What do IT consultants do on New Year's Day?

Tony with his trusty bow saw

www.thelittleorchardcompany.co.uk

At the top of our orchard, we have about an acre of boggy ground that's fed by the limestone springs coming up from Edge Hill. One of our neighbourhood farmers once tried to find the bottom of one of the springs in the woods by putting lengths of connected drain rods into a bubbling hole. He tells us that he never found the bottom.

 Now, the willows that were planted years ago to soak up some of the water have grown so tall that they've started to collapse under their own weight. What with the sinking, sucking mud and the falling trees, we call it Widow-maker Wood! (Maybe I should stop wasting time writing this blog and start up a horror novel.)



Jo with a cold toastie and hot tea and whisky

Anyway, the point of this story is that, the week before Christmas, a willow tree fell onto our neighbour's barn, so while everyone else in the Universe was enjoying New Year lunch in front of a cosy fire, Tony and I spent the day sawing willow wood by hand and eating cold toasted sandwiches. (I did have a nip of whisky in my tea to ward off the cold. Brilliant.)

Still, I guess that in these times of austerity, at least we don't need to pay for a gym to burn off our Christmas calories, and who needs poncy canapes etc. when you can have a cold toasted sandwich in the great outdoors???

2011, a retrospective

http://www.thelittleorchardcompany.co.uk/

2011 was a big year in my cider-making schedule. After years of deliberating, I am now a proper, professional cider-maker. Cider-making is one of those things that takes a lifetime to perfect, so I'm in it for the long haul. I'm anticipating steep learning curves and a good mix of glitches (opportunities to improve!) and successes (opportunities to gloat!). I think that, despite my first few glitches, 2011 was a hit...

Having ordered a brand new apple mill and press, and installed them in a container at our friend's farm (thanks so much for your support Emma and Martin), I was a little nervous, but enthusiastic and keen to get going.



The boys installing the apple press

By September, I had about a ton of apples from our orchard and those of friends and neighbours, and I'd made contact with other orchards for the rest of the fruit.

No problems so far.

In fact, the only real issue was my state of fitness. I think we can award a big ZERO to this. I'd been sitting around doing my fancy IT job for 20 or so years and couldn't summon up even one set of muscles bigger than a ladybird's bicep (do ladybirds have biceps?).

After the first day of apple pressing, I dragged myself home and told Tony (my partner in life and in business) that I simply couldn't do it and that we should sell the orchard and put our fab new equipment on eBay immediately. The following morning, I could barely get out of bed, never mind walk or lug apples around.

I have a friend, Kerry, who has a properly stressful job as a high-flying accountant. Being logical and analytical in nature, she has a theory that when you're starting a new project, you go through several defined phases; a "can do" bit when you're full of enthusiasm to begin with, the realisation that it's harder than you originally thought, the weepy "don't think I can do it actually" bit, the "giving yourself a stern talking to and kick in the pants" bit, and the final "just GET ON WITH IT" bit.

Making a "cheese" from the apple pulp



Well, I thought about Kerry that morning and hauled myself out of bed and into a hot bath. A cup of strong tea and a couple of Paracetamols later and I was sorted and ready to go (although still a bit whimpery and sorry for myself on the inside). It took two months to make this year's cider and by the end of it I was properly "hench" and truly proud of myself for just getting on with it (thanks Kerry - maybe you should write a self-help book)!

The cider is currently undergoing its long, slow, cold fermentation over the winter months. It'll be ready in the spring and meanwhile, I have the next slew of uphill battles to be getting on with. Marketing, sales, branding, bottling, distribution... It's OK, I'm still in the "can do" stage at the mo, but Tony's getting the hankies ready for the next, weepy part!