On a sweaty midsummer day, a crack team of weeders and whackers headed out from Fruits of the Forage HQ armed with billhooks and sickles.
The objective was to suppress the nettles, grass, thistles and general weeds that have been growing like crazy in our biggest orchard project in Bosley. If left unchecked the rapid vegetation would throttle the 50 young fruit trees we have planted there over the last 2 years. We took a bag of Bollington sheep’s wool to spread around the base of the trees to both suppress the weeds and break down as an organic mulch.
Bert and Triff relaxing after clearing the last tree of weeds
We were faced with a task taller than we expected, with nettles up to 5ft high - which meant the smallest member of our team, Triff, the 7-month-old Jack Russel, had to hitch a ride in the wool bag as she found navigation impossible. The vegetation growth was particularly thick this year due to the wet weather.
We were impressed by the growth of the young trees, with this years planting putting on growth of one or two foot since they were put in the ground in January. The trees put in winter 2023 are now well established and really motoring away.
The flatter part of the field where cows gathered is very rich in nitrogen and home to an incredibly thick nettle patch which is proving very hard to deal with. We may have to abandon our efforts there and leave it to nature and concentrate on the grassier sloping parts of the field where trees are growing well with less competition.
Triff enjoying a comfy ride in the wool sack
This location is certainly marginal, at around 650 feet above sea level it will be exposed to high winds. However it faces South West so it is a real afternoon suntrap, the slope means it should be free of any frost pockets and the loamy soil seems fertile enough to sustain the trees well. The field has been fallow for about 20 years so we hope to produce a crop whilst keeping the field a valuable habitat for insects and other wild life. 
The tallest tree in the orchard a wild pear grafted from near Macclesfield