Manure has arrived

The bovine manure has arrived. Yeah

The stuff arrived in the week. I must have more than a couple of tonnes of the stuff. I started loading the wheel barrow as soon as I could. I then spread some around the trees nearest the delivery point and then working outward. I started about 10am on Sunday Morning and by the time I stopped for the day when it was getting dark I had only done 36 wheel barrow loads and still have 53 trees to get done.

I figure all the trees will get at least a 2 wheel barrow loads of the magical muck each. The reason its taking so long is that that I have to fill the wheel barrow then then walk to the tree spread the stuff and then walk back to the heap then on to the next tree which is always further away than the last one from the manure.

I am hoping to complete the task next weekend. Its not as smelly a task as you might imagine, and its easier than I thought it would be.

I did have a couple of other errands to get done and its starts to get dark at 3:30, I'm not sure exactly what time I finished, but I felt that 36 wheelbarrows of manure was a little short. I was hoping to get at least 1 barrow per tree done on the first day.

All the muck only cost £30, which I think is a bargain, and I will be defiantly getting more in.

I have spoken to a couple of other people and I may be getting another couple of tonnes of extremely rotten horse manure soon. This I will have to check to ensure it is rotten, before I put it down and around the trees.

Mushrooms and worms

I am seeing lots more mushrooms around the orchard. I have taken a couple of pictures of some of them and they have been uploaded. I can only presume that most are poisonous, and shouldn't be picked. I was once told only pick and eat mushrooms that grow above head height. That usual means chicken of the wood. The one at the bottom is the most interesting and the most strange.

I am also seeing loads of earthworm casts under the trees, practically under every tree. I think the worms are eating the leaves that have fallen from the trees recently and making the ground and the soil around the trees lovely. I will be putting lots of wood shavings under the trees over the next couple of days and finishing off the tree guards. The wood shavings are to keep the soil warm over the winter months, they will remove some of the nitrogen but as they decompose they will add more organic matter to the soil.

The bees seem fine, last weekend the weather was warm and they were flying in and out they seem to be bringing back pollen that is very bright orange.

Getting ready for tonnes of manure

I spent 4 hours on Thursday weeding. I cleared most of the ground underneath the trees of weeds. The soil is fantastic. When I originally planted many of the trees the soil was hard and sandy and in places it  had clay however working underneath the trees this weekend out I found the soil loose and like lush compost. Much of it will be from the organic matter I have dumped around each tree over the past couple of years but also because of the work earth worms have been doing.

I have put wood shavings underneath most of trees; I have a couple more to do but the manure should arrive during the coming week some time. The manure the wood shavings and the leaves I have been collecting will make a great compost that will feed the trees throughout the next couple of months.

It looks like I am in for a busy weekend but am looking forward to the manure arriving and spreading it around the trees. I know its insane to be pleased that a pile of muck is going to arrive but to me its like I have ordered a meal that the trees are going to love.

Its crazy I know but that's just how it is.

Colours of Autum

The leaves on the trees are now a nice yellow or red, very few still have green leaves which means the sugars in the leaves are heading going back down to the root ball of the trees.

Some of the trees have already lost all the leaves and look barren, though I can see the buds that should open next spring.

I can see the growth over the past year, from the fresh wood and I'm please with the progress. I can see the growth that the trees have made this year and since we planted them more than 3 years ago. Some off the trees are doing really well and perhaps in a couple of years we will have lots of fruit.

I can see lots of mushrooms around the place, though I probably would never pick them. Lots seem to be gathering around the quince  trees. I have displayed a picture of some of the mushrooms, but I have a fair few.

I have checked on the bees as the weather was warm and I could see them buzzing around. They seem happy, they have lots of food and seem to be doing well. They look like they are entering winter well.

Stowe Apple Day

The Midshire Orchard Group had an Apple day over the weekend at the National Trust Gardens in Stowe.

It was a great success, the weather was lovely and they had activities for children to do and as people came to visit the landscape gardens they had to walk past some of the Apple day celebrations, which enticed them in. I would say though some people had come specifically for the Apple day.

People were offered apple juice to try 50p a cup or a taster for free and various apple tree varieties were on sale with varying root stocks as well as cakes and preserves and bottles of juice for sale.

My daughter made a bird feeder, which was a pine cone wrapped in lard and then plunged into various seeds and dried fruit. She also entered the longest peel contest and managed to walk away with three apples and the one she had peeled, which were quickly consumed by me and the kids.

They also had a talk after 3pm which I couldn't stick around for, I'm sure it would have been nice.

They had the usual apple identification. I did see lots of people using the service which was nice to see.

Lots of apples on display mind which was great.

I only wish I could have tried them all and compared them and got other peoples thoughts on them, to see if I could find ones that we could plant in the orchard at some point in the future.

London Honey Show

I visited the London honey show which was a lot more extravagant than the honey shows I have been to. For a start it was on a week day evening and in a nice hotel. The show looked to me to be a success. Lots of people and events and things to see, try and learn. Everyone was approachable and keen to pass on knowledge etc.

The location was at The Lancaster hotel which is between Marble Arch and Notting Hill opposite Hyde Park.

 I attended two lectures, however more were available and then browsed the stands. Seating for the lectures was limited, but worth attending, I had to sit on the floor but it was ok.  

Garden Organic's were around as were Bee Craft and the guy from Omlet selling the bee haus. Lots of people selling memberships to this and that, plus DVD’s and books for sale, including 2 by Celia Davis. You could also by various other bits and bobs.

I entered the tombola and won a honey jar donated by Daylesford Organics. I also saw a couple of celebrities including Charlie Dimmock who looked very glamorous. I tried several honeys’ all were good all of varying colours and subtle taste differences. The lectures were on selling honey and hive byproduct which was interesting but could have been better. The other presentation was on school that has set up a hive on its grounds and is now integrating it into the school curriculum.

All in all, a very nice evening. I did enjoy the complementary nibbles.

Leaves are a falling

Autum is settling in things are beginning to calm down and its visible from the trees, things are moving slowly. Leaves from the trees are starting to change colour and the tree from last week which had bright red leaves has almost no leaves remaining. They seem to have blown away. The energy from the leaves is flowing back down into the ground.

I thought I may have to add more fondant to the bee hives but to my suprise no, they have enough food for probrably more than a week. I could have added the extra foundant on Saturday but with it in place it makes it difficult to check the bees and the brood pattern. Which I like to check, so I'll wait. The final Guards are up and the space for the bees to get into the hives is now very small.

It also seems that they bees are bringing in lots of yellow pollen  back into the hives. I am not sure for how much longer they will be bring in pollen, of course Ivy and some other late and wintering flowering flowers still produce pollen but usually not enough to sustain them over the winter.