2012 has been the worst year so far for my small orchard.
This is primary due to the weather and the persistent rain. The year started
off with predictions of a dry year with little or no rain. In reality it’s been
the wettest year of the orchard and one of the wettest since monitoring began.
We have had little fruit on the trees, although the beginning
of the year showed considerable promise.
The ground had been seriously saturated with water all year
long. Some of the trees have been damaged by animals and at the end of the
year, we even had people would have used quad bikes and damaged the orchard
floor.
Some parts of the orchard have been flooded and the ground
is very muddy in places.
The bees have managed to come through the year and actually
produced a reasonable honey harvest. They seem to have done incredibly well,
given the level of water. I have even sold some honey, not a huge amount but I
have sold a number of jars at my daughter’s school.
The kids haven’t been down to the orchard as much this year
and we haven’t had the family/ friends picnics, games and fun as in previous years.
The year has been a struggle and at times I have wondered if
I am doing the right thing, but I continue to push on through.
I'm hoping for a better 2013 but so is everyone else.
Perhaps this wet weather is what to expect as climate change enfolds and
engulfs the planet, and Britain is going to be a much wetter place. I still feel what I am doing is the right
things but perhaps I should look at planting other crops. Let see what the New
Year brings.
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