Autumn 2013

August and September came and went reasonably but a low level of activity due to continued health interruptions (Crohn's Disease).

A good year for the apples and the time of year for a few events and activities out and about (such as the Apple & Quince Day at Norton Priory)...

My orchard and grassland had done rather well this year.
The young pear tree that still had fruit, lost it to badgers, but the majority of the apple trees and some quince varieties have been quite productive.
The cider varieties have produced enough fruit to make some potentially good single variety fermentations and some blends and juice.

One early success from the couple of acres of grass, was a meadowsweet ale brewed (to an elderflower champagne recipe). Early appraisals by others are commending it.

Farmers weekly had a publicity push for agricultural environmental waste exemptions - onerous but important paperwork for even small scale activities registered with the Environment Agency. For me these include composting, using vegetation shreddings, chippings or ash, burning hedge trimmings etc.

July 2013

A run of sunny weather not seen for a couple of years.
Not been up to much at the field recently whilst Crohns Disease continues to be a distraction to general levels of fitness.
Meanwhile, the trees and grass have been doing ok mainly by themselves...

One of the quince trees is reasonably abundant as well as one of the pear trees and the medlar.
A noticeable amount of apple trees are bearing fruit and a couple of mulberry trees have signs of fruit forming.

The grass has a few more wild flowers noticeable this year and the meadowsweet particularly has proliferated as intended (with s few gallons of meadowsweet flower ale now brewing).

As the hot spell commenced, I managed to get a couple of watering sessions done from a tanker behind the Landrover.  I use a dilution of Maxicrop to feed the fruit trees (as well as a kindly donation of a couple of tonnes of horse muck for around the tree bases).

Some interesting conversations with locals and passers-by. One farmer neighbour has got a hay crop in after losing last year to summer floods, although another neighbour has maize struggling this year.

The local history society and archaeologists have been busy across the river at the castle, as well as geophysics and trial digs on the English side. Quite a bit of local community engagement for them too. 

3 Years

I've had the field three years now (from June 2010).
I'm quite pleased that I found a local plot of land to plant the collection of  fruit trees as a traditional orchard.
Enough time has passed to get a feel for the cycle of nature, minor mistakes erased and the introduced trees established without compromising the grassland and wildlife.

May 2013

Another month quickly passing...
The RHS Malvern Garden Show gave an opportunity to acquire a few more  trees for the orchard. From Mr. D'Arcy's Heritage Fruit Trees (Lincolnshire):
Quince, Isfahan
Apple, Grenadine (American variety, red fleshed)
Plum, Blaisden Red
The event seemed a little quiet compared to a couple of years ago... (preferable to RHS Tatton and Hampton Court). Also picked up a couple of Blueberry bushes, herbs and some watering / irrigation sundries and hand-tools, as well as viewing some interesting and inspiring displays and stalls.
Onwards further south and some perry pears to select from Bernwode Fruit trees.
Sharp's academic
Hellens Early
Brandy
Sanguinole
Also a crab apple (Malus sylvestris), of old provenance grafted onto M111.

Back to the field, a kindly donation of a couple of tonnes of well-rotted horse muck (and loaded too), from just over the border.
Quite a bit of local chat, interest and engagement with a wide mix of locals and walkers.
The pear trees were first in blossom this year, although the quince were first in full leaf, but only just forming flower buds now. Most of the apples have formed leaves and flower buds and some in blossom.
The walnuts have only just come into leaf and the mulberries are only just now breaking bud.
The hedges (including the gaps filled over winter) are all pleasantly green.

April

Another month quickly coming to an end, seemingly faster as the light nights get lighter at their equinox peak.
Mixed weather with quite a bit of snow at the start of the month, I was expecting a river flood, but the extreme snow in North Wales thawed so slowly that it wasn't a concern. In fact the ground has taken on its spring dryness and now the fruit trees are finally coming to life a couple of weeks later than last year, some additional watering may be necessary (hopefully Dalefoot Composts sheepwool & bracken mix will keep things going.

A few anti-social things going on in the village - some feral teenagers causing damage getting mentioned in the Parish Council minutes and on the Cheshire Police Western Rural web-page.
A couple of neighbours mentioned some odd goings on. One morning I noticed a quantity of loose hay & straw across the access track - turns out someone was trying to mask fly-tipping of other debris out of the back of a horse-box trailer, but got spotted and despite attempts to obscure their registration plates an incident was able to be recorded.

A couple more pear trees added to the orchard, varieties Uvedale St. Germain and Maxstoke Nibbler from Bernwode Fruit Trees - a slower than normal task due to a hiatus hernia making digging problematic.

The grass and herbage is starting to go well after a wet previous twelve months, quite a bit of meadowsweet through too, so hopefully some interesting brewing options from it this year.

