Pruning Apple Trees.

Today has been another day spent pruning apple trees during which I noticed there were still quite a number of greenish leaves still hanging on there. They aren't now of course because they were on the new growth that I was pruning back.

Fruit Garden (Week 34) Apples & Plums..

MY CASTLE HOWARD PICTURE FOR TODAY

JOHN’S JOKES
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other:
'Does this taste funny to you ?'

TODAYS WEATHER READINGS
So that I can post the readings on the same day as the blog post they are of the previous 24 hours up to 6 pm today.
Temp Low: 12C
Temp High: 19C
Rainfall: 4mm
Cont. Days Without Rain: 0
Dry Days This Month: 13
Wind Level For The Day 31
Pressure: 986.1
Weather: Damp and grey..

2009 Highs & Lows
Min for the year: -5 C (4th February)
Max for the year: 35 C (1st July)
Most rain in 24 hours: 39mm (5th June)

MY WORK BOOK

See to the sheep
Field
Misc
Wed 26/08/2009 08:00
Wed 26/08/2009 08:20
20 minutes

See to the greenhouses
Glasshouses
Wed 26/08/2009 08:30
Wed 26/08/2009 09:00
30 minutes
Checked round and took some cuttings.

Potting on
Potting Shed
Wed 26/08/2009 09:00
Wed 26/08/2009 10:30
1.5 hours
Potted on some cuttings and seedlings.

Break for tea
Home
Misc
Wed 26/08/2009 10:30
Wed 26/08/2009 10:50
20 minutes

Strim round
Roadside
Misc
Wed 26/08/2009 10:50
Wed 26/08/2009 11:40
50 minutes
Cut around the outside of the wall by the roadside.

Potting on
Potting Shed
Wed 26/08/2009 11:40
Wed 26/08/2009 12:40
1 hour
Potted on the pansy seedlings.

Break for lunch
Home Misc
Wed 26/08/2009 12:40
Wed 26/08/2009 13:25
45 minutes

Repairing window
Conservatory
Glasshouses
Wed 26/08/2009 13:25
Wed 26/08/2009 15:40
2.25 hours
A partridge flew through the side of the conservatory breaking a pain of glass on its way. Had to effect a repair to keep out the wind of which there has been plenty today.
Prepare the mower and tractor for mowing
Barn
Misc
Wed 26/08/2009 15:40
Wed 26/08/2009 16:50
70 minutes
Topped off the fuel, cleaned the air filters, checked oil levels and greased round both the Allett mower and tractor.

Clean and put away the tools.
Potting Shed
Wed 26/08/2009 16:50
Wed 26/08/2009 17:00
10 minutes

String up the Garlic
Potting Shed
Wed 26/08/2009 17:00
Wed 26/08/2009 17:20
20 minutes
I made one string last week and gave to the boss but there were some left to do so as it was to late to start anything else I finished them off and made room on the bench for the onions.

See to the bins
Hall
Misc
Wed 26/08/2009 17:20
Wed 26/08/2009 17:30
10 minutes
Put out six black bins.

NOTES
This week in the fruit garden I will show you what can happen if you don’t thin your fruit. If you remember a few weeks ago I thinned the apples and they are looking much better for it with all the fruit swelling to a good size.

On the other hand I didn’t get around to thinning the plums and look what’s happened, the branches are breaking under the strain also the plums are of a poor size and quality. So I need to make a note to try harder next time.

Apple Thinning.

MY HADDON HALL PICTURE FOR TODAY

TODAYS WEATHER READINGS
So that I can post the readings on the same day as the blog post they are of the previous 24 hours up to 6 pm today.
Temp Low: 16C
Temp High: 22C
Rainfall: 1mm
Cont. Days Without Rain:0
Dry Days This Month: 2
Wind Level For The Day 36
Pressure: 996.1
Weather: Overcast and damp.
2009 Highs & Lows
Min for the year: -5 C (4th February)
Max for the year: 35 C (1st July)
Most rain in 24 hours: 39mm (5th June)

MY WORK BOOK

Check the mole trap
Misc
Tue 04/08/2009 08:00
Tue 04/08/2009 08:10
10 minutes
The trap was empty and no sign of fresh activity.

