Careful with your coffee!

 Today, I was standing at the roadside gate to the orchard, facing inwards, as a "white van" drove past on the A517. The passenger in the van thought it would be hilarous to throw his MacDonald's cup of coffee at my back and shout insults as they drove past me.

I don't supposed they'd noticed that I was engaged in filming a video on my GoPro camera at the time. The video caught the image of the coffee cup just missing me, though some of the coffee splashed me. I swung the camera in time to catch an excellent 4K video image of the rear of the van, including its registration plate as it drove on to Turnditch.  A copy of the video, including GPS data and timestamp, complete with the offending coffee cup in a protective clear plastic bag, has been passed to the police with a complaint of assault.

Roadside hedge Trimming at the Orchard

 In an earlier post I mentioned the letter from the Derbyshire County Council, requiring us to trim back the vegetation on the roadside path. For pedestrians the vegetation had to be at least 2.4 metres above the footpath. For the road traffic there has to be at least 5.2 metres (16ft) clear of overhanging branches.

Clearing the pedestrian level vegetation was relatively easy with a petrol powered extended-reach pole hedge trimmer. Other than wearing PPE clothing and local traffic cones, no special precautions were required.

The high-level work was made more complicated by having to allow for passing traffic (Ashbourne Road, A517) and pedestrians. The blind spot caused the railway bridge meant we had to have mobile traffic control in operation. We wanted to minimise overall traffic disruption so we didn't have a traffic light system in place. Temporary traffic lights for the hedge work would have caused a traffic back-up  right to the Railway Inn crossroad junction traffic lights. The A517 is a busy road, and the 40 mph speed limit means that drivers have to be given good advance warning of the risks of falling branches.

We lined the side of the road with traffic cones, and when we were performing active works we moved the cones temporarily to close off one side of the road at the site of work. There were also large  "Tree Felling" roadside warning signs posted at either end of the works. As soon as the operations to cut a high level branch were complete, we moved the traffic cones back to the side of the road to allow free traffic flow.  We tidied up each branch immediately after cutting to reduce disruption to traffic. We found that that simply cutting the branch and allowing it to fall to the road, even with warning traffic cones in place, was too risky.  We modified our activity to ensure that cut branches were lowered, using ropes, to the ground in a controlled manner. The work involved in fixing the ropes and pulleys at high level for each branch to be cut, significantly increased the manhours needed to complete the work. We performed the rope work using a 24 foot extendible pole to position the ropes at high-level. We could have used a "cherry picker" truck for high-level access, but that would have caused traffic congestion, and would have be no faster than using the extendible pole. We used a separate pole marked at 5.2 metres to check the height of overhanging branches.

Some of the larger branches, mostly Ash and some Hawthorn, weighed in excess of 30kg and up to 12 cm diameter at the thickest point. All of the sawing work at high level was performed using a manual 6.3m Silky Polesaw (Hayauchi). When the branches were lowered to the roadside, we used a folding Silky handsaw and Fiskars XA23 brush hook to trim smaller branches from the main limb in preparation to chucking them on a log pile for later processing.

As the work approached the crest of the rail bridge, we had to have a look-out person deployed to warn of on-coming road traffic. All of us were equipped with walkie-talkie radios to faciitate communication above the traffic noise. Cutting and rope work would be paused until the vehicle traffic had safely passed by the site of work. In all, there was about 60 man-hours of roadside work to trim back the 150 metres of vegetation. Using a tractor mounted flail was not possible given the presence of a roadside wire mesh stock fence adjacent to the footpath.

I'd been planning to record some of the work on video, but given the council deadline,  I was too short on time to set up the cameras.  Here's an after the event video: 

Interesting offer after Council Letter

 I was hard at work today trimming the roadside hedge of the Orchard. The Derbyshire Country Council had sent me a letter to trim it back so that it didn't encroach on to the footpath. Sure enough it had become overgrown and was narrowing the footpath. I'm presuming that someone local had made a complaint.

