Country diary: With 10,000 trees to plant, I'm grateful for the rain | Andrea Meanwell

Tebay, Cumbria: This has been the daily job on the farm over new year; meanwhile, I had a brush with wild royaltyOver new year, work has continued on the farm, as at any other time of year. I did have a lovely day making Christmas wreaths with the Lake District Ladies with Livestock group, but otherwise things continue pretty much as normal. The main task has been a tree-planting project, funded by the Farming in Protected Landscapes grant scheme, which involves planting 10,800 hedgerow trees to restore hedgerow boundaries that have been lost over time.And so most days I have headed out with a bag of 500 trees and a spade in the back of the Gator - a small farm vehicle - whatever the weather. We get through all 500 in a day. It's exhausting work, but at least the holes for the trees are easy to dig when the ground is wet. Continue reading...