Snow and I have started the pruning

Grass emerging from under the snow

I haven't updated the blog in a couple of weeks as its snowed here and not much has been happening. The snow was about 6/8 inches in depth. It made walking around a little difficult so I didn't go around the orchard last week.

I went around the orchard with my dad this week. My dad kinda stands around the gate, the snow makes walking around with his knees difficult.

This week as the snow has started to melt and as I write this most of the snow has melted and the ground is very wet. I did a little pruning, just branches that were rubbing against each other. I can see that no one has been through the gate its been far to cold and the snow to deep for most people to venture around. However I found fresh quad bike tracks. I can seen the kids have been have riding through the orchard again. They have been coming into the orchard via a hole in the fence. Which lets them ride into and out of the orchard. I will get the fencing  mended to ensure that they don't come in again.

More Quad bike tracks

Now that the snow is melting and the grass is visible, it seems more lush and fresh to my eyes. In face it seems to me to have undergone a revitalising processing under the snow.

Then today I visited the Garden Organic Potato day. I listened to a couple on talks one on cooking potatoes and beetroot and the other on alternative food crops by James Wong, the guy who made a TV series called Grow your own drugs. It was interesting. I will do a little more investigating and then perhaps have and entry in the blog on his talk.

James Wong

Starting to plan the pruning

Its been a cold and wet week again, and its the time year to start planning for pruning.

We started going round and looking at each tree individually so see if it needs pruning and if so where and what needs to be done.

Some of the branches are rubbing against each other. I need to cut them back and ensure that the stronger or  branch that will have more vigour remains. Then the branch should grow in the correct direction, and absorb more sunlight, grow strong and produce more fruit.

Some of the branches need to be weighted down so that the branches grown in the position I want them to. This its more difficult to do. Not something I enjoy.

It was a good planning weekend for me and we should start on this within a couple of weeks.

Didn't check in the bees this week a little to cold to open the hives. Hope the ladies are well though. Will need to start feeding soon, to get them ready for the spring pollen.

New Tracks and trails

Cherry Tree

I walked across the orchard this week and whist doing so noticed some tyre tracks. I have always been proud that since I bought, and planted the trees I have only had vehicles on it four times,  twice for deliveries of manure, and I wasn't around to stop them. Once for taking the new trees to the spot they would  be planted along with the compost, this helped volunteers and for some of them hanging of the back of the 4x4 or along the side it was fun. Then again once when I was moving Bee hives and it was the only way to illuminate the area. It was dark about 10pm and mobile phone lights weren't going to do the job and I couldn't really wait for dawn.

However to start the new year I was checking the trees and discovered tracks on the ground, firstly I thought perhaps they were from one of those times. However its wasn't possible then a little further on I saw another track and then it clicked. Someone had taken a vehicle into the orchard recently, that's how long it took to click. I was furious, angry, raging, fuming, my blood was boiling why would someone want to drive across the orchard? Perhaps steal the bees, its happen in other areas, perhaps steal the trees again that's happen in other areas and its the right time of the year for it.

Quad Bike tracks

So I wondered around looking for the cause and to perhaps see where the tracks and been and led to and from. With some worry and fear in my mind and heart I followed the tracks. Nothing however seemed to be damaged, or missing, and the driver had avoided getting too close to the trees themselves.

The tracks had just wondered around and seems to have spun doing 360 wheel spins around several times at various places in the orchard, and as the orchard floor is damp and the ground very saturated it's pulled up the grass and torn into the soil, and left muddy trails and imprints from the tyres.

No sign of the cause. I saw Chris the stable owner and went over to ask if he had seen anything and wish him Happy New year.

He confessed that he had hadn't been around for a couple of days and he had bought his kids Quad bikes for Christmas  The kids had been in the orchard testing out and playing with these small very powerful farming tools, he hadn't given them permission or encouraged them in any way. He apologised and said that he had already reprimanded the kids and promised and they won't be doing it again. Some toy for kids as young 8 and 11.

Kids on a the quad bike

So a couple of minutes of fun has damaged the orchard floor. Mainly because the ground has been so wet and muddy. The kids must have a great time by the look of it, and the ground may have healed by summer or so I hope.

I wondered around the orchard for a little while and then home. It wasn't the best start to 2013, or the one I was hoping for. Hence the delay in this blog entry.

Willow Tree Buds

Otherwise the buds are growing and all seems well.

Good bye 2012 hello 2013 please be better and dryer

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.