The Orchard Year short video and Meadow Maintenance (Cut and Collect)

Over the last year we made a short video at Enton Allotment, in Witley on a small Orchard planted and managed by John Steere, since the 1980s. https://youtu.be/p62G2_odnOE. Each year John makes cider from the apples, with most of the 15-20 trees, cider varieties. In July we scythed and raked-off tall herbs and grass into a heap to the rear of the John’s Orchard. By removing the vegetation while it’s green, the nutrient levels are reduced and floristic diversity increased. Elsewhere we have been collecting yellow-rattle seed, a hemiparasite of grass species that reduces sward vigor and helps to increase biodiversity 😊