A golden light casts its autumnal veil across the landscape. It’s around four in the afternoon. The harvesting days in my garden are numbered as the last of the pears cling to their branches. I pick one that hasn’t yet been pecked at, grateful for any at all and happy to share them with the other garden residents. I keep thinking to pick the last of the grapes too before they turn to vinegar on the vine.
This year has brought its abundance of fruit—but certainly each year I notice the harvest reaping bigger and better rewards in my garden. For the record, I counted a record-breaking 31 edible figs this year from my small Brown Turkey so let’s see if next year tops that.
I know this too to be the regenerative nature of the fruit tree at work: nourishing the soil and, in turn, sustaining and replenishing the life around it. Deep roots hold the ground firm, mining ever deeper and drawing nutrients from hidden layers to share them with other plants. Fallen leaves, blossom, and fruit return to the earth, enriching it with organic matter and feeding the unseen network of microbes and fungi below. If you can, always leave those precious windfalls unless you will eat them yourself.
Shade from the canopy which gets ever broader helps retain moisture in the soil and cools the microclimate as our summers grow hotter. So over time, fruit trees create a resilient ecosystem that support growth, diversity, and balance and help cool our planet. Whilst many people are turning toward heat and drought tolerant Mediterranean plants as our climate warms, I urge you instead to consider the gift of shade—and there is no sweeter way than with a fruit tree… And there is no better time to plant it than now.
Garden Regeneration 