Trimming 150 metres of hedge to a height 3.5 metres is hot hard work. I was about one third of the way through the work, so I took a coffee break. I was sitting on the bridge parapet wall drinking coffee and a builder's wagon pulled up alongside me.  I thought he was going to offer to complete the trimming work  for a price.  It turned out that he's seriously interested in buying the land and wanted to know if I was interested in selling. After the Council letter and half a day's hard work cutting hedges I said "yes".  He'll be calling back later after I've discussed it with my wife.

He's interested in keeping horses on the land.

Back on the Orchard after Covid-19 Lockdown

 We were able to get back on the orchard on Bank Holiday Monday after staying away due to Covid-19 Lockdown. I suppose this was about a 15 month gap. The grass and weeds have grown high, but the field trimmer will make short work of them.

We've purchased a new trimmer because our original Hyundai Field Trimmer never really recovered from being underwater in the Autumn floods a couple of years ago. The new one if a Chinese copy of the Hyundai, almost bolt for bolt, but it seems to work well enough.

Russets missing

 In these days of Covid-19 we are keeping close to home to avoid the risk of infection. We've not put a lot of work into the orchard, but we have been keeping an eye on it. The grass has been allowed to grow long, but the fruit trees are sufficiently mature that it does not greatly affect them.

A couple of weeks ago we had a good crop of Russet apples on the Egremont tree. I don't normally pick them until late October/Early November as they are a late apple and the delay enhances their flavour. Today (27th October ) I decided to harvest the crop. However on arrival, I found not a single apple on the tree and none on the ground below.

It looks like we've had the crop stolen.

It takes quite a lot of work to maintain the orchard, and it is very disappointing to not reap the benefits. In my current frame of mind I'm tempted to apply for planning permission on the site, which is outside of greenbelt, with good road access. I know the authorities are looking for locations to provide and fund social housing for migrants. There's a handy bus route nearby and all of the necessary utility services are available. It would certainly give us a healthy profit while also being a benefit to society.

The Orchard is on Hold

Given the Covid-19 Lockdown regulations and the need for our own protective self-isolation we've not put much time into maintaining the orchard over the past few months.

We did manage to undertake a brief visit and found a lot of damage to the fruit and nut trees. Over-winter floods and late spring frosts have wreaked extensive damage. I also noticed some "die-back" disease in some of the Ash trees.  While we've not abandoned the project, it is almost like we'll have to start again from the beginning. 

One more tree

We finally managed to get on the Orchard today, though the ground was still a bit boggy after the floods. We had a bare roots Egremont Russet apple tree to plant. Currently it is a single whip about three years old grafted on to another root stock. The soil was pretty sticky, but after some work we planted it, though I forgot to install a support post. We already have one Egremont in the orchard, but I couldn't resist adding another, I love the flavour of those apples. This was probably the last weekend this Spring that we could safely plant a bare roots fruit tree.

As our dogs enjoyed charging around, and finding muddy puddles, my wife pruned the other fruit tree.

Winter trim of the Willow Grove in Turnditch Orchard

Each year around November, we trim the willow grove in the orchard. In 2019 we were affected by the flooding in Derbyshire, so we had to postpone the trimming until January 2020. The job takes about two hours to trim approximately 70 willow stools (coppiced about chest high) to remove the year's growth. the thicker "wands" grow to 2 - 3 metres in length. We planted the willow to help dry a wet patch of the orchard where a historic drain route was in place before the nearby railway bridge embankment was built. We also use the wood to form willow spiling to reinforce the river bank. The salix viminalis strain grows too fast/thick to be of much use in basketry. We trim it each year to ensure we get single shaft wands with very little branching.  ach year we give cuttings away free to people who want to grow their own willow. It is very easy to propagate, just poke a willow wand/branch about 20cm in the ground and leave it alone until it grows too big. It thrives best in an unshaded location. The roots are highly tolerant of waterlogged ground.

