Blog

Father Christmas came early for us at Organic Hedging and Trees with the delivery of our first certified seed for the 2020 crop. I was surprised that the seeds were ready for sowing during December but was assured by our nursery advisor that they were safe to sow. It is likely that the holly seeds were collected as long ago as 2017. During the past 2 years these seeds would have undergone precise warming and cooling processes before being delivered to my door. Tiny white sprouts were visible...

Do Not be Tempted to Eat! Ingredients All ingredients are accurately listed but measurements are a bit ad hoc! 1 shovel of wood chip1 shovel of digestate 1/2 bucket of straw1/2 bucket of hay1 shovel of organic waste Method Ensure a small dog is running around your feet trying to trip you up.In a discarded large dog bath (Murphy dog hates water) mix together the woodchip and digestate. The woodchip comes from our biomass boiler site and the digestate from a farming neighbour’s electric/biogas...

During the last week a National Newspaper (the one which can leave you feeling a bit cross or too terrified to leave your house) has been offering readers a free oak tree delivered to their door (postage costs applicable). I immediately thought what a fabulous idea this was to get us all talking about and growing trees. But a noteworthy word of caution, oak trees grow fast and big! A Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea) will grow 20-30cm each year with a fully grown height of 20-40 metres in around...

Ideally during November we would have been undercutting the roots of some of our younger trees. Unfortunately, this beat us: West Midlands Yellow Weather Warning: RAIN The soil was so full of water undercutting was just not practical. Fortunately, we were able to lift trees in our raised bed nursery so ensuring sales continued and our valued customers received their trees on time and to specification. Now into December the field nursery is draining well and we’ve caught up on all our work...

Over the past three years friends have asked how, having been a busy hands on farmer, I am now spending my retirement. I explain that I’m doing what I’ve always done; growing. Specifically, trees from tiny seeds. The majority of people I speak to are interested, most genuinely want to know more and some even offer to help. Perhaps this suggests that our interest in supporting the reproduction of trees goes beyond current topical discussions concerning offsetting carbon emissions but rather is...