Ann's Farm Journal

Keep up with all of our updates from the farm including what’s new in season!

Still lots to do during the Winter season

Still lots to do during the Winter season

Hello Everyone,

I am wondering how many of you, our lovely readers, enjoyed the amazing morning red sky last week. I woke up to a glow on the horizon and had a feeling that the sunrise was going to be a good one. Mother Nature did not disappoint with a sky which would have seemed normal on a Spielberg movie. As you can see above, these ‘Lenticular’ clouds provided a cinematic show of colour with an extra-terrestrial vision. What a way to start the day…literally out of this world!

The Farm

You may not think it, but the Winter season is the perfect time for many tasks in the garden. These include organising the shed, tool maintenance or planning the year ahead, and now is also the perfect time for pruning or moving bushes and trees. We have over eighty trees in our Orchard and many others dotted around the farm. This last week Lucy and Graham have pruned the apple trees ready for the new growing season. The trees are dormant (not growing) so it is the perfect time to give them a trim. Trees with pips (Apples and Pears) are pruned at this time, those with stones (Plums) are pruned in the Summer months. As there are no leaves on the branches this is a great time for taking a long hard look at the shape of the trees, check if any branches are damaged and any crossing branches are quite obvious. For our orchard trees, we aim to create a goblet shape ensuring there is plenty of air flow through the branches. Our trees are over eight years old now, so we are not worried about perfection, we do not fret over being pedantic, more that the tree looks healthy and in a good shape.  

Our gooseberry bushes also get a a good trim at this time of the year, using a similar method…no crossover branches, a good shape for plenty of air flow and checking for any damage or disease. After looking at our gooseberry bushes we do intend to move some bushes to allow more space between each bush. This is to allow more air flow and a greater access to harvest the fruit…the bushes have really bushed out in the last year. We intend to move every other bush and transplant them to the Walled Garden. This is a perfect time to move them but the Walled Garden is not quite ready to accept the bushes. We will place them into large buckets until the Walled Garden is ready for them.

The Crew continue with the reset of the outside growing areas. The inside growing areas are being tended and mulched with new compost, which was delivered last week.

Now the snow has all gone, we are able to see exactly the extent of the damage caused by the weight of snow and the freezing conditions. Guttering needs to be fixed or replaced. Wooden lats along the sides of the tunnels are to be replaced. The major work of the tunnel covers is still in the ‘discussion’ stage.

The Walled Garden

The preparation for the path along the, soon to be constructed Greenhouse, is still ongoing…it’s a long path! However, issues with the levels cropped up last week, however, we have an amazing builder and the problem has been solved.

Between each growing bed we are creating wood chip paths. Before the wood chip is dropped into place, we are placing a weed suppression fabric between the wooden boards. This task has begun. We have many, many meters of path to complete. The wood chip being used is from trees and bushes which were either, damaged, dangerous or in the wrong place within the Freyja Project building areas. All trees and bushes are being repurposed.

We use wood chip, as we do at the farm, for paths between growing areas. We find that not only are weeds prevented from growing, there are many other advantages. Wood chip is as natural a product that you can find, it is a pleasant path to look at, it retains moisture, it composts down naturally on site and it provides carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. We have found over the years that our plant growth actually is healthier and more prolific the closer the growing area is to a wood chip path. Seems a win win!

Can I thank you all for subscribing to the Journal, the YouTube Channel and Instagram. We cannot believe the number of individuals who have taken the time to see what we are doing. Many have been our lovely customers and friends from over the years. We are also gaining new friends who are interested in our project and the progress we are making or intend to make. Great to have you all along with us here on the Freyja Project. Thank you for joining us.

YouTube

More filming has taken place for our YouTube channel, and this week, our Head Gardener (Bob) and our Head Chef (Alex) have a bit of a chat while walking around the Garden. Go and have a watch if you want to listen to the conversation.

Till next week, take care,

Ann