Tom Adams Fruit Tree Nursery

Next job on the list is to remove all the growth from the rootstocks, leaving only the grafted stem.

Weeding is a huge part of growing organically. Much of the growth in the pathway escapes the mower and creeps into the growing beds.

We carry out one big weeding session each season and it seems to take forever!!

Nearly there…

One of the willow coppices is full of red campion undergrowth. It’s looking beautiful at the moment.

We are open to visitors for the Agroforestry Open Weekend on Sat 16th May from 12-2pm.

We will have a tour of the site and I will talk about all things agroforestry.

Please get in touch to book a place.

We got the green manures sown this week.

One area is a pure block of Tagetes neema, this be I’ll help with replant disease. Another block is a ‘summer quick fix’, with clovers and phacelia.

We are also trialling a minimum till technique shown by I have sown a fertility building mix into the existing over winter rye and vetch stand.

We then flailed and rolled, hoping the seeds if all to the earth and the flailed rye/vetch acts as a mulch for the new seedlings.

I had a search under the mulch and seeds are germinating.

If authors is a great way to reduce the amount on tillage required.

The new growth on the cherries we grafted last year is looking great. This warm weather and moist soil makes such great growing conditions…

We are preparing for a sowing green manures. We use a variety of different clovers for nitrogen fixing, fast growing grasses such as rye, deep tap rooted plants like chicory and some beautiful flowering plants such as phacelia and crimson clover.

All these plants grow fast above and below ground, creating lots of biomass to work into the soil and lots of root growth to help aggregate the soil.

This year we will be trialling a minimum till technique I saw use last year. We will sow a fertility building mix into the established over winter rye and vetch, then flail and roll the rye/vetch, with the aim of covering the seeds with the flailed material, reducing the amount of tillage required.

Watch this space...

Wandering around the nursery taking in the beauty of this place…