Friday 14 May 2010
May 11th, 2010
Disaster, Disaster, Disaster
We have been frosted. ~80% of the vines have frost damage.
Spoke with John the Agronomist and he has reassured me that the plants should be OK and they will produce secondary buds. Heart beating. It looks like the damage is restricted to the growth in the tubes. I guess that the cold air sunk and could not escape. They look like they have been in a freezer over night. if you roll the leaves between your fingers they turn to dust.
To take my mind off the doom I re set the tines on the cultivator to give a more open even pattern.
www.chafor.co.uk
May 10th, 2010
We had another frost this morning.
It must be doing some damage....
Continued with track. While we waited for a load of stone Eddy did some more ditching and dug a test pit by the vineyard. I wanted to see what we had below ground.
It was dug just to the east of the vineyard in the area that we intend to plant next year.
The profile of the soil is
Top soil, Hoggin, Clay and Chalk, Hoggin, Pure Sand
Some big pieces of flint and limestone. And no water to a depth of several meters.
We also finished the patio area under the Ash tree.
May 8th, 2010
Put up an electric fence to keep the sheep off the new track.
Played cricket - Away at Croughton.
Very wet and windy. It rained just about the whole of the first innings. Croughton 196 for 9 in 40 overs. I bowled 2 overs 2-3. We batted in slightly better weather. I went in at No 4. We had ~ 35runs. DB hit a quick 20 and was out bowled. Tommy and I put on ~130 before he was bowled for 80. I finished on 49 with a couple of overs to go. However, we ended up at 196 for 5 to tie the match with 10 off the last over, Dave hitting a six and running 2 byes from the last ball.
I could hardly walk at the end of the match. It was so cold that I batted with two jumpers and did not work up a sweat. At the end my legs just gave up.
Played cricket - Away at Croughton.
Very wet and windy. It rained just about the whole of the first innings. Croughton 196 for 9 in 40 overs. I bowled 2 overs 2-3. We batted in slightly better weather. I went in at No 4. We had ~ 35runs. DB hit a quick 20 and was out bowled. Tommy and I put on ~130 before he was bowled for 80. I finished on 49 with a couple of overs to go. However, we ended up at 196 for 5 to tie the match with 10 off the last over, Dave hitting a six and running 2 byes from the last ball.
I could hardly walk at the end of the match. It was so cold that I batted with two jumpers and did not work up a sweat. At the end my legs just gave up.
May 7th, 2010
Carried on with the track
Eddy and I made a french drain at the top of the track near the gate to catch any water running down the hill and from the road.
All going well until the young tractor driver sent to move all the spoil got the tractor and full trailer stuck up to its axle. Pictures say it all!
It took 2hrs to get it out using the 360. Made quite a mess.
By the end of the day we were nearly finished. Eddy back on Monday.
Sunday 9 May 2010
May 5th, 2010
Eddy arrived with a big 13 tonne JCB 360. The plan is to spend 1/2 day digging out and then 1 day building the track. I spoke with Ardley quarry and have a lorry on return for about 100 tonnes of white limestone.
Before starting work on the track we decided to clean the ditch out that runs along side it. This also involved removing two trees that fell in years ago. One was an enormous willow. As you can see it was no mach for the JCB. The tree was literally ripped out the ground by the powerful arm.
Guess what - we are behind schedule. Stone starts arriving at 8am tomorrow and we have only dug out a small section though I am pleased as in the long run cleaning out the ditches will be beneficial to the drainage and I would not want to do it on a new track.
Went to pick Andrew up from Beavers. Finmere were playing Hinton in the Hedges in the evening league with 9 men. Rushed home to get my kit. got back in time to bat, went in no 10, faced 2 balls and 2 not out. Had 2 overs 2-7, game abandoned due to bad light.
Tuesday 4 May 2010
May 4th, 2010
Would you believe it - another frost
Met with Marcus Roberts this morning. His charity is looking for land on which to plant heritage apple trees. Hopefully, we can work out an arrangement.
May 1st, 2010
May Day. Start of the cricket season. Playing Willoughby A at home.
First game for ~20 years.
Pleased with my efforts, Went in at No4 spent some time at the crease for 13, had 2 good partnerships. Acceptable start with the bat. Bowling 7 overs, 2 for 34. OK, but disappointed with my line and runup. Clean bowled their top scorer and the only batsman with a decent technique.
Scores - Finmere 182 for 7, Willoughby 153 for 9. Started the season with a win.
www.chafor.co.uk
info@chafor.co.uk
First game for ~20 years.
Pleased with my efforts, Went in at No4 spent some time at the crease for 13, had 2 good partnerships. Acceptable start with the bat. Bowling 7 overs, 2 for 34. OK, but disappointed with my line and runup. Clean bowled their top scorer and the only batsman with a decent technique.
Scores - Finmere 182 for 7, Willoughby 153 for 9. Started the season with a win.
www.chafor.co.uk
info@chafor.co.uk
April 30th, 2010
Last day of April and still no rain. We have had virtually no rain in the month. Waiting for the met office stats. Stocked up on diesel as prices are forecast to rise in the summer.
Big news - we now have 3 baby goslings, I noticed them for the first time today. Could not get near enough to get a good picture.
www.chafor.co.uk
info@chafor.co.uk
Big news - we now have 3 baby goslings, I noticed them for the first time today. Could not get near enough to get a good picture.
www.chafor.co.uk
info@chafor.co.uk
April 29th, 2010
Having new tyres on the tractor today. The front ones are shot to pieces and the rear are a mix of crossply and radial - a big no-no and one is a whopping 13.6 inches wide. With smaller tyres and the wheels turned in at their maximum I will be able to get the overall width down to about 1.3m. This will be much better than the 1.5m in the 2.1m rows - it is just too tight at the moment. The new rear tyres will be 11.2inches wide, standard on most new vineyard tractors.
The picture showes the rear jacked up and the tyre off the rim.
Used the mole plough to cut up the track to make it easier for me to dig a trench across the top of the track to channel the water into the adjacent ditch. This had an immediate affect with the water running down the channel as I hoped. I'm still convinced this is a burst water main. For good measure I filled the channel with drainage pipe and some shingle.
April 28th, 2010
Decided to use the mole plough on the front meadow. We have always suffered drainage problems from 1/2 way up the bank to the stream. It is probably caused by a natural spring blocked by a band of clay, this is compounded by the water running off the road, down the track and joining the spring water. I guess that this equates to thousands of gallons per year. I backed up to the stream with the mole plough then ploughed as far as I dared without getting stuck. As you can see from the picture - I got to close to the bog! I put in about 6 lines, we will see if it helps...
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