The Orchard

One of the recent jobs I started this year is the transformation of an enclosed three quarter of an acre plot.
This started a year ago by weeding a lot the entire place and planting 10 fruit trees.
Unfortunately by lack of time I had to let it grow wild, but I managed to get some lovely apples and plums last year from the young trees.
This time I decided to tackle the issue and to help settling the orchard, I added in the middle a polytunnel.

Polytunnel up! Plum tree on the left

My budget is on the low side, so I chose an inexpensive model, but I have to admit it has been very easy to install.

The plastic of the polytunnel need to be buried to make it stronger

It took me two full days on my own but I am quite pleased by the result.







The next step was to clean up around the polytunnel. To do so, I started creating pathways with a layer of horticultural liner, to stop the weeds and a lot of stones.

The challenging aspect of this plot is its complete lack of access, being totally surrounded by ditches.

Border in place made from palettes



First path to the bridge in place...

So last year I built a small wooden bridge on a side, which means that all the materials can be bring now by wheelbarrow.

I don't even know anymore how many rounds of gravel I did to create the paths.

View from the bridge

Because the soil is mostly made of silt and clay, it is very wet, which means that just throwing stones there was not enough.

So because the path width will risk to expand every time I walk there, I decided to recycle some palettes I found and kept, and create a strong wooden frame for the sides.


The idea is to get some lawn around the trees, some paths to walk around the orchard easily, with some new areas dedicated at the back to fruits (sunny spot) and growing vegetables.