sustainable garden

first seedlings!!

2012-01-27T16:55:00.007Z

Our list of seeds to sow is extensive. With no budget for landscaping, we must grow our new gardens from cuttings, seeds and divisions.

Many of our seeds are currently recumbent in packets (and even more in recycled envelopes) and await the warmth and light of spring when they will be sown into sieved leafmould.

Others sit in Rogers beer fridge, chilling out. These seeds need a period of low temperature to trigger germination. It will be April before they are ready for germination although some (maples) may begin germination even in the cool of the fridge.

Others were sown into trays in the autumn and are already showing!! Look!!

On the left, my favourite flower, our native primrose (primula vulgaris) open their cotyledons. The contrasting, spearlike spikes of camassia leichtlinii alba salute the new year.

We collected the primrose seed from plants we'd planted in the allotment. The camassia seed were a gift collected by Linda from her garden.

These emerging seedlings are like a starting gun sounding. 2012 is the year of beginning to grow our new garden: the race is on!!

Is there anything more exciting for a gardener than growing plants from seeds you've collected yourself?

clearing perennial weeds organically

2012-01-26T08:26:00.002Z

We have removed barren cherry trees from our reclaimed 'hidden orchard' and now want to create a vegetable garden using raised beds.

But the soil is infested with nettles and brambles as well as a network of roots remaining after tree stumps have been removed. How can this ground be turned into a weed free, productive garden?

I will clear a lot of it by hand, but digging perennial weeds from large areas of ground is hard, tiring and unpopular work.

And there are so many other, competing priorities that clearing all of this ground with mattock and garden fork is not an option. And using weedkillers won't be considered.

Some time ago, Garden Organic suggested an alternative method in their magazine.

They showed how an area infested with perennial weeds could be cleared by covering the ground with a layer of cardboard and weighing this down with organic matter.

The light is excluded from the perennial weeds and over time these die, allowing the gardener to plant through the mulch of organic matter into the soil below.

So, I'm embarking on an experiment.

I need large quantities of cardboard but friends are supplying this. More cardboard needed!!

I need large quantities of organic matter - and neighbours with stables are providing this.

Here you see two trailers of manure applied to a layer of cardboard.

The photo shows progress so far. It doesn't show the vast area still to cover!!

But as Chairman Mao told his followers before the long march:
'The longest journey begins with a single step'.

Weed free vegetable garden, here we come!!

i dont dig peat

2012-01-22T18:12:00.000Z

Peat is widely used in gardening. It is used in multi-purpose composts and is excellent for retaining moisture and creating an effective medium for growing plants. It retains fertiliser well and is cheap. That's why 24 million wheelbarrows of the stuff are used each year by amateur gardeners.

But. Removing peat from peat bogs releases carbon dioxide into the air and degrades fragile and valuable wildlife habitats. It's the wrong thing to do, and no matter how inconvenient, we must stop using it.

This does create problems. Peat free alternatives cost more. They are extremely variable and we have used many over the years. We know how disappointing it is when plants fail to thrive due to being planted in a poor growing medium.

But, our practice must change. Using peat-based products is not compatible with being an organic gardener.

So, we're delighted to sign up for the garden organic peat free 'I don't dig peat' campaign.

I'm delighted too that our allotment association supports the campaign by offering peat free potting compost to its members.

Followers of this blog will know that we have an immense challenge ahead of us at Cordwood: six acres of land that has been neglected for twenty years that we want to transform into a beautiful garden. I am pleased to say that this transformation will not include peat.

So far, only 37 people have signed 'the pledge' in our great county of Nottinghamshire.

So .... 'Come on now people, let's get on the ball and work together'. Wilbert Harrison

woodland garden in the rain

2012-01-20T18:10:00.001Z

The newly planted boundary border of our woodland garden needed a good drink .. and the rain has come today in just the way that gardeners like; softly but at length.

We've planted native primrose (primula vulgaris) and also added foxgloves (digitalis purpurea). This latter planting may have been a mistake. In the allotment, the varied shades of pink and white look sensational. I am afraid that the variety of colour will lose impact for us and realise now that we should have only used white. Perhaps next time.

