Rain, rain and more rain

Tree affected by water damage

The weather over the past couple of weeks has been terrible for this time of year. Its been raining and raining. The ground is wet and the winds have been very blustery. So much so that a couple of the trees have been blown and now the trees are at strange angles. Two trees have been considerably affected and its only because the ground is so wet that the trunks of the trees have lent over to one side. I did try and stake it but as the ground is so water logged its not able to hold the tree up and hold it in position. Once the weather is better I intend to stake them back into place. Then add more manure and compost.

The grass has grown long and wavy, and in some areas I can see lots of the smaller plants and flowers, things like clover. Thistles are also doing well and I always seem to be pulling them out from beneath the trees. I have also got lots of stinging nettles and later in the year, will pull them out with a fork and will attempt to burn them. I may dig a pit so that I can plant a line of raspberries. I have also seen load and loads of insects, like butterfly's and beetles.

One of the swarms from my last entry has died out, a second has swarmed again and has disappeared; the one that has swarmed away was the one high up in the tree. The final one is safe and is expanding. Not sure what to do with the third colony. Its getting late in the year for a new bee keeper to want to take over the swarm. I may keep it and then give it away early in the new year. In reality only a bee keeper with lots of Himalayan Balsam would be interested with a new colony this time of year.

Swarm of bees dead under a tree

I have found many meters of electricity cabling on the edges of the orchard, the cable without the plastic casing is about an inch thick. I can see than someone has already stripped the cable and presumably they will be taking it away. I have called the police and notified them. I can only presume its stolen. A police office came and had a look. I then left him to it. I would presume its about a skip worth of steel cable, not sure what the value would be. It would be difficult to move. You would need a van to transport it away.