Preparing Machinery for Winter

We spent a few hours getting the petrol engined tools which we use in the orchard, ready for winter. I was quite surprised when I realised we now have six such tools. Most of the work was following the maintenance schedule such as oil changes and cleaning air filters. However one item was dealing with fuel (petrol) for the motors. I hadn't realised fuel from the forecourt can go off in as little as 30 days. Using stale fuel can damage a motor, particularly the small high revving 2-strokes.

The usual advice is to drain the fuel systems over Winter and to fill with fresh fuel in the Spring when you start to use the tools again. After some investigation we decided to empty the tanks and refuel them with fresh petrol treated with "Fuel Fit" petrol additive from Briggs and Stratton. This keeps fuel fresh for up to three years. An alternative would be to swap over to Aspen alkylated fuels, they contain fewer impurities and last for a couple of years. Aspen is about three times more expensive than forecourt petrol. Fuel Fit costs about £8 to treat 25 litres of fuel.

None of this equipment is stored on site.

Winching competition

Today saw the annual winching competition in the Turnditch Orchard. In the interest of fairness the teams are offered free choice of equipment and can select their winching tasks in the competition area.  This year the Management team were the clear winners of the event achieving six blackthorn stumps in the allotted time. 

Tirfor type winch

This year we tried out the Power Winch 2500. This pulls quite quickly, but the 2500 lbs pull was no match for the Blackthorn. We stalled the motor when attempting a straight pull of a stump and, in any event, we were worried the surface of the rope may melt on the winch capstan at full pull. We reverted to the tried and tested Tirfor type cable winch (1800Kg), which is slower but significantly greater pulling power.

We used a snatch block to double the pulling power of the winch. The other end of the cable was attached to a 130 mm post which had been driven into the ground, this in turn was backed up by our 16 Kg boat anchor. A new innovation was having the steel wheel rim to change the direction of pull chain to the tree stump. Instead of pulling horizontally, the wheel introduces an upward vector to help lift the root from the ground.

Steel wheel rim helps the pull

Our boat anchor helps the winching

Anchors aweigh!

We've finally been able to get some free time to work in the Turnditch Orchard during the last weekend. There's an area of the plot which we'd partially cleared of blackthorn, but we made the mistake of not completing the task this year. Consequently the blackthorn has re-sprouted and more effort is needed to trim it and remove it from the ground. 

We did some tidying a few weeks ago when we were trying out our Makita long pole petrol hedge trimmer. We used this to cut back some of the undergrowth. Our field trimmer would have struggled with the thorn bush. 

During the past year we've purchased a portable petrol powered capstan winch, namely a PCW5000 to help us safely move some of the logs on the embankment. We were able to use this to easily pull out some of the thorn bush stumps.  Unfortunately we'd not bought enough rope on site, nor our manual winches, so after the first few easy pulls,  we found we were running out of suitable anchor points for the power winch. The blackthorn is quite stubborn when you winch it out. We found that the fence posts we'd hammered in the ground as anchors pulled out before the blackthorn moved. As a consequence we had to stop work.

The testing we'd done was quite fruitful, we've definitely improved our technique of removing the stumps. The whole process is a lot faster. We just need to sort out the anchoring method for the winch points. So this morning I ordered a heavy (16 Kg) steel boat anchor. This will act as a backstop to the fence post anchors we already use, the harder you pull on these anchors the deeper they dig into the ground.

In case anyone reading this article is thinking of visiting the site to acquire some new tools?  Don't bother we don't leave any equipment of value on site.

Back to the routine

Now I've escaped the clutches of the medical profession and the demands of clients, I was able to get back to the routine of cutting the grass in the orchard. There's been a lot happening on site, such as the battle against Himalayan Balsam, the opening of  the Ecclesbourne Way, but the outstanding job list seems to keep growing.

We managed to cut most of the grass yesterday before it was time to leave. We'd let it grow way too long, so I'll need to get on-site with a rake to form some composting piles rather than leaving the cut grass to lay on the ground. The new hawthorn hedge is growing nicely, it will restore a 30 metre gap left by previous owners on the boundary hedge.I'd feared the worst for the fruit trees with the April frosts this year, but they seem to be flourishing in terms of foliage. We lost the cherries, we think to blackbirds while the fruit was still hard and green, but next year we'll have a anti-bird netting cage in place. I did notice a couple of apples on the Russet tree, and also a couple of pears.  One of the trees is struggling, I think it is a magnesium deficiency giving poor foliage, but that can be easily addressed.

Our small ginko sapling suffered some frost damage, but it is fighting back and has produced some reasonable foliage. On the river banks the willow spiling planted last winter appears to have become established. This will help to prevent soil erosion.

Thank you Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Environment Agency!

A big thank you to the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency for tackling the rampant and invasive Himalayan Balsam growing in the field adjacent to the orchard. They turned up this week with a team and equipment to mow down the weed. 

Over the past few years the Himalayan Balsam has been spreading further across the adjacent field. The seed is scattered up to 5 metres from the plant when the seed pods mature and dry out. When the weed grows it can grow up to two metres high and it crowds out native plants. This year we've have to regularly patrol the orchard's field side hedge dealing with invasions of this weed.

The invaders in the adjacent field

The Environment Agency mowing the weed

After their work

Thanks to Kath Stapley of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust for organising this and providing the photographs.

Opening of the Ecclesbourne Way

The public footpath passing through our orchard forms part of the Ecclesbourne Way which is officially opened today (8th July 2017). We've taken part in the scheme to create this Way. One of the interpretation boards has been positioned on our river bank. 

Here's a BBC news article announcing the event. We've worked with people shown on the video and helped them in the installation of the interpretation board at the orchard.  We dug the post holes in preparation and provided materials to mount "our" sign. When the generator for their power tools failed on installation day, we lent their installation team our portable generator for the day.

Today, the gates of the orchard will be open to the people taking part in the inauguration walk. I'll travel by an Ecclebourne Valley Railway steam train from Wirksworth and alight at Shottle station.  From there at 11:30, the participants will take walk along the roadside footpath to our orchard before proceeding  along a section of the Ecclesbourne Way, then back to Shottle Station.

Edit: 9th July

Here's the local MP Rt Hon Sir Patrick McLoughlin  performing the opening ceremony.

Ecclesbourne Way comes through the orchard.

On a very soggy Wednesday morning we installed the Ecclesbourne Way information panel on the bank of our stream in the Turnditch orchard. We'd previously given the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to place a sign on our orchard site promoting this new walking route.

We'd dug the post holes a couple of days ago, so this morning there was not a lot of work to do other than assemble the components of the sign panel, then lower it into the post holes. It was quite heavy, requiring two people to lift it.  After some adjustment we were able to pour some Postcrete around the post bases then support it for 10 minutes to allow the concrete to harden.