Plant a tree on North Ronaldsay!

On New Years Day Olly and I started a new tradition of planting trees. It just so happened that we had 22 trees to plant for the first day of 2022.

In the last couple of weeks Olly has been very busy digging holes from strainer (big fence) posts. We need to fence 1.4km by the end of March due to a grant we are using for the fencing.

Fencing outlined in blue

Meanwhile, I have been planting willow whips around the field to the Eats of the house, which is the field we fenced last year, it’s 300m around. Willow is (relatively) fast growing and seems to handle to Orkney climate pretty well. Once grown, the willow will provide a nice bit of shelter for our animals. They also find it very tasty, and it’s a natural analgesic (pain killer) and anti-inflammatory, which the animals can self-medicate with.

Gimli looks on as I plant the willow

We ordered some biodegredable tree-guards. They’re made from recycled material and should last 2-4 growing seasons. It will be interesting to see how they fair against the North Ronaldsay weather!

After the shelter planting around the East field we will be planting a wider variety of trees in the field to the west of the house.

You can now ‘plant a tree’ for yourself or someone special at Milldam Croft by heading to our shop. The perfect zero-waste gift! You can choose from either a e-certificate (sent by email) or a paper certifcate (sent by post).

Rather than buying a loved one a dozen roses, why not plant a tree this valentines day?