March

Quite a quiet month for me due to the weather and a few other things.
Lots of stuff coming out of winter stasis at the field though.
The hedges are in bud, as are a few of the orchard trees (pears mainly, so I suspect further frosts will wipe out this years fruit potential).
In the base of the hedges, quite a bit of green undergrowth, including a reasonable amount of wood anemones.

In the grass, quite a bit of meadowsweet starting, as well as buttercups and celandines.
An early light harrowing during a rare dry spell lifted a bit of thatch from last years disjointed mowing due to 2012 being so wet.

Lots of robins in the hedgerow, buzzards occasionally above as well as another kestrel type bird of prey (possibly larger).
A cormorant is along the river by the castle quite often. Also woodpeckers and kingfishers in the ditch along the trackway.
One of the barn owls is noticeable early evenings.

A few visitors dropping by: locals, landowners, local history society and the Environment Agency (pleasant chatting all around) - a few unwelcome ones included 5 persons arrested by Cheshire Police for theft, after suspicious vehicle activity in the lane above. Also a few feral teenagers nearby causing a bit of nuisance and vandalism.

A sunny morning and hopefully a proper start to spring now the snow is melting...

February: A quieter than anticipated few weeks

Another seasonal minor inundation from the nearby River Dee across the meadow / orchard at the weekend.
Although the level wasn't too extreme
Unfortunately a dead brown badger on the main road near by.
Lots of water-fowl on the surrounding flood-plain fields.

Managed a brief stroll around to check for debris and damage and to check the mature trees. This week has seen a few days with sunshine and no rain, but I've been unable to take advantage, being laid up with a particularly aggressive turn in the Crohn's Disease I got diagnosed a few years back (hence my enthusiasm for decent, natural local food and produce).

Only really managed a bit of seed and cutting preparation at home with respect to plans for 2013.
In between planned and unplanned visits to hospital and writhing around in agony, I've been browsing through Twitter at what other like minded folk are up to around now and what their ground conditions are like (surely things will dry up a bit one day)?

Quite looking forward to getting a few native seeds in the patched up bits of hedge, including some extra hops (a few growing wild). It'll be interesting to see how well the meadowsweet has proliferated after deliberately leaving the flowers to seed (I'm suspicious I might have missed opportunity with moist ground conditions to run a cambridge roll over to see if that helps germination of extra patches).

Considering I spend 2 weeks of time away with my proper job, I'd underestimated how much of an outdoorsy type I am when stuck inside with no choice...

January

January came and went, partly uneventful at the field due to more winter flooding from the River Dee.
A few things pottered about with at home:
Owl boxes, plants for transplanting into the field when ground conditions are better and greenhouse preparations. A few more heritage variety apple pips germinated in a propagator, giving the slight chance of a credible hybrid variety or more likely some mildly interesting crab apples.
A few more interesting books acquired and read, or partly read with respect to the vast tome of J.C. Louden's Encyclopaedia of plants from the mid 1800s.

Hopefully the weather for February and the months ahead will be more conducive to horticultural activities, grassland management, tree-planting and wildflower and wildlife proliferation...

looking ahead

The ground at the field is still a bit too wet for much at the moment, but I'm pleased that the seasonal floods have gone for now and that the hedging plants that went in last month haven't been washed away.

On Wednesday evening I went to the Nantwich Walled Garden AGM.
A project that has been running a few years now to highlight awareness of forgotten, but historically significant remains of a walled garden under threat from development.

This Saturday I'm off to another walled garden for an orchard wassail near Bristol at The Ethicurean.

Back at home, I await the arrival of a few orders:
Owl & wildlife boxes
5 European olive plants
3 Cornish tea plants

The time of year to be getting on with a few maintenance and servicing jobs of tools and equipment back at home and to go over the stock of stuff for transplanting down to the field...

2013...

The River Dee at Farndon briefly went out of flood warning conditions over Xmas with the monitoring station near the old Holt / Farndon bridge.
Back at 'warning' status and probably over a 1 metre of water on the field...

I'm away with other work (my full-time job), but doubt the land will be dry for much soon.
The last couple of days nearer home ended up with a quick evening pint in The Bull at Shocklach and some interesting talk about historic landscape features near by.

Meanwhile I have bought a print of the old bridge at Farndon - not as topographically inaccurate as the comment suggests.
I'm wondering if the young tree by the people is actually the now old hollow oak at the end of the board-walk / bottom of Meadow Lane?
I think the artist may have sat on the sandstone outcrop in the field to the south-west of Appleby's Brook.

From http://www.theowlbox.co.uk/ I've ordered owl and dormouse boxes.

Time to review the to-do list and plant list for the year ahead...