The Oxhill News

This months News

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WOT2Grow - Community Orchard

A busy time has seen the orchard spring to life with blossom on the apricots, quince, peaches and nectarines. The cold snap meant the apples, pears and plums all stopped in their tracks but are not far from flowering. We have been checking for pests and diseases, so far it all looks good however we are being very vigilant!

The wild flowers are growing well despite the moles and badgers digging holes in the strips. The cowslips have been beautiful this year, not many plants but definitely producing more seedlings each year. We are looking to establish more wild flower plantings as they provide such a good habitat for insects as well as feeding the bees. Our bees are active as well as a lot of bumbles bees and solitary bees.

Just before Easter we had a wonderful visit from years 2 and 4 at Tysoe School. Some of the children had visited last summer so they knew, and remembered, a lot about the orchard! It was such a pleasure to see them running around having a great time looking for various things in the orchard and comparing the trees to their last visit. We look forward to more visits in the coming months – it is a great way to see how the trees change through the seasons and there will be some fruit for them to sample, apricots seem to be a favourite!

We have finally tackled the fan trained gooseberries, a good way to grow them in a small space and makes harvesting easier but the pruning is challenging in the early stages. Lots of sore fingers but they are looking very smart.

Come along and see for yourself – the orchard is open 24x7!

This site is maintained by villagers of Oxhill for the benefit of the community and those interested in the history, news and activities that make the village such a pleasant place to live.

Last modified: May 11, 2015