Planting prep in Autumn sunshine

A lovely Autumn morning. We were myself, Jess, Dianne and Lizzie the dog, Ben, Geoff and Dave. We took 100 Hare guards and stakes, and 60 Deer guards and stakes up to Butterley Clough. I spent some time pruning the trees near the golf course second stile, since we will be carrying a lot more gear through there in the coming months. Seemed a good idea to make way. Stakes and guards are safely stashed on site ready for when new trees arrive. Lemon drizzle cake at break time (which was a bit late, as I lost track of time). Towards the end we helped Dave with his wildflower Meadow experiment. Which involves clearing a patch of Bracken and it's attendant root system, ready to be sown with seed in the Spring. Spoke to Bobby in the Sair and our pre-season meeting is now listed on their calendar.

Bramble on!

An enormously sweaty morning attempting to loosen the stranglehold of brambles on our young trees at Fieldhouse. We were: myself, Steve, Geoff, Philip, Dave, Hap, Duncan and Harvey the Dog. Guy and Mandy were working at the nursery. Cake was an improvised currant, cherry, choc-chip affair. There were a mysteriously large number of carrier bags in amongst the trees. Abandoned by blackberriers?

Parkwood Revisited

Philip amongst the White Willow

This morning we took a trip up to Parkwood in Golcar. Planted over 3 seasons from 2012 onwards there are trees at various stages of growth across the field. We were very pleased with progress. Willow and Alder are doing well in the wet parts of the field, and Downy Birch was growing well in the dryer centre. Deer guards have been well worth the money, as planting done with canes and spirals has suffered from deer browsing. We retrieved 36 stakes and a similar number of guards for re-use this Winter. We were, myself, Steve, Philip and Ben. Cake was apple flapjack.

Weeding and wood chippings

Under Dave's supervision we spent the morning at the nursery, weeding the large bed in front of the shipping container, and then distributing wood chippings that were being donated by a tree surgery crew who were working just up the road. We were myself, Dave, Philip, Steve, Ben, Remy and Guy. After all that, and quite a few extra work by Dave it looks quite smart. Cake was chocolate.