Good morning Beautiful Settlements.

Last year we bought one land, one mini tractor, one site barrack, one ship container serving for storage, we finished one lake, one mound, we bought some equipment, seeds, trees, bushes, pallets… Simply, I spent a lot of money. There is only a little left in my budget for 2017. Actually, there is no leftover at all. I feel depressed. I need to confess. I don’t go to church. My family and friends are allergic to me. I have no money for a psychologist. So, there is only you left.

Let’s plant the Beautiful Settlements. They say that work is ennobling. Well, sometimes it is.

First, we had to design it (it was the job of my wife Barborka). We spent hours discussing what and where to plant. Different distance applies to different trees because in the future even the tree crown has different size; therefore, it is necessary to consider all of this. Another good thing to know is the variety that we like. We planted mostly old varieties. Everyone knows why. If you don’t, ask Mr. Google or attend the seminar with Ľudo Vašš in the Beautiful Settlements.

A project on a paper is one thing. However, to implement it on an area as big as 10 000m² is quite different. Pytagoras and Euklides will help us and I will revise the basics of trigonometry. However, it meets the match. We really did study theoretical knowledge on a Faculty of Mathematics and Physics which teaches students theoretical knowledge (a school where students joyfully make square-shaped snowmen at Christmas time), however, bringing the paper design on a 1ha large area is quite another cup of tea. The school cannot be actually considered the real basis of life (and I mean it, e.g. if you want to know the circumference of a round table it is easier to get a tape measure – that’s life, than to find the centre point, then to measure the radius and fill it in a formula – that’s school). We managed it and created a method based on a combination of a tape measure, string with nods and incredible increase of tension on our family.

Family crises is over, places for trees are marked, let’s move on.

We “only” need to dig holes and plant them.

I am the man who plants trees. How romantic. I get a small tree. I dig a hole, plant it and place ground over it. I am looking at the mountains. I breath the air and please my soul. I say hello to Slavkovský peak, hello Gerlach … and I continue in planting.

Have you ever dag a hole into the clay soil that is pressed and mixed with stones? Don’t you even try that. It was hard job for an excavator operator himself, his excavator nearly turned over when trying to dig one of the holes. Besides the holes (recommended size 150x150x40 cm), soil needs to be mixed with a barrow of manure, a barrow of compost and wood coal. Well, all this took incredibly long time.

Holes are ready, we just need to plant the small trees. However, to get an old variety is more difficult than to get the grant for a young farmer without paying any bribe. Fortunately, our friend Ľudo from Bošáca gave us some trees. They are actually not small trees (some of them are 2.5 m high). Each tree must be supported with a stick. You know, there is a bit windy on our land. To tell the truth, the wind is blowing around 120 days a year. For the rest of the year, the wind blows as hell. A small stick is not enough, you need at least three really strong posts which are 2.2. m high. We are happy with acacia wood.

Ramming around 150-200 posts which are 2.2 m high into the ground. I recommend it. It is not very traditional way of physical activity. Just one day of such activity and you will be surprised how many muscles, on different areas of your body, you feel. And then a friend of mine asked to go to the gym with him.

We enjoy the company of female roe deer. To prevent them to enjoy out trees, we have to somehow place a fence. We have to place a fence around the posts. I feel like a volunteer sponsor for companies producing wire.

Thanks’ goodness, 85% of fruit tree garden is done, the next 15% we will do next year. To plant those few trees will be a piece of cake and we will say to everyone: “Of course, plant a tree, it’s not difficult, just ROMANCE”.

Bye bye, work is ennobling, but I have enough.

Your Peter