One snowy Saturday in December Andy, I and Peggy the dog took a trip to the amazing new site of the Incredible Farm up at Lumbutts to purchase some lovely hardy fruit trees for the space at the back of our house. If you have never heard of Incredible Farm, go and seek them out – they do good things! I am hoping to get back to volunteering there again, but I need to concentrate on our farm at the…
Most of our land sits in front of our house, but behind we have a relatively level small area of land. This area is lovely of an evening and hosts our existing greenhouse (which due to construction work we have been unable to access for quite a while. I wanted an area that we could sit out in the evening, and behind our house is perfect as it gets full sun in the evening. I also wanted to plant more…
Where we live is quite exposed and we get hit by serious westerly winds. One of the first jobs on my to do list was to plant a fast growing wind break to protect my planned precious fruit trees and bushes. I’ve opted for a single width Willow (Salix Viminalis) hedge. This will have an second row of Chaenomeles (Japanese Quince) and Crab Apple (on the leeward side). This will provide both fruit, pollination partners and will have really pretty blossoms….
As you me know I have plans to plant lots of trees and create some hedgerows. Lying in the bath one night, I though “there must be some grants available somewhere.” A bit of an internet search later (not in the bath – electronic devices and baths don’t mix), and I found that the Woodland Trust did indeed have assistance for certain planting schemes, and they didn’t have to be massive multiple hectare jobs! I sent them maps and information…