1st of May; Beltane, The beginning of summer, Mayday, International Workers Day, there are so many ways to celebrate this magical time of year amongst our beliefs and cultures. 🌻 Whatever your routine, your livelihood, your abilities or your interests, spring and the start of summer can be a time of celebration, and appreciation for yourself, for the natural world or the people around you. It feels important to recognise that nature, forest gardening, food forests and simply connecting to nature isn’t just for those who are able to form a life based around plants or spend time in nature, but that we are all shaped by the seasons and they are part of us, and all around. Spring and the start of summer can be celebrated by everyone in their own way. There are so many ways to feel and share these seasons with ourselves and with others! 🌸 Smile at a stranger, or pick a loved one a flower. Look up at the blossoming tree, or smell the scents in the air as you pass by a hedge at dusk. Feel the sun and warmth on your skin, or the light as you sleep or rise. Watch the green leaves pop on the trees, or the weeds in the cracks of the pavement. Feed your pot plants, watch them thrive. ☀️ Happy spring insta-followers, these videos are a selection of spring in the forest gardens through April. Listen with the volume up 🐦‍⬛🐝🐥 (fb)

First ripe babaco of the year! A handful of fruits of this papaya cousin overwintered in our greenhouse. A hybrid, formerly Carica but now Vasconcellea, this is the most cold tolerant of the genus. Often used to make a jam in Ecuador and I think we'll try that out this year. #forestgardening #forestgarden #babaco (fb)