We would have also planted lots of allotment nurtured transplants of Harts Tongue Fern (asplenium scolopendrium) but we expect operatives from Western Power to come and trim branches in the next couple of weeks so these will have to wait.

We have stacked lots of logs and sticks and used logs to mark boundary edges. Chipped privet has been stacked for a year before being used to cover paths. Encouraging saproxylic organisms (those that depend upon decaying wood) is a key part of our work on site and we hope that this volume of decaying wood will have an impact over the coming years..

Birdboxes will join our solitary bat box at the weekend. I hope to make lots of bat boxes in the coming months if I can find a source of salvaged untreated, rough-sawn timber.

Snowdrops (galanthus nivalis) are also being brought on at the allotment and they will be planted after flowers have finished.

Our attention will next fall to what we call the 100m2 border in the woodland garden.

cold in the garden - and stratifying seeds

2012-01-17T17:19:00.012Z

This has been a very mild winter so far.

Good news for people clearing land that has lay untouched for two decades....but cold is often necessary for plants. Or necessary for our enjoyment of them.

We split and transplanted snowdrops (galanthus nivalis) into a nursery bed on the allotment last year. This was to increase their number and to give them greater vigour. Snowdrops are an excellent early nectar and pollen source for precocious and hungry insects. The snowdrops are just peeking through and will be unaffected by this hard frost. They look to have coped well with the dry conditions of last year and we will nurture them until flowering has finished and then transplant them into the new woodland garden.

The seeding heads of sedum spectabile are spectacular after frost and provide great structure. We have many stock plants that will be divided so that we can plant en masse in future years. Piet Oudolph frequently uses these plants in creating his 'prairie planting' schemes that we hope to replicate at Cordwood. The seed heads provide a winter seed source for birds and also ideal overwintering homes for ladybirds.

Many plant seeds need a period of cold weather to trigger germination. This is termed 'stratification' and comes from early attempts to stimulate germination by putting sees into layers or 'strata' of sand.

We have collected the following seeds and put each into a lablelled plastic bag with a handful of slightly moistened leafmould. I must admit that it looks rather dodgy but was pleased that the bags have all been placed inside a zip wallet in Rogers beer fridge (!) where they will be left for around ten weeks. Or until the sniffer dogs arrive!!
After that they will be sown into seed trays in peat free potting compost and brought on in the polytunnel.

Acer (assorted)

Acer griseum

Acer palmatum

Alchemilla mollis

Allium Purple Sensation

Andy Lowes plant!!

Camassia (White)

Clematis viticella

Cedrus libani

Cotinus coggygria

Daucus carrota

Eutrochium purpurea

Rosa rugosa

Smilacina stellata

Viburnum opulus

woodland garden - first border planted!!!

2012-01-15T21:00:00.000Z

At last.

A beautiful, crisp January morning and those members of the family available come together to dig holes, put in well-rotted manure, water, plant, backfill and firm and then top with chippings.

Then stand back and admire!!

Piles of logs and sticks have been left to encourage wildlife at ground level.

A lot of work will be needed over the growing season to nurture these plants in such a dry and overshadowed bed.

And the finishing touch was to tie a bat box to the large sycamore - a gift from my friend Jane. Here's hoping that the abundance of invertebrates generated by our log and stick piles will provide mighty feasts for resident bats!!

preparing for cordoned apples .. and improving the apiary

2012-01-12T21:21:00.000Z

Steadily working through the never ending list of jobs.

I've set my sights on creating a cordon fruit hedge that will separate the orchard from the planned vegetable garden.

We already have ten cordon apple and pear trees at our allotment and hope to transplant these in the coming weeks while the plants are still dormant.

I'm working across the twenty two metres of the line of the planned hedge with my mattock, removing roots and creating a wide band of cleared earth.
Halfway there!! Hope to finish this part tomorrow.

Next week I hope to dig out post holes, concrete tannalised posts in and I might even get to digging a trench that will be lined with compost and a little well-rotted manure, ready for the transplanted trees.

