Past Midsummer Among the Young Oaks of Ciomad

The oak trees we planted together in the Ciuc Basin are finally enjoying a normal growing season. We are already past midsummer, and they have received plenty of rain throughout June and July.

The small oaks are still in their baby phase, ( the good news is they still have 150 to grow :) but many are finally showing encouraging growth. And life teems around them: wildflowers bloom, insects move through the vegetation, and mushrooms appear beneath the trees along the edge of the existing forest. Roe deer are moving along the forest edges. Bears forage for ants and raid bumblebee nests—and occasionally for rodent nests. If they are lucky, they find the nests filled with stored seeds.