pruning and and the eventual advent of spring
Its been the shittest winter for some time. I've juggling training for the London marathon with parenthood. I applied for the former before i realised quite how time consuming the latter can be! Down at the wood I acquired a couple of bush cider tree's to compliment the standards which have been happily lapping up last years rain. We planted these back in February and pruned the existing trees. Pruning always feels like taking a step back; removing growth and effort that the tree has put in and each cut is generally done with a wince (is this right?!).
Finally it feels like the end of hibernation period and things are coming together. I've just returned from a bank holiday in the sun where everything is throwing off the cloak of winter and theres a green fuzz spreading across everything. We spent a healthy weekend trimming around the apple tree's and attacking the brambles that are trying to colonise the whole hill. very satisfying work an a world away from spreadsheet's, 'key deliverables' and 'action standards'.
We have to break the journey more often now with the little one so we've taken to stopping at Cider producers along the a303, each one as utterly unique as the product they poduce. Burrow hill was an adventurous journey down flooded lanes in the depths of winter ,trying to keep an eye on the totemic tree on the hill as the sun went down. Perry's a more refined take on on how cider should be produced (bringing back memories of the wineries of the mornington peninsular).
This time we abandoned our plans and took a screeching turn off the a303 near Sparkford in response to a makeshift sign stuck near the side of the road. Thanks to that near death experience I'm typing this sitting on the doorstep in the evening sun enjoying some 'King Brains' cider (fantastic name- apparently its the farmers surname!) delicious and fruity and perfect for a warm evening. roll on summer!
Finally it feels like the end of hibernation period and things are coming together. I've just returned from a bank holiday in the sun where everything is throwing off the cloak of winter and theres a green fuzz spreading across everything. We spent a healthy weekend trimming around the apple tree's and attacking the brambles that are trying to colonise the whole hill. very satisfying work an a world away from spreadsheet's, 'key deliverables' and 'action standards'.
We have to break the journey more often now with the little one so we've taken to stopping at Cider producers along the a303, each one as utterly unique as the product they poduce. Burrow hill was an adventurous journey down flooded lanes in the depths of winter ,trying to keep an eye on the totemic tree on the hill as the sun went down. Perry's a more refined take on on how cider should be produced (bringing back memories of the wineries of the mornington peninsular).
This time we abandoned our plans and took a screeching turn off the a303 near Sparkford in response to a makeshift sign stuck near the side of the road. Thanks to that near death experience I'm typing this sitting on the doorstep in the evening sun enjoying some 'King Brains' cider (fantastic name- apparently its the farmers surname!) delicious and fruity and perfect for a warm evening. roll on summer!
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