Today was the first ever planting day for COCO (Conderton and Overbury Community Orchard) and what a great day it was. It started as a crisp sunny morning with brilliant blue sky and a light frost on the ground. Derek and Gordon gave everyone a quick demonstration of how to plant each of the trees then armed with a map everyone grabbed their spades and set off in different directions to make a start.
We started with 18" deep hole, filled it with a compost to act as a fertiliser, planted the tree, firming down the soil all of the time to ensure there are no air pockets. After that a small stake was banged in next to the tree and a small strap attached to hold it firm. More compost was applied, as a mulch to keep the weeds at bay and finally a plastic tree guard put around the tree to protect it from voles and mice. It was wrapped up with a 6' mesh guard to stop sheep and deer nibbling the growing points then it was 'job done'.
10 cider apple trees where planted (5 'Ten Commandments' and 5 Tom Putts) and 16 perry pear trees (5 Blanckney Reds, 5 Moorcrofts and 6 Judge Amphletts) all within an hour and a half. It was a great community effort, helped by the weather, but a great effort by everyone involved. A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered, it's great to know the community spirit is alive and well in Overbury and Conderton. After the planting some investigation of the new JCB was required by the engineers among us.
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