Summer Is Coming In...

The swifts have returned and are now flying over the village. Hopefully they will find the boxes we made and installed over the past year ready for their return. Much of what we do is to try to make up for lost habitats - looking after our local wildlife in the village is about providing places to nest or hibernate as well as providing sources of food.

Our recent tasks have included inspecting and repairing nest boxes at Pound Lane. Some are active at the moment with them being in use, some show no signs of activity by birds but have been used by other creatures to hibernate in.

Our recent Blossom Day event at the end of April saw local residents of all ages coming to get up close to the trees and experience the delight of seeing beautiful flowers and appreciating the delicate fragrance of the apple blossom.

Visitors were able to see how the orchard is managed for fruit production and also for local wildlife with blossom on the trees for the bees alongside a wide number of other plants encouraged to grow too. An example of this is the recent planting of a hawthorn hedge along the fence which is a very important food source for many different species.

Variety of habitats is the key to helping wildlife and allowing grass and other plants to grow to different heights at different times provides that variety. Insects such as grasshoppers and crickets thrive in the longer grasses and these in turn will be food for local birds feeding their young. These same grasses will also provide seeds for other birds and be places for young frogs from Willow pond to hide from predators.

June will see us thinning out some of the fruit on the trees – this is so we get fewer bigger fruit and reduce the risk of branches being broken under the weight of their own fruit. We have had a good showing of blossom this year and in theory each flower could become a fruit. Broken branches let in disease to the trees so to prevent this it is important to reduce the load on each tree.

The Orchard will be open again in October for national apple day and you can come to the orchard and see just how much we did manage to produce.

If you would like to join us in managing the orchard and helping local wildlife please do contact : secretary@ycv.org.uk