Planting the orchard in February was always going to be a gamble. Snow would be no good and neither would too much rain, both were forecast.
With the help of friends we were able to source three varieties of denomination controlled cider apple trees at a very reasonable 5 euros each. Twenty AMARIEGA, (a bitter apple and a largish tree), twenty XUANINA, (medium size), and twenty DE LA RIEGA smaller trees, all bare root and therefore easy to tie to the roof rack and transport in one bundle.

At the beginning of the planting week I still had it in mind that ther
e would be time to both plant and arrange the defences to stop the cows destroying them, (ha ha), and that my arrangement with my neighbour and his cows would be able to continue. I was wrong on both counts.

Next we needed support poles and rather than sell me expensive support poles, the suppliers of the trees recommended bamboo as a cheaper alternative. This send us off to Pravia and an incongruous looking bamboo plantation where 60 poles were measured, cut and strapped to the car. This was a long first day on the job but worth it to know we had everything we needed for the week ahead.

Arriving back at Pomar in the dark under a clear moonlight sky was breathtaking. The snow was lying all over the house and field and the moon’s reflection lit up the whole mountain.

The next day was brilliant sunshine and the snow miraculously began to melt and by the day after it was clear enough to begin to plant. Somehow, between rain storms we managed to plant 60 trees and on our last day the snow came in again. We were very lucky. I was also very lucky, on the last day to make the acquaintance of someone who offered to put some young sheep into the field in the spring. Perfect timing! Another wonderful and precious adventure at Pomar.