Task Reports

Chutney for marketNot all the apples from the orchard will be eaten fresh so we need to preserve some to make the most of the harvest. Today was a chance to prepare chutney, jam and apples rings (well more like slices as I forgot my corer) to prepare stocks for a market store at Shipley Alternative in November.  

We made Apple and Date Chutney, Apple and Green Tomato Chutney, Apple and Ginger Jam, and prepared some puree to make apple leathers.

 Progress was made with the paths throughout the allotment, including paving slabs and crush and run. 

Finger Puppets: Hannah's bee is taking her ladybird for a walkConsidering the weather we have had over the past few weeks today was a little disappointing. Nothing awful, just autumnal, but luckily it didn’t deter over 400 people coming for our annual celebration of all things apple (and English fruit in general). 

Again we were able to offer a full range of activities with the help of an invaluable team of volunteers, activity leaders from BCEP and stalls held by other groups.

With the help of the enthusiastic participants we made fresh juice from windfalls and other apples that had been stored in waiting (mainly Katy which continues to be such a prolific tree). 113 kg of orchard apples were sold; varieties including Ribston Pippin (always a favourite), Sunset, Arthur Turner, Katy, Grandpa Buxton, Kidd’s Orange Red, Bramley’s seedling, Belle de Boskoop, Egremont Russet and James Grieve. It was great to get help from several families during the afternoon in picking more apples to top up the supplies. 

Belle de Boskoop is a dual purpose apple. It makes a lovely baked apple, and it would normally only be considered ready for eating later in the year once more sugar has developed  but it still came out top in the tasting sessions that BCEP ran. 

Beardsworths Nursery again provided trees for sale and several people left Apple Day ready to grow their own fruit. Martin was busy all day with horticultural advice, and Anne had a stream of people requesting identification of their apples. 

The young people, and the not so young, were guided in scavenger hunts, drawing skills and in making finger puppets and name the apple game.

Cakes were eaten, orchard jams and chutneys were bought, as were lollies and fruit leathers supplied by Plenty and honey by Mark. Entertainment was provided by an impromptu assemblage of musicians. It was another successful Apple Day. Thanks everyone.

See some more pictures here

Today we gave cut the meadow are and removed all the arisings. This management practice is essential in order to maintain the array of wildflowers that thrive in the grassland. The auto scythe needed a little tlc (a bolt had shorn off, indicating the amount of rough work it has aided recently), so once again it was great that we use a mix of hand tools and machine so the task could be completed to schedule. 

Whilst some of the group stayed on dry land, there was also a team in the pond, clearing vegetation around the pond dipping platform and to maintain areas of open water throughout the pond. 

It was an unseasonably warm day and we chose to have lunch outside…the only problem was we were relying on the electricity in the community room so hadn’t brought the kelly kettle so had to undertake a bit of ferrying of drinks. Worth it to enjoy the warm sun.  

Our focus today was to cut the meadow in order that the flowers, and their supply of nectar for the insects, continue to thrive. There is a lot of Meadow Cranesbill, Meadowsweet, Knapweed and Scabious. The functioning autoscythe did a good a job of the main area, with the hand scythe being useful on the verges, though the encroaching brambles first had to be cut with loppers. 

It is a shame that some inconsiderate dog owners are less than attentive to clearing up after their dogs, which made task of raking the grass unpleasant in places. Although it is October, the weather was more like that of traditional hay making season; it was hot work out of the shade.

We also cut the Japanese Knotweed near the gate and cleared a bit of litter. We were concerned to see that the pond was very dry. We know this has occurred within the last 10 days as we undertook a newt rescue last week to help a local resident who was worried about pollution in her garden pond, and its long term future. Rachel and Bella transferred 100s of newt tadpoles into the pond. Let’s hope the lack of water is short term and the invertebrate pond ecology survives. 

Although we no longer have a management role at Boar’s Well we wanted to make sure the pond and meadow were still managed for the benefit of the wildlife. We made a good job of the pond, ensuring it retains some open water. The meadow cut was less successful, in fact we didn’t do it, purely because I had a mechanical breakdown (!). 

We had a few issues with padlocks, keys and petrol today, but on a positive note this was another lovely sunny day with lots of late Speckled Wood, Comma and Large White butterflies as well as flocks of Long-tailed Tits. 

There was lots to do today, but we did manage to eat birthday cake at lunchtime. Thank you for the contributions. There were no speeches, so I’ll take this opportunity say thank you to everyone who has been involved in BEES over the past 30 years. BEES is all about the people; without volunteers and participants we would not be managing green spaces for wildlife and creating educational spaces. Thank you for your contribution.

In terms of the orchard, today were grass and hedge cutting, clearing around the trees, replacing bark with stone on another section of path and picking a few apples. 

Thanks to those who came along to mark the 30th Anniversary of BEES. We enjoyed cake and tea in the surroundings of the reserve. It was a pleasure to have Veronica cut the cake; she had been involved in campaigning with Peter Boyd for the Reserve to be created in the 1980’s. Today we had a fly-by on two occasions by a Sparrowhawk and there were newts in the pond and under the trapdoors. Well done everyone for your contributions in helping us reach this landmark. 

It was hard work today, but we made a good start at clearing some of the leaf debris and shale that gets washed into the pond constantly and quickly. We have undertaken this task earlier in the year than previously in an attempt to make the job easier. There was certainly less water to wade through but the mud was very sticky and on more than one occasion we got stuck and had to be dug out. The concrete base was exposed in one spot but we did not manage to clear all the sludge from near the dam wall. We plan to return later in the autumn to have another try. 

It was a lovely early autumn day and it was good to bring together some of the Friends of Northcliffe volunteers with the BEES Friday group. The Wild Angelica was in flower, and attracting swarms of insects. This is one of the plants that have benefited from the removal of Himalayan balsam on the hillside.