Our wonderful orchard volunteers from Astra Zeneca spent a slightly rainy day in the orchard on 23rd April 2024. They achieved so much! They used all of their skills to work out how to put new picnic tables and raised beds together and get them installed. They also weeded around the apple trees and added a circle of mulch around them. Mulch can be anything from wood and bark chips to compost – even a thick layer of cardboard will help. The mulch prevents weeds from popping up and reduces water loss, and so keeps the trees from being stressed. Mulches such as compost or bark will also add some nutrients. The small-leaved lime trees also got some mulch. Finally they weeded the stool bed area and set it in to year 2 of the rootstock production cycle.
So the orchard is looking gorgeous, all set for our Blossom Day Bank Holiday Monday 6th May 2 – 4pm, and for a lot of picnics throughout the summer. How come even a sandwich and a packet of crisps tastes so much better out of doors?