Pennsif's Progress - The Days are Numbered // Day 907 : Where shoul...

I have a 3 year plan of to plant 100 fruit trees and 100 nut trees.

This is year 2 of that plan and the fruit trees are on target with around 70 in place so far.

The nut trees are lagging behind though. With only about a dozen already in the ground and another 25 in containers waiting to find a suitable planting place we will really have to shift up a gear to meet the target next year.

One of the problems for the nut trees is space. We have cleared room now for the fruit trees in the field nearest the house, but for the nut trees we will need to plant them in the two fields farthest from the house.

So today we took advantage of the absence of rain and a bit of sunshine to take a walk round those two far fields to see where we might plant the nut trees.

Both those fields were planted with a forestry grant five years ago. So they are already quite well covered with a mixture of oak, ash, wild cherry and a few beech and hawthorn.

However there were some patches left there which will give space for about a dozen nut trees. There are also several clumps of ash that have suffered badly from Chalara Ash Dieback disease. We will be clearing those dying and dead trees shortly and that should open up spaces for another 20 or so nut trees.

We already have 3 walnut trees that are now about 7 years old, and another new one coming along in a pot at the moment. There are also a number of hazel and one sweet chestnut.

The nut trees waiting for planting now include 9 more sweet chestnut, a couple of almond trees and a dozen monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana). These should all be going in the far two fields over winter.

Food Production Targets

Our other big project for the winter will be building the final raised bed in the polytunnel and then gathering enough compost to fill all four beds there.

It looks like we will achieve my target of doubling our food production this year. With the polytunnel all ready for planting from the spring, as well as the two greenhouses and half a dozen more raised beds, we should be able to more than double production again next year.

My eventual goal is to produce one tonne of food per year. I think I can achieve that within another three years, particularly if I manage to get a second polytunnel next year.

Also each our soil fertility is improving and my growing skills are getting better each year.

You might ask what I am going to do with all that food. I have plan for that too - but that is a subject for another post 😊

Chimney

Dodging between the rain showers all week we have finally managed to get the leaking chimney rebuild finished. It looks so smart now it makes the other chimney look rather tatty now.

With the chimney repair finished the next job is repoint the walls in the loft, put in new insulation and start boarding it over.

Unfortunately our old roof beams (over 200 years old) are too low to make the loft into an extra living space but it will be fine for storing extra prepping supplies.

I am hoping to get at least another 6 months of long term food supplies up there when that storage space is ready.

Electric Car?

Both our eldest and our middle daughter have now started learning to drive. Once they have passed their tests the big question then will be whether we get another car.

If we can find the money I am really keen to get an electric car. A friend nearby has just got a Nissan Leaf and he is really enjoying it. Over 95% of my journeys these days are less than 30 miles so an electric car would be ideal. Particularly with our solar PV coming before next spring.

I have been driving now for 40 years and the idea of no longer being dependent on the global oil industry for my transport really, really appeals to me.

Just need to get my steemit posts motoring and one day I'll be able to afford the electric car. So far I think I've earnt enough for the two front wheels...

Fungi, fungi, fungi

To end I think we need a bit of gratuitous fungi. After my recent post The Fungi of My Land I've started looking more and they are quite literally popping up everywhere.

The one on the left I believe is the Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum). When we poked it with a stick it went 'poof' and all the spores flew up - but I just could not capture that on my little camera.

The fungus on the right I think is Dryad's Saddle (Polyporus squamosus). It is on the giant sycamore tree in front of our house.

If I have identified either of these fungi incorrectly do let me know in the comments.

That's all for tonight.

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[all images provided by @pennsif]

Pennsif's Progress - The Days are Numbered // Day 907 : Where should I put my nuts?