The willow grove is well shaded and cool in the hot summer months. The plant is friendly to wildlife and insects. On the riverbank the roots of the spiled willow help to bind the soil together and reduce bank erosion.

More orchard videos to come

We've not done much work on the orchard recently. This is down to fitness/injury issues, but we hope to spend more time in 2020 in the orchard. There's no shortage of tasks to undertake.  During our "layoff" we've not been idle. One of the things, with low physical demands, we've done is practising how to make and publish videos online.  Expect to see some more videos soon relating to our work in the orchard. For example: Trimming the Willow.

Meanwhile, here's some of the videoes we've prepared in nearby Belper:

A walk down William Street; on youtube  and also on vimeo (no adverts).

A walk up Long Row; on youtube and also on vimeo (no adverts).

Watering the trees

Yesterday, in the heat of the afternoon, a volunteer and I were out watering the fruit trees. We served each tree with four buckets full of river water. That's roughly 16 gallons per tree. We'd had heavy overnight rain and thunder storms, but the ground was dry already.  Today is the hottest day of the year, about 34 deg C., and the trees are looking happier.  It was worth the sweat to carry the buckets around the orchard.  We did have the assistance of a petrol powered water pump to lift the water from the river.

It's that lamb time of the year.

I visited the Turnditch Orchard yesterday to find lambs grazing on our grass and fruit trees. I don't mind them eating grass, but their munching the lower branches of the fruit trees causes a lot of long lasting damage. At least five trees and a section of new hedge have suffered damage by the lambs. The lambs come from the adjoining field. They are now big enough to graze away from their mums, but small enough to be able to get through any gaps. Last year we had no invasions having fixed all the fences.

Sheep damaged apple tree.

This year the lambs gained access through the field gate. It is a metal gate designed for cattle, but not small livestock. It has equal sized gaps across the gate and lambs easily wriggle through the gaps. A sheep gate has narrower gaps toward the base. Our own gate at the roadside is a sheep gate, otherwise those lambs might have been found wandering on the Ashbourne Road (A517). Our neighbour farmer had recognised this some years ago and had wired an old plank at the base of the gate to stop lambs wriggling through the gaps. The people using the public footpath like having a large gap at the foot of the gate to allow their dogs to pass through the gate. At some point, the plank wired to the gate has "disappeared", thus allowing the lambs to gain access to the orchard.  We had provided a "dog gate" which allowed access for dogs when the plank had been in place, but it requires 10 seconds of extra effort.

Dog gate installed between the lamb field and the orchard.

Dog gate, today, showing no sign of use

So now I've had to wire a section of stock fence to the gate to stop all animals from wriggling through the gate. The dog gate remains available, though I know the farmer isn't too keen on having dogs in a field where there are lambs. Strictly speaking, we do not have to provide access for dogs on a public footpath, just humans have a right of way on foot, but so long as no damage arises it is not a problem for us. The stiles remain for the walkers.

Gate, wired with stock fence

Sorry Sir, we don't make that part anymore

We're late cutting the grass in the orchard this year.  Essentially I've been busy on other projects and "the grass can wait".  One of the neighbours kindly helped me out one recent weekend by mowing approximately two thirds of the grass using our Hyundai Field Trimmer. Considering he'd never used it before, he did a really good job. Thank you Ian!

After we'd packed up for the day, I thought it was about time I gave the machine its annual service. This normally just changing the oil, which is messy because the drain plug is not well positioned on the Hyundai.  Now I use an oil vacuum pump which makes life a lot easier, but you have to remember to measure the amount of oil you've removed. When filling with fresh oil it needs to match the amount you remove. Over filling creates some spectacular smoke clouds from the exhaust if you operate the trimmer down a hill slope.