Trev's job list is different and he's clearing away rampant hedge in the apiary area at the top of the site. The brown earth shows how far across the neglected hedge had encroached.

This wider, cleared area will allow Linda and him to do some technical jiggerypokery that he did explain about artificial swarms. Apparently you can prevent bees from pouring energy into swarming and setting up new colonies by this practice.

You'd better watch this space or follow Linda's site 'Bees and Beyond' for more clarity over the coming weeks and months!!

Woodland garden - manure gathered in!

2012-01-10T08:49:00.000Z

This Saturday (weather permitting) will be an auspicious day .... we plant the first new plants in our woodland garden.

Trees have been pruned or removed.

Ground has been cleared of weeds, logs, sticks and piles of rubbish.

I've already listed the plants we've bought for the first section.

And we've done a planting scheme and roughed out the area for paths with logs.

And yesterday we brought in manure to use to enrich the soil when we dig our planting holes.

So, a family planting session is planned for Saturday. It is going to be brilliant!!! Or very wet!

Photo of middle of border in the twilight. With manure in piles. Ready.

chris orgill - wildlife artist

2012-01-08T22:23:00.001Z

Hooray!! Judith and Roger were married on Saturday.

We chose to give them a painting of goldcrests in silver birch.

And who better to paint that picture than our old friend Chris Orgill, one of our leading wildlife artists? He's truly gifted and produced a beautiful painting of a male displaying to a female.

On the left, Chris looks sternly back at the camera with Jill .... but on the right looks more cheerful sampling 'Fathers Chair' (our sycamore stump shaped into an outdoor seat).

.........................................................................

Oh, and here's the happy couple behind a staggering cheese 'cake' mounted on a cheeseboard made by Roger from Cordwood sycamore!!! A beautiful and emotional day with two amazing people at its centre.

.......................................................................

Congratulations to Judith and Roger. Here's hoping that 'Goldcrest' (their bungalow on the Cordwood site) is ready soon!!

woodland garden ... getting value for money!!

2012-01-06T08:15:00.007Z

A blustery and rainy Tuesday, a dark January morning and what better way of lifting the spirits than by buying plants?
So, off to Glapwell, Mansfield to spend some of the plant fund we've built up from family and friends.

Now, I'm not a canny shopper and I have no understanding of the term 'Retail Therapy'. But the world of plant retailers is as difficult a shopping experience as any and the unwary gardener can spend much more than they need to if they are not alert.

A case in point is the large Brookfields Garden Centre on the edge of Nottingham. There, in a 'plant sale' they were discounting the price of pyrecantha (Firethorn) plants by 75%. Sounds good .. until you see that they were marked as having a pre-sale price of £20!! For a pyrecantha?! So, the price was a more reasonable £5.00.

Glapwell Nurseries is our favoured place for buying structural, non-specialist plants at more reasonable prices. Their Soleil d'Or pyrecantha's were £3.95.

In buying plants we place a lot of faith on the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Award of Garden Merit (AGM) classification and are always pleased to buy plants with these labels. So, although the plants at Glapwell were sometimes significantly less expensive than at other places, we can be assured that our plants will be what British gardeners call 'Good do-ers': they will grow well.

So, here's the 'booty' we came back with:

Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana Ellwoods Gold AGM

Chamaecyparis lawsomiama ‘Snow White’

Cornus alba (Dogwood) sibirica Westonbirt AGM x5

Cornus stoloniferia (Dogwood) Flaviramea AGM x 5

Cotoneaster frigidus Cornubia AGM x 3

Hydrangea quercifolia AGM

Ilex aquifolium (Holly) JC van Tol AGM x 3

Ilex aquifolium (Holly) ‘Silver Queen’ AGM x 3

Pyracantha (Firethorn) ‘Soleil d’Or x 3’

Pyracantha coccinea ‘Red Column’ x2

Sarcococca confusa (Christmas Box) AGM x 3

Cost £120

So, a fully loaded car came back to Cordwood and I must now chafe until we can plant them in a couple of weeks. Hate this 'delayed gratification' thing!

woodland garden ... the beginning

2012-01-03T09:52:00.001Z

I love 'before and after' shots- especially when I've had to work hard to make a transformation.

