A Mast Year

This year's peculiar weather has created what naturalists call a "mast year" - a phenomenon when trees and shrubs produce bumper crops of nuts and fruits. Look at any oak, apple tree, or roadside bramble and you'll see the evidence.

Sherborne's scattered hazel bushes, which in my experience rarely bear nuts because they are eaten by squirrels, are this year laden with them. This abundance may partly result from a notable reduction in the local squirrel population - though I'm uncertain why their numbers have dropped, I confess to being rather pleased, as I consider them troublesome pests.

However, the drought has created an interesting paradox: whilst quantities are remarkably high, individual fruits are often smaller than usual. The hazelnuts are diminutive with little flesh. My prized "secret" bramble bush - treasured for its unusually large, plump blackberries - has this year produced a vast quantity of tiny berries, so small I initially abandoned picking them. But when I tasted one... the concentrated flavour and sweetness were extraordinary, unlike any blackberries I've experienced before. Highly recommended. The local badgers have clearly been feasting on this bounty too, judging by the remarkable scarlet droppings they're leaving in their scraped latrines - quite a sight!

This isn’t just Sherborne; I’m told this is happening nationally. There was a traditional folklore that Mast Years were followed by cold and long winters but I’m told this isn’t true. What is true, I think, is that the bumper harvest will positively affect the populations of those species that feed on them. Badgers eating apples and blackberries, jays hoarding acorns, etc. Tell me your observations of the bumper crops and the species you think will benefit.

I’m off to make some more of this Bramble Liqueur…. Goes very well on ice cream or a slug in an apple crumble.