Wet again

This weekend it was wet again and so only managed to check the trees and not the bees. I'm a little worried about them but nothing major. I can see that the buds are getting bigger. I also visited the Sandwell Valley farm and checked on there trees.

All is well, however I sow the farmers at he orchard at Sandwell Valley have started putting manure under the trees. Not something I will be doing soon, but in reality I would like too.

Wet dark cold and budding

Went to check on the trees today, it was cold, dark, cloudy and pretty gloomy, the kids didn't want to come. I checked the trees all is well, I still have to do more pruning, everytime I come without my pruning tools, I can see branches or twigs that need pruning. I can see loads that need pruning, when I have the tools, with me its much harder find.

The recent strong winds have had an effect. Not a significant effect on the trees themselves, more on the guards and the protection they are taking a hammering. I have put some new stakes around some of the protection. The trees are pretty resilient as once the trees have been pushed and blown about they tend to bounce back to the original position. The protection acts as a wind barrier and as such when it gets pushed about buts its not bouncing back as well.

I can see that spring is almost here. Lots of buds are now beginning to open, or get bigger particularly on the pear trees, its not universal, it just seems that the pear trees its more visible. The picture shown above shows a single bud about to open and a trace of yellow is visible.

I still haven't been in to see the bee's but will as soon as I get a warm weekend, I'll be in the hive. The start of blossom will be good as it means the bees will get some protein from the pollen.

The grass as well has started to grow and in a couple of weeks I will have to start trimming it down.

Winds are a blowing

This weekend I was planning on doing more pruning but with the winds blowing so strongly, it was difficult instead, it was a couple of hours of clearing up and fixing things.

The wind was so bad it had blown over some of the climate and rabbit protection that surround many of the trees. The plan is to remove more of them over time, but that plan had to be brought forward slightly for a couple of trees.

I also checked on the bees, "somewhat", in the sense I examine the entrance of the hive and a number of bees popped out to see whats going on. They seemed happy enough. I hadn't bought any bee protective clothing so didn't want to go into the hive itself.

Some of the large branches that have been left lying around to attract beetles and other insects, were examined, and its working, lots of beetles and they seem happy making homes and helping the decomposing of these large branches. The picture shows a close up of one of these logs with lots of holes and decomposing wood, all help in making the ground better quality and show that the bugs are happy.

In the end I have had to postpone a couple of things, and over the week and next I may have to fix/replace a number of wooden supports as well has finish pruning the trees.