That's what we have here.

This time last year this end of the garden was a mess. I posted on Saturday about the work done to transform the Lamins Lane hedge boundary. You can just see the old, wrecked hedge at the far end of this photo.
But the other side of the hedge was in a truly awful state, as you can see. The Horse Chestnut trees were badly affected by the disease called bleeding canker. Limbs had fallen off, the trees were overcrowded and little light could penetrate to reach the soil which was infested by weeds.

This area does present challenges. the remaining sycamores deny light when in leaf and also drop sticky fluid onto leaves of plants below, Whatever we plant here must be 'tough as old boots' to withstand the dry sandy conditions and the sycamores. It will need to be planted with tough evergreens that will also give privacy. There is a local population of tree sparrows (passer montanus) and house sparrows (passer domesticus) that love skulking in thorny thickets. We're planting berberis and pyrecantha to provide cover for them and to provide berries in the autumn and flowers in the spring. Cotoneaster are also in the plan for berries and flowers too.

The Scots Pines that border this area give us the chance to plant azaleas, camelias and rhododendrons that love acidic conditions.

Natives such as holly, yew and gelder rose will be used to give height variation in this first zone.

Our Christmas holiday job has been to clear the ground of nettles, brambles and wood avens. Overcrowded trees have been removed and tangled branches trimmed back.
Piles of logs left after early tree work have been moved and stacked and branches have been piled.

There was an ugly lump of several cubic metres of soil/branches/nettles/rubbish that we worked to eliminate yesterday.

And here we have the ground as we left it after a long session swinging mattocks and wheelbarrowing away piles of pernicious roots.

Manure and compost will be needed to give new plants a chance and that must be collected.

A path will be laid out marked by felled logs and the chipped privet we collected last year.

A planting scheme has been drawn up.

Today we plan to go and buy plants.

And hope to have a planting session in a couple of weeks!!

hedge mulching

2011-12-31T19:13:00.000Z

I live in a world of lists. Always have. And, oh, the indescribable pleasure of crossing things off.

Here's some evidence.

When we acquired the Old Mushroom Farm site, the hedge with Lamins Lane was in a poor state. Some years ago, a car had crashed through the hedge. Overgrown in places, it was riddled with rusty barbed wire and was an insecure boundary choked by weeds and full of gaps.

We have had some heavy rain recently, and so I was confident that the soil was thoroughly watered.

So to do the last job of mulching with wood chippings the newly planted hawthorn whips augmented by yew and holly collected on site brings a real sense of achievement.

Looking forward to 2012! New Year greetings to you!!

polytunnel progress

2011-12-27T22:36:00.000Z

The distraction of Christmas is almost out of the way. No more changes to routines, unhealthy eating arrangements .... I can return to where I'm happiest.

And today was beautiful at Cordwood. The temperature temperate and the sky a cloudless pale blue.

And although we had to leave earlier than we would normally, we cleared more ground for our 'Christmas border' by mattocking out nettles and brambles. And found time to put the polythene sheeting on our polytunnel (hoop house).

Here, Andrea and Judith size up the job, aware that Andrea's dressmaking skills were a perfect match to those required for polytunnel polythene.

And here we have the polytunnel almost ready, with sheeting weighed down by soil in trenches.

Still the door to do...

But .... plants ahoy!!

encouraging saproxylic organisms

2011-12-24T10:35:00.002Z

Dead wood is vital in a living woodland and supports up to 90% of its biodiversity according to the Tree Council.

Saproxylic organisms are species which are involved in or dependent on the process of fungal decay of wood, or on the products of that decay, and which are associated with living as well as dead trees.

They vary from woodpeckers to fungi, but the most biodiverse groups are Coleoptera (beetles) and flies (Diptera). Over most of Europe, saproxylic organisms are under threat, due to the removal of woodland cover and impoverishment of what remains. The majority of flies associated with deadwood are described as 'small and cryptic'. They don't have the 'wow' factor of beautiful butterflies - but are important nevertheless.

