April, a treacherous month

T.S. Eliot's "cruellest month"; Chaucer's bringer of "showres swoot", April is usually dodgy. In Polish, kwiecień plecień, bo przeplata trochę zimy, trochę lata, means "April's the braider, because it braids a little winter with a little summer." That intertwining of seasons can be treacherous. For the farmer, a late frost following hot sunny days can have a drastic effect on crops. 

I planted some field corn last weekend, against the advice of the website of the Virginia State University's College of Agriculture. "Plant corn at the end of April" it said. "Hah!" I laughed. "That advice evidently pre-dates global warming!" Having had over a week of hot (one-layer) weather, I judged that the time was ripe to till the land, water the soil and plant a few rows of corn seeds. And then, the weather turned. Cold rain, cold winds, overnight frosts, day after day, right on into next week, with a low of -2C forecast for Monday night. From one layer to four. My parka, which I was about to store for the summer, is back in use, hood up. I don't know whether the corn will germinate, or will I have to replant in a week's time.

Meanwhile, the cherry and apple blossom for which this district is famous, has passed its peak; the dandelions have gone to seed, and the vegetation, advanced by about three weeks compared to last year, is having to cope with unseasonal cold. A light hail shower accompanied me on the start of my walk this morning. Below: out of the woods, towards Machcin II.

Below: the unasphalted track between Machcin II and Dąbrowa Duża. Little by little, these stretches are being surfaced; one benefit of such investments is that apples carried in trailers towed by tractors arrive in storage unbruised by journeys over bumpy roads.

A few weeks ago, while it was still hot enough to ride my motorbike (end-March!), I noticed that the entire road surface between Widok and Marynin – all six kilometres of it – had been ripped up, awaiting new asphalt. It was laid down at the Widok end the week before last; now Barcice Rososkie (below) has brand-new blacktop. "This the road to Ittabena?"

Below: changing light, Barcice Rososkie. The fresh asphalt awaits new road-markings.

Below: a pond between Barcice Rososkie and Krężel. In the distance, a downpour is sweeping the forests between Gąski and Konary. Fortunately, I managed to avoid a soaking. Today's weather shows the value of the hailstone-netting that more and more orchards are protected with. None, however, are visible over the apple trees in this photo.

Below: further on up the road from Barcice Rososkie towards Piekut and Krężel beyond. Some rare rays of light illuminate the blossom. Were this an English landscape, the white building on the corner would be the Royal George pub, pouring frothy real ales, drawn from the wood with a hand-pump, served with a platter of bread and cheese and pickle. Sadly, I covered more than 15,000 paces (12km/8 miles) on today's walk without passing even a small village store. Piekut no longer has one, Krężel never had one, nor Barcice Rososkie, nor Gaj Żelechowski, nor Dąbrowa Duża, nor Machcin, nor indeed Jakubowizna.

Back on the działka, yet another tree in the forest next door was blown over. Once again, it fell eastwards. Had the wind been blowing the other way, it would have fallen onto my land, crushing the fence (just visible at the top edge of the photo). "Aspens are brittle," remarked a tree surgeon sent by the electricity company to ensure that none would topple onto the power lines that cross my land.

The mercurial nature of April weather is brought home to me when I checked my electricity usage for the past week – it's three times higher than for the same period last year, whilst electricity produced by my photovoltaic panels last week was only two-thirds of that generated the same week last year.

Looks like the ice saints have come three weeks early this year. Despite the weather, an aesthetically rewarding walk. Music on the move today from James Brown and the JB's, Fat Wood (Pts I and II), a brisk marching tempo. (Isn't it wonderful to have moved on from fiddling with a Walkman or Discman or iPod to a smartphone where you can call up any music you want to hear from wherever you are?)

This time four years ago:
Pandemic, then drought

This time five years ago:
Lent 2019, a summing up

This time six years ago
Spring polarises into existence

This time ten years ago:
The Road to Biedronka

This time 11 years ago:
Lighter, longer lens

This time 14 years ago:
Making sense of Polish politics