[Bodger]

After spending a number of years making cider for my own consumption and attending various cider festivals and visiting cider farms, the weekend saw me make my first teetering steps towards my goal of having my own small commercial cider farm.
I've got about an acre and a half to devote to my venture, which I hope, will eventually be home to two or three hundred bush apple trees of various varieties.
I intend planting the first fifty of these this coming winter, but first of all, yesterday was time to get my hands dirty and to start clearing the land for planting. A good start was made with the demolition of two old and rickety chicken pens and some inroads into a swathe of brambles, bracken and long grass. It was only a start of course and I reckon that I've got a few weeks works ahead of me before the land is ready. Here are a few pictures of part of my embryo orchard.








I hope that people will find my posts on what will be a long term project of interest If there are any budding cider makers out there who fancy mucking in, there will be plenty of scope for free working holidays by the sea over the next few years.

[Kate and her Ducks]

How exciting

Will watch and read with interest. Sounds like a great project longterm and wishing you loads of luck.

The backache of the next few weeks might not be so much fun

[digital_biscuit]

Best of luck Bodger and if i happen to be bored and wanting a working holiday i shall let you know!!!

Looking forward to purchasing some of Bodgers Best in the next few years!!

[Bodger]

Thanks both of you. The trick is going to be getting my product drinkable, but I will have a few years to get that right. As I understand things,, it will take about three or four years from planting before I get my first reasonable crop of apples.

Its something that I've been thinking about doing for some time. I'm sure that I'm going to have lots of disasters along the way but the one thing that I've found out, is that most of the other small scale enthusiasts are more than willing to help and advise fellow enthusiasts.
I don't expect to make much if any money out of this enterprise. Its the fantastic social side of cider making that really attracts me to it. Kaz and I have met some fantastic people during our cider wanderings. I'm simply dead chuffed that we've made a start.

[Kate and her Ducks]

Well I love cider so I will look forward to how you get on.

Not sure I'm that interested in helping out with the back breaking clearing and planting but if you're looking for cheap labour on the harvesting front in a couple of years give me a bell.

Will work for cider.


 

[Bodger]

The clearing will be done by the weekend. Its the apple crushing with bare feet that I'm really going to struggle with.

Here are some that somebody else made earlier  I tried them at the weekend and they got my seal of approval.

[Kate and her Ducks]

That does sound uncomfortable!

Hobb boots all round

[Knight Family]

Not sure if you would want my feet in there but you never know, your only down the road being north wales....

And I do love proper cyder!!  I might try to make my own next year since my parents have a small orchard .... But that will be after wine trying.

[Aunt Sally]

Aunty's good at quality control Bodger  

[BigPaddy]

I have devoted most of my life to cider. Anything I can help Auntie with let me know.

[Bodger]

Another teetering step forward today. I spent about four hours clearing away the bracken brambles and nettles. Inspite of the leather gloves that I was wearing, my hands and forearms were a right mess by the time that I'd finished.



In a few weeks time, we should be having one heck of a bonfire.  

[Knight Family]

your getting, and you know you will sleep tonight!

[Bodger]

I've just had the telephone call that I've been waiting for. The nursery have found me the following maiden trees for collection this winter.

20 X      Dabinett on 106 stock
10 X      Kingston Black on 111 stock
10 X      Red Devils on 106 stock
10 X      Red Falstaff on 111 stock.

The last ones are eating apples whilst the others are cider apples. They are bush root stock. All I've got to do now, is to find an expert or two to tell me if these varieties of trees are going to be suitable for my requirements.

I also need to find out how deep to dig the holes to recieve the trees, what if anything to bung in there to encourage growth and then what to surface dress them with.

[Gwiz]

What a great project!
The size of the hole will depend on whether the trees are bare rooted or not. We used to go twice the spread of the roots.
It's always best to go for a larger hole than you need, and double dig the soil as well. We used to remove all of the top soil, fork over the subsoil and add a lot of well rotted manure. We then put the removed turf into the hole, chopping it up as you go, and then some of the top soil.
Place the tree in the hole, making sure you don't go lower or higher than the nursery soil mark on the bark. Fix in a stake ( do it now so you don't damage the roots, and then start filling in the hole with the top soil, firming down with your heel as you go. Leave the hole 4" unfilled to aid watering.

Now, you can probably tell this is for bare rooted plants.... (we used to grow all our own )

I expect that this isn't any use to you at all.

Enjoy!

[Bodger]

Its been very useful Graham. The trees are bare rooted maiden whips and are costing me four quid each.