September 2015

A productive final weekend to September...

A fine sunny day at the Autumn Malvern Show and some good conversations with fruit growers, interest groups and equipment suppliers, as well as some fine produce on display.

Onwards to Marlborough for an overnight stop and relaxed start to Monday, then cross-country past Stonehenge and to Dulford Nursery to pick up replacements for the parent variety apples that got stolen at my field (Malus sieversii and Malus baccata).
A couple of relaxed stop-offs on the journey northwards and home.

College at Reaseheath has started for year 2 of the conservation and countryside course I'm doing.
A contact from college put BBC Radio 4 on to me for a couple of minutes on Farming Today, promptly followed by a quick TV feature on BBC Northwest Tonight.

Out and about, I had the chance of a guided tour around The Old Medicine House, hosted by The Blackden Trust at the home of author Alan Garner.
A fascinating insight into his and Griselda Grimes work on things landscape and history related since the 1960s.
The tasteful translocation of an old timber frame house and a further insight into reading historical clues in landscapes and the characters associated with them.

My orchard has had a profoundly productive year (I should have been more aggressive with pruning, as smaller trees and branches have a bit of weight damage).
Tydeman's Early Worcester has been my favourite apple so far, although plenty more varieties on their way for cooking, juice and cider...

August 2015

Another 2 occurances of fly-tipping, one reported whilst 'in progress' by a neighbour, building waste dumped across the adjoining field gate.

I did a talk for Shocklach Gardening Club for their July meeting. "Starting a traditional orchard from scratch"
It seemed to go down quite well - slide presentation with a few supporting props and a bit of local history thrown in too.

Things seem to be growing pretty well - a reasonable amount of fruit on still relatively young trees.
Annoyingly I've had a couple of wheelbarrows stolen (despite being secured with a lock and chain) and a few bags of compost and some young trees in pots that I had put ready to plant.
I don't tend to leave anything around, so an opportunistic theft by someone with a van and bolt-cutters, overnight on Friday 31st of July...

More positively, the castle across the river has had a make-over with improved public access, including steps onto its upper level and better information boards after a community focussed archaeological eexercise.

I also had a brief spell in North Devon looking at a woodland project and a nosey at some established traditional orchards.

Next task is trying to brew some meadowsweet ale before the flowers are past it...

May 2015

A blustery start to the day and woken up by the rain.

A couple of hours in the orchard checking the younger fruit trees aren't flappkng about too much.
Most of the blossom is still on fortunately.

Mixing in some course sand and topsoil, ready for the next couple of tonnes of old stable manure to dress around each of the fruit trees.

The sun is out and weather quite pleasant, at least the trees and plants would have welcomed the rain in the night...

April 2015 - Gardening Against The Odds

After a mild but damp ground winter, a couple of weeks of sunshine seems to have brought a quick start to spring...

The pear trees were first to blossom in the orchard.

The grass has suddenly started its spring growth and mowing around the rows of trees has begun.
This is to minimise competition around the trees and to make access easier.
It still leaves over an acre of low management meadow grass, but in slightly regimented 4 to 5 metre square blocks.

Wildflowers are already noticeable, particularly Lady's Smock / Cuckoo Flower in the long grass and wood anemones and dog violets in the hedgerows.

Last week, my orchard project made it to The Conservation Foundation' Gardening Against The Odds awards as a finalist.
A very positive scheme that promotes the outward looking benefits of gardens...