Finished South wall complete with gate
We are a little late with our update for May as we were busy with many chores and tasks to complete. However, here we are and we shall bring you the latest from the Gardens @ Nanpean.
So, where shall we start? The orchard seems a good place and as the trees have been growing, they are now producing ever more blossom which seems to be fruiting. Many of the apples have small apples forming and we may get a small crop from them this year, but with the June Drop looming we shall have to wait and see what happens. By the way, the 'June Drop' is a process that fruit trees go through as fruits start to form and grow and if there are too many for the tree to support for that year, many, or some, may just drop off to conserve energy for the others. At present, the best performers are the 6 Cornish Apple trees, they have many small apples forming and they also seem to be the healthiest in the orchard. We did have some blossoms on a couple of pear trees, but we are not expecting any crop from these this year, same with the cherry trees, some nice blossoms but seems there are few fruits forming.
View of the orchard from the Northwest passage showing the growth of the trees.
Funny enough, even though our walnut trees are very slow growers, they do seem to be forming a few nuts on them. Not many to be sure, but it would be nice to have a few to try them out as they are supposed to be delicious fresh. If we get some we shall let you know what happens. Our other trees are too young to produce much so it is a waiting game for those, but that's OK, we are in it for the long haul. One fatality was our Victorian plum tree. It was trashed by the rogue pony that got into our fields and was snapped in a few places. Whilst this is not necessarily the end for young trees, soft fruit trees like the plum, peach, etc, have to be pruned during the summer months otherwise a disease known as 'Silver Leaf' can infect the tree, and this is what happened in the case of our Victorian Plum. We have now taken the tree out of the orchard and it has been laid to rest.
View west towards the orchard
From the above photo, you can see the size of the Lupins and how well they have taken to their new home, although we do seem to have more purple flowers than any other colour. To the left of the photo is the wooden seat Paul built from disused fence posts with a beautiful red Acer behind it which should grow over the years to give shade to the seat. That is what builds a garden, time, and that we cannot rush, nor should we want to as enjoying all the stages of the garden is a joy in itself.
We have not long completed a very long bed for flowers that runs from the fields at the top of the ramp, down to the sand ring level. it is approximately 90 feet long and is constructed from dismantled fencing and stones in an alternating pattern. We have placed many perennials in this bed, but it was so long that we also augmented with Calendula, Sunflowers, etc. It took a few weeks to complete but now that it is done and planted, it makes walking up the ramp to the fields more of a joy than a chore.
As you can see from this photo, the bed is already becoming highly coloured.
Paul also managed to capture this photograph of a mini steam engine that was having a run through the village.
Also completed are the beds on the growing area of the garden which now has 3 grape vines planted, 2 black grapes, and one white grape. A wire trellis has been built running along the entire North wall with two wires to support the vines as they grow. We are using a lateral system for the vines which means that from the center vine we shall train four laterals, two left, and two right, to run along the trellis wires to a length of 8 nodules which will then be terminated there. As the vines settle in, we shall post updates to show the training of the vines and you will be able to see the intended growth method, of which there are many.
The first grapevine is just at the height of the first wire, and for this year we have placed flowers to cover a lot of the bareness.
We keep expanding the beds as we require them and have put in 6 Globe Artichoke plants, 3 purple, 3 green, along the top line of the Asparagus beds. As these are large plants, eventually, they will also give an architectural look to the garden and act as a windbreak. The four fruit trees in the area outside of the hut are growing well for their first year in the ground, although our total crop from all four trees is ONE cherry :)
Thanks for reading our latest post.