This year I decided to change the spark plug and the carburettor air filter. The plug change was easy, though it did highlight the spark gap on the old plug was too wide. A correctly gapped plug made a good improvement to the starting process. I also looked at the air filter. It was quite dirty so it definitely needed a change. I'd ordered a replacement air filter a couple of weeks before, and had it ready. Unfortunately when I came to swap out the old and new filters, I discovered the new filter was too small, by about 1 cm in width and breadth. It wouldn't lodge securely in the filter holder on the field trimmer. I  took some photo's of the parts and contacted the suppliers. "I'm sorry, it looks like we sent you the wrong filter. We'll post you the correct one immediately."

I waited a week, but nothing arrived, so I contacted the distributor again. "We have sent you one, but it must have gone astray in the post. We'll send you another by tracked mail."  Sure enough, a couple of days later the new filter arrived.  It was still too small, the same size as the original one they'd sent to me. I made contact again and we agreed that Hyundai had probably changed the design of the air filter and housing.  I'd purchased the machine in 2014, so I was disappointed the spare part was no longer available. However, by good luck, my workshop is set up for resin casting and making Silicone Rubber moulds. I told the distributor, not to worry and that I would cast a mould in silicone rubber to adapt the new filter block to make it suitable for mounting on the "old" field trimmer.

When I checked my supplies of silicone rubber, I decided not to open an expensive new can of the component parts, but that I'd just use bathroom silicone sealant. It is essentially the same as silicone rubber, but uses moisture rather than a catalyst hardener to cure to its tough rubbery state.

Draw around original filter shape on to polyethylene plastic

Cut a cardboard template to the shape of the base

Build a plasticine mould to the outline on the plastic

Position the new filter centrally in the outline

Hold the filter in place using a weight, then apply silicone in the gap

I left the assembly overnight and extracted the casting later in the morning. The silicone had hardened quite well and is a very close fit to the replacement filter. It is now installed and working well in the Hyundai Field Trimmer.

Spreadsheets in an orchard?

The Turnditch Orchard is associated with  the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, they help us and we help them, mostly because of our work on the river bank.  Today I had a spreadsheet sent to me, via email, by one of their members for completion. It's being sent to all the Derwent/Ecclesbourne catchment area "partners" to check progress on projects.  Thankfully this is nothing to do with the Turnditch Orchard project, but it brought back horrible memories of my life in a large corporation. There various managers would use Excel spreadsheets for data collection from multiple people.  Excel spreadsheets  are one of the worst ways of collecting data from multiple people, creating enormous duplication of effort and an invitation to provide the wrong version of the wrong data.

I'm so glad my work is now just cutting grass and tending trees.

There are far better methods of collecting data from multiple people!! I always call spreadsheets "instant legacy systems", as they become impossible to maintain when the original author moves on.

Improving payments around Belper.

Recently I have become really annoyed with the service offered by the NatWest Bank They've closed the local Branches for no good reason. They claimed lack of business for Belper Branch that always seemed to have a queue. They've also closed their ATM. I've also had problems with their debit card, but more about that later. Considering the amount of business I've put through for my Company and indeed the purchase of the orchard land you'd think they'd be more responsive.

I've started looking around for an alternative banking method, and purely by chance, I think I found it in the Belper branch of Wilko's, an ironmonger and household goods store! It will also reduce the costs of spending money when you are travelling overseas.

I was buying an Easter present for my wife, but approaching the cashier desk, I saw a stand containing various gift and store cards. I don't know why, but one card caught my attention. It was the Revolut prepaid bank card. It had a VISA Logo on the package. It priced at £4.95, but given the problems with NatWest I thought it might be worth a try. There was not much detail on the packaging, but I purchased it and came home to the Old Post Office. I was soon sat in front of my PC investigating my impulse buy on the Internet.

Like most pre-paid bank cards it works by you loading some money from your Bank Account, or from other income sources. You can then use the card like a normal CHIP and PIN Bank Debit Card, with the benefit that you cannot spend more than you've loaded. So it helps keep spending under control and prevents a raid on your main bank account if someone acquires your card.

