Well its been a bumper year. We have bottled more apple juice this year than the last 3 combined !!!! Which is great, however, it is proving to be a bit of a headache to store and sell. Thankfully Tracey and Graham at The Bell Pub (in the village for those who don’t know) have agreed to help sell it for us. Hopefully in the new year we will have our juice in other local shops so watch out for more updates as to where you can buy some and support other local businesses in the process.
We are still working away on the plot, mainly trying to provide as Mud free an existence as is possible on a mainly clay plot. We are currently putting in some much needed permanent paths around the stables and updating the drainage we put in a couple of years ago.
One thing I would say about this small holding lark is that it is very much a process of trial and lots of errors. What appears to be a great idea in the middle of summer turns out to be a massive pain during the winter.
Turing our attention to next year we hope to have the arrival of 2 bee hives (thankfully with bee keepers). This has a dual purpose, Firstly bees are probably one of our most important insects, They are responsible for the pollination of most of our food crops and Without some kind of combined effort they will go into serious decline. As we use no pesticides, and are surrounded by maturing hedges and grasses, hopefully we can provide a welcome bolt hole for them. Secondly, and from our point of view, the most important reason is to pollenate the apple blossom in the spring. Having the bees on site hopefully will increase the pollination rate of the trees meaning more apples for juice. As an added bonus we should also get Honey from all their hard work. please watch this space of follow us on Facebook for more details.
Well hopefully this is not the last post of 2022 but just in case Happy New year see you in 2023