After collecting assorted currant bushes and raspberry canes from Ruben & Nellie we thought long and hard about how best to plant them on our soggy clay, windy site. To help the soil condition an obvious consideration is to construct raised beds but they seem such a lot of work and expense then there are the slugs that they seem to attract.
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| Fruit |
We settled in the end for raised beds but without a wooden boarder. This still involved a bit of work on my part. I wheelbarrowed one ton of course sand and two tons of compost from the house down to the field to the nearest point where I could load the link box for the tractor and carry it the last part of the journey to the growing area. Unfortunately digging a trench down our track has left it impassable by the tractor (i had to be rescued by a man with a swing shovel the other day). Eventually the track will be sorted out properly but in the mean time despite the extra work we're hoping we now have drier and richer beds for the fruit to grow in.
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| Sand and compost to condition the soil |
The other consideration was the wind, we're working a two part solution for this. The longer term element is the hedge we're planting. This is also part of the condition for our planning approval. The other more immediate defence was to set up some windproof netting.
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| He can also distinguish a Great Tit by its song!! |
All the materials were sourced by Sally, the netting was erected by yours truly along with the marking out of the hedge. My best helper (Hi again Dad) stopped by on a gorgeous day (he carries the weather in his pocket) to help plant the raspberry canes and 30 or so hedging trees. Since then I planted another 60, maybe a few less, so i'm roughly half way to finishing the hedge. The trees are starting to come out in leaf so i need to keep cracking away with this despite popping off for a surf today.
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| The mercury on the level does not lie i tell you. |
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| Hedgerow marked out |
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| At least the sheep like my work |
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