Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2013/January 2014 | Page 54

GARDENING

Matt Noyce is head gardener
at Quarr Abbey, and is
responsible for the 200 acres
of gardens, pastureland,
vegetable plot and private
woodland on the estate.

Bountiful crop for winter birds

T

he festive season is upon us and
while we endeavour to keep
warm outside, I see the resident
winter birds flitting from shrub
to tree enjoying the season's bountiful
harvest of berries - yet another great crop
that this year has brought .
We have now nearly finished clearing
up the damage and debris from the
recent high winds we endured. The
amount of damage was relatively little
when you consider the size of the estate
but the spread of damage was wide.
There were casualties of small trees in
the orchards to larger oak trees in the
heart of dense copses, although, there
were two crosses within the cemetery that
were spared by a tree landing in between
and narrowly missing both. Again, the
cycle continues of trees down and logs
chopped!
The winds have also brought down
many of the apples that were clinging
on to their branches. This has brought
another flurry of apples in to the kitchens
to either store or cook up and freeze to
enjoy at a later date. The last batch of
apples were collected en masse over two
days and were then taken for pressing
at Rosemary Vineyard. We dropped off
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around a tonne of tasty apples including
russet, cox, elstar, Katy, James Grieve and
sunset to name a few. There must have

been at least a dozen varieties in the mix
which should contribute to an interesting
and tasty blend. We have apple juice and

both still and sparkling cider to offer as
well as lots more apples left to eat! The
pigs have been enjoying the good crop of
apples too this year as lots of locals and
visitors alike have been popping their
fallers and spares over the fence for them.
As the weather has allowed, we have
been continuing our winter work
programme around the estate, lifting
(removing) low branches from above
the network of paths, filling gaps in old
and planting up new native hedges with
hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, elder and
dog rose. Also, clearing this year's rogue
vegetation from around plantation trees,
reducing the height of hedges, clearing
along our fence lines and continuing
to remove leaves has featured high
on the agenda. It is important to keep
removing leaves from lawned areas to
reduce the likelihood of decomposing
leaves smothering the grass and therefore
creating bare patches.
The polytunnels have been planted up
with winter crops to take advantage of the
sheltered conditions they offer from the
winter chill. With many winter varieties
of root crops, brassicas and salad leaves
on offer that will enable us to enjoy fresh
produce throughout this season.