Category: Growing

  • Removing Diseased Elms

    Removing Diseased Elms

    Dutch Elm disease is not a thing of the past and is still a problem for the long suffering trees that survived the wave of disease that spread in the 1960’s. The disease is spread by beetles who bore through the bark of the elm. We count ourselves lucky to still have a few elm…

  • Purple is the Colour

    Purple is the Colour

    Our farm walk is swathed in purple at the moment. Purple is said to represent transformation and it feels a bit that way as the harvest has begun and we have tasted the first blackberries.

  • Planting Cherry Trees

    Planting Cherry Trees

    Yesterday we were sawing up our home grown cherry wood for BBQ wood chunks, today we were out planting pot grown cherry saplings for future supplies. The first cut will be in 10 – 15 years so it is definitely a long lead time project – nothing happens quickly!

  • 2022 Garlic Harvest Begins

    2022 Garlic Harvest Begins

    It’s that time of year when we start to harvest our garlic. By growing it indoors and outdoors and on different soil types we get an extended season for supplying it fresh from the ground.

  • Home made Pesto

    Home made Pesto

    Our basil is at it’s best and so the first fresh pesto of the season beckons and today was the day. It is easy and quick but ingredients like pine nuts and Parmesan are expensive so whilst it might be a special treat, at least you know that only the best ingredients have been used.…

  • Preparing another ‘sole use’ dog field

    Preparing another ‘sole use’ dog field

    The bee hives have been moved so it was out with the loppers and secateurs this morning, clearing overhanging brambles and branches to create new paths through the trees. It’s a small field, fully fenced and stocked with a crop of short rotation coppice (mainly alder and sycamore) with some clearings all of which is…

  • Growing Firewood – Year six update

    Growing Firewood – Year six update

    We originally chose a six year trial for hybrid willow to test the claims made by retailers of the willow for firewood production. Not a particularly scientific approach but, hopefully, it might be useful to share the findings: Hybrid WillowThese were established willow stools which had been previously cut annually to provide more plants. Bred…

  • Ponds & Scrapes Update

    Ponds & Scrapes Update

    The recent rainfall has raised the water level in the scrapes to full with each overflow now running. It’s hard to believe how quick the ground recovered from the earthworks.

  • Harvesting Holly

    Harvesting Holly

    As a rule of thumb, we only like to start cutting Holly 1st December but the way the calendar falls this year means we need to start a few days early so that customers can have wreaths made up for the first weekend in December. We have our own holly plantation which is cut in…

  • 2018 Hedge Planting

    2018 Hedge Planting

    Our 2018 hedge plants have arrived so it is crucial to get them planted as fast as possible to give the transplants the very best chance of survival. The plants arrived at 2pm and were all ‘heeled in’ by 5pm in an ‘on site’ trench where they will remain until removed for planting out in…