Everything is different! Hannah has now left Torrisdale to follow her heart but has left a big gaping hole in all our lives. And a blog to be updated! As Niall’s wife and laundry assistant to his mother, I will do my best to keep up the good work. We are clinging on to summer …
Summertimes
It’s been ages since I wrote a blog, and I’m blaming it entirely on that great British summer which has turned Torrisdale into a holiday paradise, hot sunshine, cool, clear water and secluded beaches, what more could you want?! Even better – the midges don’t like it this hot. Instead of midges this year it’s …
Recent goings-on
Blue sky and a perfect summery day yesterday, good to be working in a t-shirt again without a cloud in the sky. The walled garden is the perfect sun trap and even though the midges made an appearance they’re not quite biting yet. Unfortunately the sun didn’t last and the rain’s returned with a vengeance, …
The Walled Garden Orchard
In the beginning it looked like this…
On a very wet April day Pete came in with the digger and dug some trenches, these were liberally filled with well rotted manure from Gus down the road. It was a mess – sticky clay mud you could lose your welly in (and often did), manure, weeds and rocks everywhere. After a good few days digging, wheeling the barrow and spreading gravel and some much needed help from Tony and Mudita we managed to get the future orchard area flat(ish) relatively weed free and ready for posts and wires.
As April showers gave way to some May sunshine, our order of 200 trees and 200 soft fruits arrived along with our wwoofer, Veronique all the way from France, and my Mum – a temporary wwoofer for one week.
Over the next few weeks we will be stocking up the new Torrisdale pharmacy Orchard with 27 varieties of apple, dessert and cooking, including Pixie, Red Devil, Ribston Pippin and Bountiful, 4 types of pear, blackcurrants, redcurrants, whitecurrants, gooseberry, jostaberry (gooseberry x blackberry), blackberry, tayberry, raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, cowberry, plum and mulberry. Plenty of fruit for the future Farm Shop!
The apples are being trained along wires at a 45 degree angle, tricking the tree into thinking it’s a branch and producing loads of fruit – some of which will be heading straight for the cider press. The rest of the fruit will be available to buy in the future Farm Shop, as freshly picked local wholesome fruit or as jams, pies, compotes and as tasty cakes and treats. Watch this space!