First some more good news from Carole. The posts are in and the guys will be taking a day off but be back for Thursday.

And the bamboo arrived today. Carole says I will need to behave myself now that she has access to 150 bamboo canes. No idea what she means!

Anyway, while I was getting some work done on the truck I noticed a set of gates leaning against a wall. Had a word with the owner and it looks like if I get the measurements of the gates I need (these are massive) he has an employer who can do the work to make them fit and all I will need to do is pay his guy for the work and somehow get them the 250 miles to South Wales. Great news as we have looked around for gates but could not find any substantial enough to consider for this space and in any event the figures being charged were just silly.

The next time we are at The Court we will be measuring up and sending the figures over to get the work done. I can worry about delivery later. They are really big and really heavy. If they are cut to size from the shorter end then we will be left with gates that must be over 8 feet high in the centre. Fantastic.

Having confirmed the order with Ian Sturrock I got the first sign of hesitation on his part. He needed to check to see what stock he had. It turned out there were 35 varieties altogether. I will have three of each but only two of the stone fruits (except the cherries of course). We had a long chat on the telephone in which he made a load of suggestions for me to make the little orchard even more interesting. We talked about the permaculture idea of the pipe into the roots area, something he had not considered but his home is close to the Menai Strait so why would he worry about watering!? He sees no problem with delivery on the 31st and he offers to throw in a vine for nothing. What a guy. Warns me that some stock will be on M26 but others are likely to be on 106 so will be a bit more lively. Put the 106’s together so that they have to battle each other for space and that will help to keep them controlled, Ian tells me. May need to prune them heavier in the summer as well. Sounds like fun. He might be able to include some older trees that might carry fruiting buds to see if I manage to get some fruit in the first year. Yeh!

Carole, my sister but we have failed to mention her although without her problems would have arisen, has been in touch to confirm the work is happening. Luckily Mike was in touch with me on Sunday night to tell me they were starting at 8am on the Monday and I was then able to check with him that he had arranged with Carole to get access. A lucky conversation as it turned out and fortunately even though he gave Carole little notice she was around there to let them in and send me photos to prove the point. Bamboo canes  ought to have been delivered today according to the company but I told Carole I reckoned it would be tomorrow. She is great and made sure the delivery people could get access.

If I do not find the right bamboo canes with a supplier that can deliver this side of Xmas I am in trouble. Straight to google and then Amazon to check a few suppliers. Some do not have the canes in stock but I find one that I believe will be able to deliver before Xmas. They claim they can deliver on the 22nd but I reckon the 23rd if I am lucky.

Made that order and decided to take a chance and email Ian Sturrock with my order. Two of each variety but with one extra cherry tree. He has already given me a generous discount. He is a joy to deal with. A real enthusiast.

Mike has got back to me with figures for the materials that have been sourced. The costs are about in line with my expectations. Simon was not able to source the bamboo canes but I am sure I can deal with that. Good old Amazon to the rescue. The one change to note is that instead of bracing the end posts Simon wants to concrete them in. At first I am dubious but I am easily persuaded.

I have got the wire ties to fix the bamboo canes to the wires and the tool that makes it easy. Splashed out on one that will twist the ties and cut the excess off if we want to. I have also managed to get a tool that will tape the trees to the bamboos. The tool was recommended on Ian Sturrock’s site together with the wires and the special tool for twisting them tight. All designed to make life easier.

Instructions given to go ahead and payment transferred across to Simon’s account. The only problem now would be the weather if it rained too heavily and too long. Being Barry we of course assumed the weather would be our friend. Not. In fact the plan now is to begin work on Monday morning at 8am.  Mike needs to rotovate the plot first of all so rain will definitely make like difficult.

I cannot mess around for ever making no progress with the orchard structure. I telephone Mike Dee and he brings in Simon. We all meet up on site and surprisingly it is raining. We discuss what is needed and Simon takes control and starts to tell me what is needed. I explain to Mike that the ground that is next to the wall needs to be dug, the bramble roots need to be extracted as far as possible and the supports that are in place need to be wired for supports. “No problem” he says. But I have tried doing this already and it is hard work.

We retire to the kitchen to get out of the rain, put the kettle on and start to dry/thaw out. We get down to the nitty gritty and decide what needs to be purchased and by whom. Simple. It is all left to Simon who will get prices and get back to me. We need about 48 posts, about 150ms of wire, weed repressing material, wood chippings, 150 bamboo canes, fixings to tighten the wire and staples. Later I recall we want drainage piping so that I can add a length to each plant to allow me to feed direct to the roots. It will also be helpful for watering in the unlikely event that we do not get enough rainfall. We discuss how to tie the bamboo to the wire and the trees to the bamboo. That turns out to be my job because I have been watching Ian Sturrock’s videos so I know what to get.

We finish the discussion. At last the decision is made and work can begin so that it can be completed in time for me to get the trees delivered on the 31st December. Fingers crossed that it all comes together.

What I need for the orchard area will be some trees that hopefully will bear fruit in years to come. I decided I would go with Welsh varieties of fruit trees and that led me to Ian Sturrock who seems to be a bit of a guru when it comes to welsh varieties and generally looking after an orchard. I gave him a call late afternoon expecting a brief chat about stock and prices and he kept me on line giving me loads of ideas about the task in hand. I learned a lot more about fruit trees and was very grateful. Mind you, I can only remember the one welsh variety on offer, Goose’s arse was the name. Looks like I need to make progress with the site if I am to get my stock from him before he goes on holiday next month.

Must find the help and materials to construct the supports for the orchard before I can progress.

Busy day for looking at works. I spoke with Ian Sturrock at length about stock and found he was simply a mine of useful information. So much so that the brief chat I expected went on for a good hour. Thanks Ian. Many interesting ideas passed my way. Seems like he has about 50 varieties of welsh apples, pears and some stone fruit. I want the lot. Must get organised with my posts and wires and get back to him with my order to try to get planted at the beginning of January.

The Court needs a lot of work to all areas of the grounds. The cleared areas , especially the middle lawn, were great for a family with young children but we are looking at productivity and something to fit in with the character of the site rather than family. The secret might be to be careful not to bite off more than I can chew at any one time. Get the right people and tools to help. Planning will be so important.