the accidental smallholder :: diary archives

Orchard day

Despite, the cold, wet and windy weather, Dan and I decided to do some work in the orchard today. We weeded round the trees, limed where required (an opportunity to use my pH meter), fertilized and mulched. Dan pruned the apple and pear trees. Once we were working, it wasn't so bad and we had a great feeling of satisfaction when we'd finished. The hedge needs trimmed, but that's for another day.

We also forked over the comfrey bed, limed and added some compost from our bins. The bed was pretty panned, mostly because the hens use it as a rest and relaxation area. The comfrey is important to us, so we need to look after it.

One of our New Year resolutions is to manage the compost bins better. We have five but tend to add stuff in no particular system, so we have all the bins half rotted with new material on top. We also find that the hemp that we add from the hen ark is quite dry and absorbent, so it will have to be dampened when it's added.Dan did some rationalisation today and we've all to work to the rules!!

Hopefully, our manure will arrive in the next couple of days. Better late than never. And we're determined to poo pick in the horses' field regularly this year, so that we have plenty organic matter for the garden next year.