Gardener's Reports
Thursday 17th November
It has been a long tiresome Autumn here in Penallt.
All the leaves are still not on the ground; they seem to be clinging to the beech and oak in particular.
We have continued to sweep the leaves from the lawns however (in hope of keeping on top of the issue) and there is now a slight Winter chill to the air too.
The pigscôte no longer leaks and is sporting its faux pan tile roof. It has another day's work to complete finishing touches and fingers crossed the builder doesn’t accidentally take a wall down again!
Speaking of pigs! A wild boar has been photographed in the dingle and it’s a whopper.
Action is being taken immediately to prevent it becoming resident, turfing up the garden and ruining the tranquility by scaring unsuspecting visitors and maiming the poor family dog.
It shall not start a family before the next guests arrive at Christmas! That will not be tolerated.
Perhaps The Dovecote freezer will be suitably stocked with some boar sausages...?
Thursday 20th October
We have now made 130 Gallons of perry. We have made a quantity of perry from the rock variety, the thorn variety, and the majority from Blakeney reds, the main local variety of 100- to 150-year-old pear trees.
These have, this year, an original gravity (OG) of 1060 which equals 7.8 abv which is 1 pound 9 ounces of sugar per gallon. The guests will have to be warned to drink their two welcome pack bottles carefully! I think we may have to sell it by the wine glass at the local pubs it's so strong.
We are now preparing to pick the apples for the cider. There has been a very good crop of apples and pears this year, unlike last.
A pair of goshawks have taken up residence in the Dovecote wood - the likely cause of very few squirrels and no rabbits in the fields - and the stags are bellowing in the valley as the rutting season is upon us.
Quite a few guests have used the wood burner in the Dovecote kitchen as we await Candlemas day to assess whether we have had enough wood for the winter and a cold spring.
Candlemas day, Candlemas day
Half your wood and half your hay.
Monday 3rd October
The fruit is dropping in the pear and apple meadows and orchards at the Dovecote and our pears, Thorn, have all been collected and juiced.
We have pressed 65 gallons of Perry pear juice which will be ready in March- April and another 35 gallons or so will be made in the next coming week. We will then be picking our cider apples (mainly Dabonettes, Fox Whelp and some Brambleys) for the cider.
A few ex-army friends have also picked Rock and Blakeney Red varieties from neighbouring perry pear trees and some experimental Perry has been made from our neighbours’ William Le Chrétien edible pear trees.
We noticed there were very few slugs and wasps outside and very few fruit flies and midges in the cider house while we were pressing. Country people are still worried at the lack of insects and wildlife in general. I wonder whether this is just a reshuffling of insect communities or a genuine decline.
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Tuesday 13th September
A little late, but better than never. To catch up...
In July there were two sightings of the hummingbird hawk-moth. It is fascinating to watch this formerly rare visitor from North Africa manoeuvring its extraordinary long proboscis into tiny florets of valerian and buddleia.
August saw daily use of the watering can superseding careful high cutting of the Dovecote lawns. Selfheal, fox and cubs, nipplewort, orchids and all the other lawn flowers and mosses were less showy, but the lawns were kept green.
It was late August, early September, before the first red admirals were seen among the fritillaries, meadow browns, ringlets, cabbage whites, peacocks, tortoiseshells and other butterflies. A later arrival from former years.
The second week in September brought the early onset of the perry pear harvest and 30 gallons of juice was made from the first sweep of the perry pear meadow orchard. Our guest from Liverpool was good enough to take some photos of the process.
Two magnificently antlered fallow stags with a herd of some 20 deer have been predating the garden flowers, beans, saplings and the lower branches of the cider apple trees. Still, we have only to live with the deer in our gardens, they have to contend with elephants in Africa!
September also saw the return of the rains and the Southern hawker dragonfly emerging from the ponds and water troughs.
Tuesday 21st June
The swallows and martins are still fledging, but most other chicks have flown.
A dozen young ravens flee together into the woods with much fuss from the adults. One young raven fell foul of the raucous affair and died later in the woodshed.
The wrens, which had built a nest in the cottage porch, evacuated their brood a few nights ago and also seemed a success. Some of the guests saw the parents keeping a continuous supply of bugs to the high-pitched fledglings from different directions of the garden, pausing to trill their displeasure at anyone nearby.
Buzzards and red kites have been overhead, kingfisher have nested near the railway bridge at the boat and we saw a big (at least 10lb) salmon leap there yesterday.
The oxeye daisies are making a big show in full bloom in the fields, as are the orchids, dames violets, woodbine, trefoils and vetches, but the lonely twayblade is suffering from the fern bashing and fading. Fox and cubs and self heal and yellow pimpernel are all out in The Dovecote as well as the buttercups and daisies.
I visited the orchard with the bee hives where these flowers had meadow browns, skippers, orange tips, peacocks, fritillaries, tortoiseshells, small and large white and hairstreak butterflies as well as two brimstones on the dames violet.
I have not spotted any red admiral or painted ladies so far this season, however, the insect world seems to be recovering with the advent of the dragonflies.
25th May 2022
The ferns were taking over from the bluebells, eyebright and bugle in the apple orchards and so have been topped to let the moon daisies and knapweed take over, with little pockets of fumitory and 'eggs and bacon' here and there.
The cow parsley has taken over the hedgerows and lanes are providing a bridal tunnel for visitors.
The main concern here has been the insects, or lack of them, for the last five or six years. The cottage doors have been screened in the past to keep swarms of flies wasps and hornets out with the horsefly and the spotted winged variety keen to draw blood in the fields.
The good news is though that we have noticed a slight increase in May with the wild raspberry flowers proving a particular attraction for the many types of bumble bee and honey bees. Forget all this flowers nonsense to attract bees, fruit trees and bushes are the answer.
13th May 2022
The bluebells are fading in the meadows now and the moon daisies are starting to take over flecked with the stitchwort turning the meadows white.
The pink tinged white of the dabonnette cider trees and the rose petals of the foxwhelp are adding to the paler complexion of the orchards.
The perry trees have flushed and blossomed and should yield a better harvest than last year's weather disaster for pears locally, resulting in only 15 gallons being made.
Sales have begun however and the local pubs have been stocked with our perry and cider and a further 100 gallons are mellowing in the cider barn.
The mollyblobs are out in the trough to greet the car parking visitor together with the columbine, herbs Bennet and Robert await the cow parsley taking over stone walls and lanes.
Wild rocket and ramsons fill the evenings with their contrasting scents.
The lawns are being left for the time being as an unusually large number, about 50, common orchids with their spotted lanceote leavs have appeared.
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