Woodlands have been used since man first came to these islands as a source of wood for burning - and dead wood often burns best. Deadwood is also untidy and so the urge is to clear the ground. Deadwood and the organisms that depend upon it are key to thriving woods and are under pressure.

Our woodland is very new - with the exception of one two hundred year old oak that we have annexed, all of the trees were planted after the site was set up in 1947. We know from Johns ecological assessment that we have little of wildlife interest and so our practices must work to remedy this. We must create deadwood!

We have mountains of sawn logs following the arborists' work that are looked upon enviously by visitors. Much of this will be stored for burning over the next three years or given to our band of volunteers.

But much of it too will be placed around the site to encourage those organisms that rely on dead wood.

Iliff Simey was featured on Radio 4's 'Saving Species' a few weeks back and described his 'natural forest practice'. It is conventional arborist' practice for branches to be removed at the tree collar. Iliff's approach is to remove branches on weakened trees some way along the branch to encourage the branch to rot and to eventually take rot into the tree. This will create cavities that will benefit birds and bats as well as the myriad 'crypric' flies that depend on the deadwood.

All of which is a long justification for asking Santa for a folding Silky hand saw and a pole saw. The job has to be done properly!!

Merry Christmas too you all.

this weeks work

2011-12-20T20:46:00.000Z

My thoughts have been with my former colleagues this past week.

Christmas in a primary school ius a special time, but oh, so tiring. And for headteachers, the usual work continues plus all the fun of Christmas.

So, while I have worked away on site, relaxed and fulfilled, I have thought constantly about the life I have left behind.

So, what have I been up to?

Well, I have had lots of chicken fun and will blog about that later. In the new compost bays that I have constructed from reused fencing wire, you can see the team of 'gardening assistants' giving the compost the once over.

In the border adjacent to Lamins Lane we have been clearing pernicious bramble and nettle in anticipation of planting a 'Christmas border'.

And down on the boundary with Crimea Plantation one man and his scythe have been clearing bramble and bracken to reveal the young oak and cherry trees that are growing there.

passifhaus?

2011-12-15T08:25:00.000Z

Today is an important one in the design of our project: we meet the mechanical and engineering consultant to discuss heating our two bungalows.

We want to be as 'low carbon' as we can afford and aspire to reach the German passifhaus standard which is the gold standard of eco build. This, of course, comes at a price and our goal is to achieve the holy grail of eco build which is passifhaus on a budget!
A passifhaus is essentially a super-insulated building that leaks almost no heat.
The heat coming through the windows should be 'locked' into the house due to its construction and its insulation. No heat should escape thanks to a heat recovery system that captures the heat from expelled stale air and feeds that back into the building.

All of this is important for obvious environmental reasons since we will almost eliminate our home carbon emissions and therefore benefit the environment. According to the Carbon Trust, the average Briton contributes nearly 1.5 tons of carbon through the heating of homes. Our annual carbon footprint is nearly eleven tons (roughly half of the CO2 produced each year by the average American!).

And as a consequence of getting near to passifhaus we should have much lower heating costs than conventionally constructed buildings.
If we can afford to place electricity-producing solar photovoltaic (solar pv) cells on the roof, our electricity costs could be reduced too. Even with a reduced government 'feed in tariff' scheme, it is estimated that we should recover the cost of the solar pv investment within 9 years.
Dependent upon costs, we could have a super-insulated home that generates its own electricity.

The average combined cost of gas and electricity in British homes is £1200 according to the government Committee on Climate Change (CCC). We have no access to gas at Cordwood - our neighbours' energy costs are probably in the region of £2000 per year. Investment in insulation 'up front' should produce significant cost savings in the future.

So, today's meeting is a key one. Watch this space!

cordwood progress report

2011-12-11T14:25:00.001Z

Have been proud owners of the 'Old Mushroom Farm' plot we now call 'Cordwood' since the beginning of November 2010.

