2014 and a New Year

By the start of the year, the River Dee was in flood, peaking around 8.7 metres at the Holt / Farndon Bridge height gauge.
This is around the gate top for water level at the field,  but the trees seem to cope (an old established orchard at the same ground level near by, as well as mature ash, oak, lime, hawthorn, blackthorn and walnut give me no real longterm concerns).

The waters now back withon the river channel, the ground is walkable and the flotsam debris removed and burnt to ash from the gateway.
Unfortunately some fly-tipping on the lane at the top of the access track, but the council have a handy web page / app for reporting for investigation and removal.

A couple more hedging plants ordered for filling gaps and the final planning of the finished orchard layout to plod on with...

Winter 2013

Up until Xmas week the field had been reasonably dry until the rains and an expanding River Dee filling up from Wales...

Ongoing Crohns / health distractions have rendered most of 2013 a slow year.
I did manage to get nearly 30 litres of cider prepared from the orchard trees as well as a couple of litres of fresh apple juice refreshingly drunk soon after pressing.

A handy implement was acquired from a talented local blacksmith - a sturdy levelling ring for dressing over a couple of low spots in the grassland. Based on an old cartwheel iron tyre used for similar in one of Louden's old agricultural encyclopaedias.

Tree stock at home for transplanting has a minor backlog, but includes the interesting malus pumila niedzwetzkyana