One of the things you quickly realise when you digging around a property that used to be a farm is that, in the old days, they used to bury a lot of rubbish.  I guess it would have been in the days before council rubbish collections.  The organic stuff has rotted away, however, there is a lot of metal and glass left behind.

Jo decided to clear the nettle patch next to the new opening in the orchard.  The area is around 3m x 2m.  It took Jo the best part of half-day to dig this area over.  The amount of metal that we came across is impressive and I suspect that there is a lot more to come (should we wish to dig any further).

We sorted out this opening a few weeks ago and this area was covered with some old roof slates until recently.  It didn't take long before the ground was reclaimed with nettles.

We sorted out this opening a few weeks ago and this area was covered with some old roof slates until recently. It didn’t take long before the ground was reclaimed with nettles.

All of this metal work came out of this very small area of ground.  It gets to a point where you want to stop digging!

All of this metal work came out of this very small area of ground. It gets to a point where you want to stop digging!