Looking forward

I have planted apple trees in my garden. I am planting them for the future. I hope they will be here for many generations to come. I hope the apple trees grow to become old and gnarled with their boughs laden with fruit. I am hoping all ages pick them, bite into them and enjoy the crisp, crunch of an apple. Perhaps they will be made into my favourite, apple crumble? Maybe they will be used for chutneys to spice up plain sandwiches in the dead of winter?

I hope they will cheer the future, welcoming every year with their spring dresses of blossom.

Recently I found myself sitting in silence on a bench in the wild garden at Woodend Barn in Banchory. The thin trunks of crab apple trees on my left caught my attention. How could their spindly branches hold so many apples? Despite their apparent frailty they must be so strong inside.

Writer in Residence,  Elaine Reid encouraged us to write a haiku, so here we go –

Crab Apples

Laden boughs of apples

Hidden strength in your core.

Rosy cheeked glow