At the back of the polytunnel I have enough space for growing fruit.
The position is ideal because it's full sun there and the fertile soil is dry enough but full of good nutrients for red berries.
So to make sure I don't grow berries only for the slugs and birds, I am going to install next year a fruit cage (5m by 6 metres).
This explains the presence of four salvaged rusty poles at each corner to mark the presence of the future cage.
I am not yet decided on the brand or where to buy it so if you read this and know some good deal around Dublin or Ireland, contact me in the comments below.
When you have an area populated by nettles and brambles for decades, expect hard work. It is crucial I think to get the soil right, so get rid as much as you can of all the roots and brambles 'knots'.
Believe me, it worth the efforts. In my case I expect I will still have the odd root and nettle growing for a while.
But if I constantly work the ground, sowing and growing demanding vegetables, I am hoping that over time nettles and other weeds won't be too much of a problem (well we'll see in few years).
Below is a crude design of the orchard. As you can see the challenge is the access limited to one small wooden bridge at the moment. So no heavy machinery, most of the tools I used there are a pick axe, a rotovator and lots of sweat :-)
Couple of more things to achieve, main one is the compost area and finishing all the gravel paths (in orange)
I also hope to have the grass sowed in the orchard before mid September. After that time temperature start to drop and it's virtually impossible to get the grass seeds germinating.
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