Building work will not begin now until the spring but landscaping has continued.

We have

had boundary fences erected on the Crimea Plantation and Lamins Lane boundaries
had a line of Lombardy Poplars removed on the eastern boundary
planted a double line of locally sourced native hedging plants along the Crimea Plantation boundary
tamed the privet boundary with neighbouring 'Wildacres'
reduced the privet boundary around the orchard
chipped all privet prunings
cut down nettles and brambles in 'Picnic Wood'
planted wild cherry trees on edge of 'Picnic Wood'
watched Trev & Linda install three bee hives
had dangerous trees on driveway removed
spent from April to November clearing the impenetrable thorny jungle that was the orchard
cleared 'Birch Avenue' of brambles and nettles
cleared land for the erection of the polytunnel
put up the polytunnel frame
had trees felled or reduced where our bungalow will be built
had the lower limbs removed on orchard limes
had most sycamores along the 'Old Mushroom farm' bungalow boundary removed
cleared some sycamores and pines that were competing with the Atlas Blue Cedar and lime trees along this boundary
begun clearance of silver birch where both bungalows will be sited
begun clearance and reduction work in the wood adjacent to the drive
re homed our bantams and those of my cousin
put rush screening along the Lamins Lane boundary.

This weekend we have completed the replanting of the Lamins Lane boundary hedge. This has involved clearing the hedge of all competing nettles and brambles as well as sundry rusting wire and old bottles.

We have now filled gaps with young holly and yew plants collected on site as well as using plants we have bought from nearby Brook Farm in Linby.

I dressed the transplants with organic granulated fertiliser. We now need some serious rain to fall so that the ground around the plants' roots is properly wet. We can then add a thick mulch of wood chippings to seal in the moisture and to suppress competing feeds.

Next week:

we hope that the majority of the work on deciduous trees will be completed and all brash chipped
a small group of Nottingham Trent University students is expected to join us next week to practise their chainsaw skills
I hope to construct compost areas and begin to fill them.

I am pleased that we have had our first contact with an undergraduate in the Nottingham Trent School of Art and Design. We hope Sally will be able to hone her sculptural skills whilst producing interesting landscape features in the developing gardens.

Oh, and by the way, I'm lovin' it!!!

pheasant shooting: where is the 'sport'?

2011-12-08T00:08:00.000Z

At the weekends, the sound of shooting guns bangs and echoes about the fields. The pheasant shooting season is with us. What could be a more natural, timeless countryside activity?

I'm questioning this now.

Cordwood is on the edge of the farmland where the pheasant shooting occurs. And it isn't possible to walk around our site at the moment without disturbing groups of pheasants.

This chap gives a clue to why I'm uncomfortable with this 'sport'. He followed us on our walk, approached us without fear.

Wild birds can become confiding but this bird was never 'wild'. It was reared in pens by a gamekeeper and then, with all the other young pheasants and red legged partridges it was released to fend for itself in the fields. 'Wild' pheasants are taught to forage by their mother. They do not rely on pelleted feed and learn to slip quietly away without being seen.

But, on release, farmed pheasants (completely disorientated and unable to fend for themselves) walk under the wheels of oncoming cars or approach strangers as this hapless fellow did. They are quite literally defenceless.

They loiter by feeding points in the fields and hide in the shelter belts of sunflowers that are planted to keep them where the beaters can find them. The dogs are sent in to flush them and they rise, in a disturbed clatter into the sky only metres from the guns to be blasted out of the sky.

Where is the 'sport' in that?

hens return

2011-12-05T08:36:00.000Z

When we moved house our aging bantams moved in with my cousins hens. It was really a return home for them because our hens were chicks from Jen's birds in 2005.
Sorted.
But not really because my cousin then decided to move home and before we knew it we had to rehome 'our girls' again ... but this time with two of their elderly aunts and also their aging father.