Signing up to the service is undertaken using your smartphone, either Apple or Android, you need an existing bank account, a debit card to load money and your driving licence. Just fill in the details, hook up your debit card details, photograph your driving licence and when they ask take a face selfie using the smart phone. I received "approval" within 30 minutes from Revolut. It was a smooth and easy process.

I've since used the card to pay bills and to withdraw cash from an ATM. With the ATM I used at the COOP, there was no transaction fee(*1).  With a pre-paid debit card I have from another supplier (Optimum), there's a fee to withdraw money. All standard stuff so far, but it gets better.

The Revolut Card offers foreign currency facilities in a wide range of currencies. What is different is that the exchange rate offered is at the Interbank Rate rather than an inflated offered by the bank and credit card companies. When you purchase something on your travels, use the card to pay in the local currency. This avoids a rip off pricing by the retailer and also rip off foreign currency exchange rates by the Debit/Credit card. You can also use the card at foreign ATM machines, ticket machines, fuel stations, restaurants, shops etc. The same applies for Internet purchases, where banks will charge in the region of 6% - 10% in fees and poor their exchange rates when you pay by Debit Card.

I'd not be surprised to see savings on expenditures of more than 10 - 15% compared with paying in Sterling (GBP) on a standard bank card in an overseas location.

You can pre-buy currency in advance and store it in an electronic "vault" offered by Revolut and then easily use it for foreign currency payments. This way you can take advantage of those times when currency exchange rates fluctuate and the pound (GBP) is strong. No more rip-off airport/hotel currency exchange rates.

When your card detail is used for a purchase Revolut messages your smartphone and you can easily check balances via your smartphone. You can also freeze/unfreeze your card from your phone.

Sending money to/from friends in most currencies is easy and fast(*2). A web page link (URL) is generated. It displays a request to pay/receive the amount which used by the friend/company to effect the transfer.  It also helps you to "split the bill" between friends and to be paid back. Once the card is approved, you can receive bank transfer payments direct from your employer or your own main bank account.

I opted to subscribe to the Revolut Premium Card (£8/Month) which offers travel insurance and also virtual disposable cards. You can generate a card number and security code which is for once only usage. So if you are paying on some dodgy website for a service/product and you don't want them to see your main card details, this is ideal.

This brings me back to my problems with the NatWest Bank. Three times in the past three months they have frozen my NatWest Bank card and replaced it twice. On one of those occasions it was because the police told them my card details might be compromised, but they would even tell me which suppliers system had been hacked. On the other two occasions, the card freezing was because of "false positives" by the NatWest's own security system. NatWest send a notification via SMS text message which seems to arrive at 3:30 am and in some cases is greatly delayed. 

You realise there's a problem when suddenly your card doesn't work any more, then you have a week's wait before you can access your bank account.  If you are overseas on holiday/business trip you might not even get the warning SMS message that you card has been frozen.  Hotels take a dim view when it is time to check out and you only have a dud NatWest Card! You can't even go to an ATM to draw out additional cash. When there's a replacement card you have to remember to update all those accounts which used the old card details, it can mean missed payments to suppliers.


*Footnote:

1. I've since discovered a Standard Revolut Card allows up to £200 cash from ATM/Month, then they charge 2% of the amount.  With the Premium Card it is £400 cash/month before a 2% charge applies.
2. There are limits to the size of sum that can be paid/received from/to friends. It is around £200. If both parties have a Revolut Card there isn't a limit that I've found.
3. The account is actually quite good for currency trading. By dumb luck, I bought £50 worth of Bitcoin. It's Sterling value has doubled in less than a month. Being a coward, I've sold it back to Sterling, but that has effectively paid for this year's premium account.

Is the old Ash tree dying?

I was on the orchard this morning to retrieve some fence posts. I noticed the large old Ash tree has dropped another large branch. That's the third large branch the tree has shed in the space of 12 months. This branch weighed about 50 kilos, I'm glad no one was under that when it fell, and thankfully it missed all the young fruit trees.

