​We had a great day at this lovely old orchard on the edge of Lincoln. We had plenty to do, so it was good that there were fifteen of us, including six very welcome new volunteers.
 
Two local residents volunteer regularly at the site and manage the fruit trees and the grass areas around them, but when it comes to keeping the woodland areas clear and open for the benefit of ground cover plants and wildlife, a bit more labour is needed. We were able to make a big difference as in effect we did 14 days’ work in a day.

​The recent strong winds had brought down a quantity of dead timber in an area of tall, old fruit trees so we cleared away the smaller branches, leaving bigger pieces of timber to rot down as a habitat for insects. We also coppiced lots of young (but large!) self-seeded elder trees that were beginning to crowd out the old fruit trees and were stopping sunlight from reaching the woodland floor. They will start to grow back in the spring, providing flowers for insects or cordial makers.

​We created a few habitat piles but had a bonfire for the rest of the timber. The safe fire site was some way from where we were working and there were many journeys to drag the branches there, so anyone trying to do 10,000 paces a day had no trouble reaching their target!
 
There wasn’t much fruit on the trees – thanks to the winds and some people who visit the orchard and strip the trees of all their fruit rather than just taking a few here and there – but over lunch some went foraging and found a few delicious little apples that we shared.

​Local volunteer Richard said ‘Thanks for an excellent day’s work; everyone worked so hard.’
 
Jude