First of all, a huge thanks to all those who turned up to our December work party. There was much to do and the sun shone bright while our team of volunteers were hard at work tending to the Orchard.
A quick reminder that our work parties are held on the first Wednesday of the month from 9:30am - 12:00 midday. Our volunteers age from 18 to very nearly 80! The next one is in February 2022 and if you would like to join us, please contact Helen - we'd love to see you. Read on to find out what the December team got up to!
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Our new tree will need much nurture, formative pruning and possibly watering in the spring and summer. It is very precious and you can see it is much protected with two rabbit guards, a deer guard and a massive stake. We should be able to collect the first fruit in 2024.
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There were many other jobs to complete after the tree planting. We applied sticky barrier gunk to each trunk to trap any female over-wintering winter moths when they try to migrate up into the trees from their hibernation in the tree mulch beneath each one. We also did a small bramble bash. We want to leave as much wild as we can to encourage over-wintering beneficial insects, hence we have not used any winter wash this year.
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Next up were the bird boxes. We now have four bird boxes - a robin box and three for tits.
Two of the tit boxes had nests, so we were delighted!
Here is Nigel (above) putting back the nice clean bird box ready for the spring.
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We found this hedgehog house in the Orchard during our December work party. We hope the local Mrs Tiggywinkle will find it! 🦔
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Keep well everyone and don't forget the Wassail on 16th January 2022 from 5pm onwards at the Limpsfield British Legion. More details available here.
