A break in the rain

Snowdrops in Turnditch orchard

Sunday was a clear sky day so we took the opportunity to visit the field. There are snowdrop flowers breaking out in many places. It was the first time we'd let our German Shepherd pup free to run on the field, she had great fun splashing in the puddles.

Elka the GSD in the puddles

Hopefully we can start to plant the fruit trees if the soil is  not too waterlogged. In the background of the above picture you can see the hedge laying has progressed despite the poor weather.

Snowdrops at Turnditch Orchard

There's signs of Spring already at the orchard. We found these snowdrops poking their heads above the soil on the first day of February. Behind the flowers you can see the Ecclesbourne swollen by the recent rains.

Snowdrops by the Ecclesbourne

Early signs of spring

The river is still in spate today after the heavy rain over the past few weeks. The picture below shows the current level and some debris from a fallen tree.  This picture was taken from the road bridge. We're planing to clean the bank side and remove many of the failed trees. In their place we'll be planting some willow to consolidate the banks Their thick roots can withstand water logging in the soil and will dig down deeply binding the soil against flood erosion.

We noticed some snowdrop flowers on the field under the hedges and also in the open ground. You'd not normally find snowdrops in fields grazed by farm animals as they may be toxic. It is a further suggestion that some garden soil has been dumped on the field. I also noted some buds were beginning to swell on some of the twigs. Let's hope there not a cold spell in February to burn this sign of life.