But rehomed they were and we breathed a sigh of relief. Until last week when we got the news that they had to move again.
What to do, especially now that our three hens had become five hens and a cockeral?
We were uncomfortable leaving the hens at Cordwood because we wouldn't see them everyday and we know that there are foxes on site.
So, reluctantly we made arrangements for them to be taken to an an animal rescue centre for rehoming.
But poor Jill was crestfallen at the thought of the hens that are our responsibility going to a recue centre.
So, in the wind and the rain we built a run from old fence panels, reassembled the roosting house and now they have a new home. They are the first official residents at Cordwood. Five superannuated hens and a retired old gentleman of a cockeral.

There's snow in the air today. The lane to Cordwood is not gritted and becomes impassable in snowy weather. I am visualising myseld as a latter day Good King Wenceslas trudging the mile up the lane in deep snow with a sack of corn on my back to feed the chickens.

Perhaps this won't be permanent.

just not grand enough?

2011-12-01T07:51:00.003Z

Phone call from James of the Grand Designs TV team.

We got the kiss off!
They won't be commissioning our building work for their next series. They have already done passifhaus and don't consider our bungalows to be innovative enough.

This is what we think as well.

Mixture of one tenth disappointment and nine tenths relief!!

erecting polytunnel

2011-11-28T22:28:00.000Z

Another of those 'nearly there' posts.

Here's the team in action on Sunday, preparing ground, barrowing away mountains of roots and building the frame for the polytunnel.

Sadly, ran out of time for stretching plastic over the hoop frame and that will have to wait until next weekend now - weather and wind permitting!!

Great work team!!

(still) preparing the ground for polytunnel and cold frames

2011-11-26T09:29:00.000Z

Three days swinging my mattock with a lot of help from other mattock swingers and fork prodders .. and we are nearly ready to erect our polytunnel.

Some photos of the team in action.

With luck we will start erecting the polytunnel today!!!

preparing the ground for polytunnel and coldframes

2011-11-22T22:31:00.001Z

A six acre garden that is all wilderness and concrete..... and no budget for landscaping.

The only option before is to think long term and to grow our own garden from seeds, cuttings and divisions.

A necessary part of this madcap scheme is to erect a polytunnel, make cold frames from reused casement windows and to create a fertile and nurturing nursery bed on the root riddled sand that is the former orchard. We will also use our allotment as a further, satellite nursery.

This plan will take three to five years before the gardens begin to resemble anything like our long term vision for the site. I have said before that delayed gratification comes in spadefuls with this project!

We spent from April to September clearing the orchard of its infestation of blackthorn and cherry suckers, oak and other seedlings and vicious tangle of brambles and nettles.

I had hoped that by now we would have had the help of a few pigs to root out the rubbish in the soil and help create the beginnings of a fertile tilth. That hasn't happened so today I began the slow and heavy job of clearing the soil of roots armed only with a mattock.

Hard work indeed, but the necessary breaks to get my breath back were punctuated by the welcome sound of migratory fieldfares flying south on their journey from Scandinavia. That 'cluck cluck' call high in the sky is such a characteristic winter sound. One fieldfare alighted in a tall birch tree and called for several minutes.

Today I cleared about 30m2 (pictured) which is a small proportion of the ground that will eventually be needed for polytunnel and cold frames.

tree work after one week

2011-11-19T17:55:00.001Z

One week into the tree work.

Trees in the area where 'Waxwings' bungalow will be have been felled; sycamores competing with the beech tree have been removed; sycamores competing with two limes have been removed and a sitka spruce that was crowding a magnificent Atlas Blue Cedar has been felled.

Silver birch that have colonised the gaps between the old mushroom sheds are being removed.

Logs have been stacked in a wandering line to mark the area where building work will take place and to protect the roots of remaining trees. And the brash has been chipped and put into piles.

Looking forward to tomorrow when we can continue to remove and log silver birch, pile brash for chipping, prepare ground for the storage container and do some tidying.

It's all go!!

now you see it .... now you don't!

2011-11-16T21:12:00.000Z

Day three of tree felling and tidying on site.

Time for a bit of fun with a wacky chair fashioned from a sycamore stump with dad modelling!

And a tree is felled.

Before and after shots.

Timber!!