Goodbye Hannah, goodbye Anna ... welcome Wendy!

The trees in our orchard rely on the hard work of a small band of carers for their very survival - with a little help from Mother Nature!  For the past seven months dedicated tree-huggers have tended and watered them.  Huge thanks and a round of applause to: Liz, Karl, Alix, Rosa, Luis, Tim, Anna, Hannah, Glyn and Nicky. We can hold off on the watering until Spring now whilst the trees sleep over the winter.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/princesstheater/3530252342/

In the last few weeks two tree-huggers have moved away.  

Without Hannah there would be no orchard on our estate - she approached the London Orchard Project back in 2011 and badgered Hackney Homes, managing to get us a grant of £1,000. 

Anna watered "her" pear tree on Halidon Close diligently and was an enthusiastic member of the team.  I hope they go on to find other projects and will spread the word about urban food-growing.

Now we welcome Wendy to our merry band.  She will be tending two new(ish) pear trees on Dean Close.  I've just discovered that she is a qualified agriculturalist - a great addition to the crew!

More tree-huggers needed!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ayol/6198545366/sizes/l/in/photostream/

If you'd like to get in touch please contact me!

Mulch, mulch, glorious mulch...

Doesn't look very exciting, does it? But, do read on, our trees have finally been mulched!

What is mulch?
Mulch is a glorious substance!  Put simply, it is a layer of organic material spread around the tree to retain moisture in the soil, suppress weeds, and keep the soil cool.  Over time the mulch breaks down and provides nutrients for the tree. 


Once we had planted our beautiful trees the next step was to be watering and mulch.  The watering was the easy bit; at least the mechanics of it was easy.  In reality, it meant carrying large watering cans and other receptacles full of water over to the trees at least twice a week.  Thanks to our tree-huggers (trumpet role!) Anna, Hannah, Nicky, Liz, Tim, Glyn, Alix, Luis and Rosa (with assistance from Jim, George, Thomas & Joe) the trees are thriving.

Mulch proved more difficult.  Hackney Homes kept promising to deliver a load of mulch and then let us down more than once.  Luckily, the heavy rain this summer meant that the mulch was less of an issue than it would be in a very hot summer.  After much prompting from Lewis, our tree guru, we finally got our act together and purchased some Strulch from Crocus.  Strulch is made from organic wheat straw and is used by the RHS and the Eden Project - no other recommendation needed!

On a beautiful morning in August some of our wonderful tree-huggers got together and spread the mulch around all the trees.  Result: trees as happy as hippos wallowing....

Are you a "Tree Hugger"?

As well as planting the trees, we need to make sure they are looked after.  That's why we need "tree huggers" or volunteer carers to help us with watering, pruning and inspecting the trees for insect infestations and other damage.

If you would like to volunteer please contact us via the blog.

Picture courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ayol/6198545366/sizes/l/in/photostream/