22 - 24 April 2020
I have finished almost all of the trees, with Dave's help on a couple of them. They all have at least a metre diameter of earth cleared of weeds and grasses. Onto this I distributed the remaining manure - eight bags between about 20 trees. Then to try to reduce re-growth of weeds, we thought we'd put down a straw mulch. We decided it would be best to chop up the straw, which will reduce the viability of straw seeds, and help it to rot down usefully.
I have finished almost all of the trees, with Dave's help on a couple of them. They all have at least a metre diameter of earth cleared of weeds and grasses. Onto this I distributed the remaining manure - eight bags between about 20 trees. Then to try to reduce re-growth of weeds, we thought we'd put down a straw mulch. We decided it would be best to chop up the straw, which will reduce the viability of straw seeds, and help it to rot down usefully.
Not fighting infection - fighting hay fever from strimming loose straw in a bin. Safety equipment we had from last year, not diverted from the health service (the mask's been used a few times before).
Tools of the job - remains of a bale in the wheelbarrow, large bin and battery strimmer. Trees in the background already mulched.
Some of the straw went to the strawberries - it seemed the right thing to do!
Taking the strawberry harvest home in a wheelbarrow ... not entirely necessary!
Mulching continues.
The first beetroot harvest. They were gorgeous, boiled whole for 30 mins.
Mostly all mulched.
We had just a little well-rotted woodchip from an old pile full of mycellium (the white strands). This is precious stuff - vital to the well-being of woodland plants. So it was distributed to the Pomegranate and the Peach (most demanding fruiters) and enough was left over for every tree to get half a bucketful under their straw.
Dave standing on the fresh woodchip path by the 'pea' bed (long and thin, and now planted with peas) checking the watering system.
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