The Second Year At The Haven Closes

 28th September 2022 - The Second Year At The Haven Closes

The last post for the 2nd year in charge of the “Haven”.

It is true, it is not the 2nd year for the new plot, for which it is only the close of the first 6 months!

As we clear the top of the 2nd plot and begin to create foundation plans of how we want this to look, we bring into use and rearrange the raised beds we harvested from a disused plot. These have now been connected into a line together, the weeds removed, and filled with soil from other parts of the plot. These planters will be ready at the end of winter to plant out some fruit trees we have intended for them. These will be small varieties of trees such as apple, pear, plum, and possibly fig. The top section (where all the remaining rubbish remains) is going to also be a cage for fruit and in there we will grow a blueberry bush and maybe some other fruits that need protection from the birds. All these will be kept well pruned in order to ensure they don’t grow out of hand but fruit well each year. These will run along with the raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, strawberries, and the grape which we intend to plant too. So hopefully around 10 different fruits, plus melons, in the summer as well… 

It’s a bit difficult to see, but the plot beyond ours is beginning to be tended! This should help to keep down the spread of weeds onto our plot too.

In the next picture is a view from the bottom of the plot showing more clearly the raised beds almost ready to roll for the fruit trees.  At the bottom of these raised beds we buried the stems from the sprouts and purple sprouting that we had been keeping under the black sheet (at the top of the picture by the pallets). These will provide some food for the worms to get going with, later on we'll be ordering some manure, and these beds will also receive some of this before winter sets in.

Final picture of the second year. The butternuts continue to enjoy the late season opportunity to fatten up ready for harvest towards the back end of October. The sweetcorn is almost done, but the runner beans continue to produce and will do so during most of October.

The raspberries and blackberries are growing and we have been forced to begin training them along the resurrected wire supports… come the new year we want to have 3 clear lines… one for the gooseberries, flanked each side by the blackberries and raspberries.

That’s it for year 2!