Tidying up the nursery

Neil, Justin, Tilly, and my Mum (looking like an old hillbilly)

This Saturday we spent the morning tidying up our nursery base. We are hoping to get some money from Kirklees allotment department for securing the boundary of the nursery and having some secure storage set up for the Society to work from. A recent inspection by Julian Faulkner from the Council found the place looking a bit sad and neglected. So we worked hard on it this morning. My mother came a long to lend her expertise with sorting out the Raspberry bushes. Philip, Geoff, Neil, myself, and Justin were also there. And later on Sarah and Tilly appeared. We cleared paths, trimmed hedges, weeded beds and generally did very well. What we didn't know was that a few days later....

There will be blood, Fitzcaraldo!

Duncan, covered in blood

A diverse morning. Philip, Geoff, Diane and I spent an hour tidying up at the Nursery, and then we went up off to Merrydale. We had some coffee and cake, and then made a feeble attempt at clearing some Japanese knotweed. Duncan, who had been up there already with some Scout friends, cut his hand rather badly on a bramble. So that is the first bit of today's blog title. The second part refers to Geoff then dragging us up to the furthest corner of Merrydale to do some more filming and interviewing for his documentary. And that furry thing on top of Geoff's camera is, apparently, called a "dead kitten".

Not much tree planting, but there is serious work going on behind the scenes, getting quotes for fencing and signage, filling out monitoring forms, and making grant applications for next season.

Bracken bashing at Butterley Reservoir

Once again, bashing the bracken (which is not a euphemism). This time up the east side of Butterley Reservoir. Difficult steep terrain, but it was worthwhile as there were quite a few small trees that were struggling to keep going under bracken which was shoulder height. Yes it all looks pretty verdant up there, but mostly that is an endless sea of bracken. Cake was a homely and retro jam tart. Very nice. First picture is of Neil sitting on a bit of Yorkshire water architecture, some sort of access hole for reservoir stuff. