From Field To Woodland

It has been a long time since there was a blog article, so to try and increase update frequency a little, delegation has taken place. This article has been written by the head of The Fencing & Boundaries Committee , Ron.   All tree planting guides tell you to protect your trees from wildlife. Be it deer or rabbits or squirrels- though nobody mentions farm animals.   One option is to exterminate the “pest” but we were not prepared to do that to wild creatures when this is partly a wildlife project.   Fully fencing off a site is very expensive , tree guards a little cheaper. Given we don’t have anything to worry about that might “escape” the field, it was decided that we would take our chances and leave the boundary as it was and use tree guards where it was sensible. The deer were only infrequent  visitors (I have never actually seen one yet) and the bunnies would mostly be thwarted by guards. Nobody mentioned farm animals though.   In general this strategy h...

 One of the key reasons this project even exists, is the mitigation of climate change. Sequestering carbon in tree form is happening in the field day by day, in some small way, that should negate a bit of the impact my life has had on the planet. In 20 years time, the trees will collectively soak up many tons of carbon each year until they reach maturity. So the project should have a tiny, but real impact on climate change. I have known since the start of the project, that climate change may also have a direct impact my project. And perhaps not a tiny one. Most tree planting experts recommend ensuring at least some of your trees will cope with a warmer and less predictable climate  - to ensure all of your trees are not wiped out by a single extreme weather event. I am planting a range of species for this reason.  I hadn't expected the weather to cause so many problems so soon though. By March 2021, I was becoming increasingly concerned about the dryness of the soil in the...

  Everyone loves wildflowers and given they are "wild" I figured they were fairly hardy and reliable. I didn't have a great deal of success with the seed I threw down though. Wherever there was a patch of bare ground (as a result of Mongo's Hole or the wall repairs) , I threw down wild flower seed figuring it would get a hold before the grass overtook it.  I may have had bad seed though, as this is pretty much the extent of the results. It still made me smile every time I saw it though, it might spread I guess, lets hope so. 

  Litter is a constant problem, drink bottles thrown out of car windows land at the top quite often.  At least the one pictured had some love involved......

 I always love seeing daffodils in the middle of nowhere or at the side of a road, as it meant that at some time, somebody somewhere thought "this will be nice" and went to work. Then decades later people still smile and enjoy their work.  So, despite daffs not really being woodland plants, and not being terrifically "wild", I couldn't help myself.  Armed with a big bag of bulbs and a handful of lovely helpers, we had a busy afternoon in early January and were blessed with sunshine.  Last year we planted on the top paths, this year we managed most of the other paths. Badgers (I think) dug up several bulbs after planting, but hopefully most will survive.  I can't wait until spring - again. And hopefully every subsequent spring. And hopefully people will wonder "who planted those?" - well it was these fine people. 

When wandering around the field, I see a lot of new things making their home on the grass , things that should naturally be there, but years of pesticides, sheep teeth and sheep feet have prevented their development.  I often see interesting fungus but usually only look for a few seconds and then walk on. I don't know that much about them, so I don't tend to linger and think about it too much.  Earlier in the year something peaked my interest a little more than usual though.   Somewhere in my distant memory, I remember reading a book about edible fungus and my memory recalled, that the book suggested that "most edible mushrooms have a very similar looking cousin that will kill you". That news put me off edible fungus. My recollection though, was that the exception to that rule seemed to be field mushrooms and puffballs.  Now that memory was definitely a distant memory, but when I saw the fellow in the above picture growing, I thought it worthy of further investigatio...

 I was having a pleasant lake swim with a nice chap I know the other day. Among the many interesting things we chatted about, he told me about his bee keeping.  Many years ago I went to "bee school" for the day. An intro to bee keeping course that was held in a local village. It was fascinating, and like most things, there was more to it than I imagined. Given the positive environmental impact of bee hives and the prospect of limitless amounts of honey, I resolved that one day I would have some bees. Sadly, a nervous wife, concerned about the impact on our neighbours, meant that the project stalled.  The chat with my friend re-ignited my enthusiasm though, and now that I had a perfect location, and a location that would be enhanced by the arrival of the stripy beasties, I had to act.  I am a busy chap and I also like to go away a lot, so the idea of starting yet another hobby wasn't tempting. It meant ruling out going it alone. I knew from my earlier conversation tha...