher than 90%.

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