what shall we do with additional land?

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what shall we do with additional land?
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yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 10 11:06 am Post subject:

All in for now, 130 new apples, 4 plums, 4 peaches 3 apricots with space for another 15 stone fruit and 4 pears later. And vines. About 10 of the apples were rootstocks only, so next week we'll make a small bed and plant them, hoping to graft them next year.

We've had some tremendous help, which we'll never forget, including that of Vanessa's OH and Gardening Girl and Boy and their colleague the Demon Digger. Left to our own resources I'd not have managed more than 20 trees - the task of digging them up out of sodden heavy clay at the ex-nursery was the most gruelling part.

And a vote of special thanks to the Weather Gods - it stopped raining and the sun came out every day we worked on this, probably the only dry days in a month, and when we weren't there they were well watered in for us!

It's sad that Scotts has gone now following John's dreadful death, but I'm very pleased that we've been able to gather up a little of that heritage to make a new orchard alongside the old one, which was also replanted with their apples by my grandfather nearly 100 years ago.

gardening-girl

Joined: 25 Feb 2009
Posts: 6024
Location: Somerset.

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 10 12:06 pm Post subject:
Glad to have been of help, even though it was only one afternoon! Please could you ask the rain god to stop now,we would like to get on !

Gilbert Jessop

Joined: 18 Jan 2010
Posts: 65
Location: Somerset

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 10 7:14 pm Post subject:

yummersetter wrote:

I heard about an auction of the 9500 remaining apple and pear trees in the ground at Scotts Nurseries

How did the auction go in the end? I was going to pick up some Perry Pears, but it was such a muddle over there I just gave up...

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 10 10:50 pm Post subject:

Did you bid? The most successful items, the only ones that had competitive bidding from what I could see from the auction website were M25 cider apples - I'm afraid I didn't look at the pears as I couldn't deal with lots of 50 pear trees either to dig up and plant or using the fruit.

A lot of the dessert apples didn't sell, though they may be open to offers on apples and pears post auction, officially they closed the fields for removal of trees last weekend.

One couple near us were digging up 600 trees, I guess A-Z of one rootstock to plant in their farm in Devon as a genepool collection, which you can't help admiring.

Gilbert Jessop

Joined: 18 Jan 2010
Posts: 65
Location: Somerset

Posted: Mon Mar 01, 10 9:00 am Post subject:
I couldn't make much commercial sense out of doing anything, unfortunately; the Perry Pears were all mixed up with some less than exciting eating varieties when I last checked...

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 10 7:01 pm Post subject:

This weekend I planted the 15 vines down the fence - it's not a fruit I'm expert in so I left the choice down to Sarah at Sunnybank Vines. She sent

White wine grapes Phoenix, Edwards No. 1 , Zalagyongye
Red wine grapes Rondo , Regent , Triomphe D’Alsace
Dessert Seedless pink , Suffolk
Dessert seedless white , Himrod
Dessert seeded red Muscat Bleu
Dessert seeded white Bianca ( dual purpose eating and wine )

and we cleared the turf off a huge potato planting bed - when I couldn't afford fruit trees I ordered loads of seed potatoes just to prepare the ground ready for the trees to be planted in later, so we had to get an extra area ready for them. I'll put shelling bean wigwams where the next set of fruit trees will go next winter.

Very exciting now, it really looks like my plan

Can't wait for the buds to burst

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 11 1:23 pm Post subject:

aaah - still trying with those vines, only three of those survived plus 2 of the 6 replacements I planted the following year. Six more on order and if they don't survive I'll give up on grapes, the little rodents keep eating the roots, I think.

Totally delighted with the alphabetical apples - here are the standards from Oaken Pin to Rev Wilkes full of fruit

So many of them are turning out to be unexpectedly delicious, especially the Oaken Pin, Queen Cox and Red Miller so far. With about a couple of dozen varieties still to ripen before I can taste them I get excited every morning as to what I'll find.

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18409

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 11 1:56 pm Post subject:
How wonderful, yummersetter ! Your new orchard is coming on well.

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 11 2:38 pm Post subject:
Beautiful picture! I planted a few trees a couple of years ago - It is really wonderful when they finally fruit and you get to taste off the tree, isn't it! Trouble is I lost the sheet telling me what I planted where! Duh!

T.G

Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 7280
Location: Somewhere you're not

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 11 3:38 pm Post subject:

yummersetter wrote:

If that's the belief and I presume the rodents dig down? Could you not plant the vines into the ground through the bottom of an upturned bucket (or large tub) which is buried in the soil? Thus, preventing anything digging down from the surface and having to dig quite some depth before reaching any roots?.. JAT

Once the vine is established you could dig the bucket/tub back out if need be.

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 11 7:06 pm Post subject:

I was going to grow on the new vines in large pots in a sheltered place for a while to get them up and running first, so could try cutting the bottoms out when they're planted, good idea

Unless they're one of those things that need the roots to run close to the surface rather than vertically down, will have to look that up.

Because the orchard was neglected tussocky grass for a decade or two before we bought it, the top six inches of loam are riddled with mouse / shrew / vole / rat / mole ?? runs and the attempts by the dogs to dig them out really don't help my new plants.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 11 7:10 pm Post subject:

yummersetter wrote:

Unless they're one of those things that need the roots to run close to the surface rather than vertically down, will have to look that up.

Pretty sure they're not. The traditional wine-making theory is that the best wines come from poor soils precisely because it makes the vines form deep root systems.

Marches

Joined: 13 Dec 2011
Posts: 171
Location: Nr Peak District, England

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 11 9:50 pm Post subject:
I'd plant a few pear, plum, cherry and hazel trees as well, and maybe some grape vines too (depending on where you live - South and East England is good). I have a few cherry trees at the moment and hope to put a few plum, apple and hazel trees in next year - a sort of mini mixed fruit orchard in my (large garden).

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 11 11:26 pm Post subject:

Lovely to review the orchard story again - it's almost completely planted up with various fruit trees and shrubs and now I'm down to ground level.

There were three open areas that were originally for chickens but a snowy day let me see how busy the foxes were there, so I themed them with either red, purple or yellow fruit planting.

I'm mulching a lot of the grass area in the red patch down with cardboard and compost, in order to plant up with wild strawberries, I have two crates of violets for the purple patch and last week put in a few hundred daffodil bulbs in the yellow area, along with white and yellow strawberries.

I haven't grown hazelnuts myself as there are plenty in the surrounding hedges. Good luck with your planting, nothing better than picking your own dew-covered fruit at dawn for breakfast.

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Wed Dec 14, 11 8:05 am Post subject:

yummersetter wrote:

... nothing better than picking your own dew-covered fruit at dawn for breakfast.

Or "testing" the ones put in brandy from earlier in the year.....

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