Check the sheep
Field
Misc
Tue 04/08/2009 08:10
Tue 04/08/2009 08:35
25 minutes
Checked the sheep, couldn't count them as they were all in among thistles and nettles.

See to the greenhouse
Glasshouses,
Greenhouses
Tue 04/08/2009 08:35
Tue 04/08/2009 08:45
10 minutes
Had a quick look round.

Hedge cutting
Herb Garden
Walled Garden
Tue 04/08/2009 08:45
Tue 04/08/2009 10:30
1.75 hours
Finished off the box hedging around the herb garden.

Break for tea
Home
Misc
Tue 04/08/2009 10:30
Tue 04/08/2009 10:50
20 minutes

Hedge cutting
Herb Garden Walled Garden
Tue 04/08/2009 10:50
Tue 04/08/2009 11:20
30 minutes
Finished off trimming the box hedging.

Tidying the rose garden
Rose garden
Walled Garden
Tue 04/08/2009 11:20
Tue 04/08/2009 12:45
85 minutes
Made a start on dead heading and weeding the rose garden.

Break for lunch
Home
Misc
Tue 04/08/2009 12:45
Tue 04/08/2009 13:30
45 minutes

Tidying the rose garden
Rose garden
Walled Garden
Tue 04/08/2009 13:30
Tue 04/08/2009 16:55
205 minutes
Continued work in the rose garden.

Cleaned and put away the tools
Potting Shed
Tue 04/08/2009 16:55
Tue 04/08/2009 17:05
10 minutes

Plant the savoys
Vegetable Garden
Walled Garden
Tue 04/08/2009 17:05
Tue 04/08/2009 17:15
10 minutes
Planted 4 Savoy plants.

Updated the to-do list
Walled Garden
Tue 04/08/2009 17:20
Tue 04/08/2009 17:30
10 minutes
Had a walk round and updated the walled garden to-do list for next week.

NOTES
No doubt some of you will have apple trees in your garden and if you’re lucky you will have a good crop on them. If so it pays to thin out the fruit, it may seem a waste but you will benefit in the end by harvesting large apples. I start by taking off all the smaller or damaged fruit and then take off any fruit that it crowded together and on average try to finish up with apples that are roughly 10 centimetres apart. Below are a couple of examples of what I mean.

Before thinning

After thinning

COMMENTS FROM THE POTTING SHED
Sara Yes that is right, I grew up on the Haddon Estate, Haddon Hall being just over a mile away and on leaving school at 15 I started work on Chatsworth Estate as a gardener at Chatsworth House which is 3 miles from where my parents still live in the village of Rowsley.
Dirt Princess the cord is the one drawback with electric. I've never used a gas cutter so can't really compare one agaisnt the other.
Jeanette it won't be long now before you can enjoy that heat Jeanette then the boot will be on the other foot and we will be the ones shivering.

The Orchard (Week 18)

I think tonight we will have a little look at whats going on in the orchard. As you will see the Apple blossom is almost coming to an end, hopefully this will be followed by some baby apples. There are seven apple trees in all, some have set fruit already and then there are a couple that are still quite in blossom.

The Strawberries are just coming in to flower. I grow these in a narrow strip of soil at the base of the west wall so the plants face east and get all the morning and early afternoon sun. This strip of ground is where the previous gardener did the standard council spraying thing around everything the mowers can't reach. I prefer to till the ground instead and so grow strawberries there. Its a bit more work keeping it clean but it looks better and tastes better! By the way, talking of Strawberries. If you grow new plants its best if you can avoid having them produce any fruit in the first year. This is a very hard thing to do but it apparently helps the plant to fruit better in the next years. Strawberries should be grown for three years only as after that they fruit less and smaller so the idea is to replace a third of the strawberry bed each year. You can replant in the same ground and you don't need to buy in new plants every year as the runners the strawberries produce in abundance every summer can be used as replacement plants. Either let them root around the mother plants or root them in to small pots.

On the same wall, in fact the strawberries grow around the base of this cherry tree. This is the second year of fruiting and looks like it will have plenty of fruit on it later.