I think the tree is about 150 years old, maybe it has started to die of old age. Over the past few autumns I've noticed some honey fungus at the base of the trunk. 

Edit 26th May 2019:

The leaves on the big Ash tree are quite slow to appear this year, well behind the other ash trees around the orchard.

Another sapling installed

Today, I took advantage of the good weather to transplant a Black Walnut sapling into the orchard. I'd pre-prepared the hole and support post so the process was straight forward. This time it already had soil on the root ball so it should take without too many problems. I had some treeguard tubes available so I was able to protect the slim trunk from rabbit/squirrel damage.

It is fascinating to wonder if I'd still be alive to see the nuts harvested from the tree I just planted. I'm in my mid-sixties so I should have a decade or too left to me. It's the old story, you plant trees for the next generation.

There's a great backlog of work to catch up in the orchard. Mother nature doesn't care if you've been unfit. The sunny weekend day saw plenty of people stopping by for a chat. It slows the work but is most welcome.

No to Fracking in Turnditch

We'll be opposing the move to create a fracking site on the orchard. Meanwhile we managed to get some hedge cutting done as our fitness returns. We found a good number of old nests in the hedges, an increase over previous years.

We've noticed the soil is quite dry for mid-February.  Hopefully we'll get some meaningful rain this Spring.

Spring is not far away

Finally, after recovering from a surgical operation and a subsequently badly sprained ankle, after a 5 month delay I was finally able to get back on the orchard yesterday and today.  I was taking it easy and just planted a Fig shrub and a small Apricot tree (bare roots). I had to clear back some unwanted Elm shrub to provide space for the new arrivals. My folding Silky saw was very handy.

The fig and apricot trees are positioned against a south facing concrete retaining wall. Hopefully that will provide enough shelter and reflected heat to help them flourish.

Great year for quince at the orchard.

We picked the quince fruit yesterday at the orchard.  They are still as hard as rocks, but the pips are mature when you cut the fruit open and they pick easily from the tree. This is the first year we've had a good crop on this young tree, which we planted 5 years ago. The tree name is Serbian Gold which is one that can survive north of the Watford Gap.

They need to be cooked to soften the fruit, and they have a wonderful perfume which scents out any room where you store them. We're making quince jelly this year, ready for Christmas. It's excellent on toast or as an accompaniment to meats and cheese.

Quince from our Serbian Gold

We found one of the fruit on the ground beneath the tree with teeth marks in the surface. Someone must have had quite a surprise when they tried to bite into it thinking it was an apple.  

Within a few days we've converted half the crop in to delicious quince jelly (no, there's no gelatine in there, just natural pectin). It is beautifully clear and fragrant with a delicate pink colour. I guess some people might get a jar of this in their Xmas hamper. 

Quince jelly made from Turnditch Orchard fruit.

First Harvest in the Orchard

Yesterday we took our first harvest from the orchard. We picked a basket full of Cobra apples. These apples have a wonderful sweet flavour and the fruit is nice and crisp. The young tree was laden with fruit this year. We've left a similar amount of fruit on the tree for later picking.

The quince tree is looking good with quite a few fruit on its branches, though they are rock hard at present. At present they are nowhere near maturity. We also have a good crop of Conference pears which should be ready in a couple of weeks. There's a good crop on the Egremont Russet apple tree, but they won't be ready until 6 weeks has passed.

It was a nice reward for all the hard work over the past four or five years. Last winter we applied some general purpose fertiliser and also some magnesium supplement to the base of the fruit trees. This seems to have paid dividends in the vigour of the trees this year. We've also watered the tree about twice a week this summer. It's been a long dry summer. 

This suggests the soil in the field needs some additional feeding over winter to restore the many previous years of neglect by previous owners of the field.

On the river bank, the Bullace tree is laden with purple fruit so we'll be picking those towards the end of September. This will delight my gin swilling friends/family down in London.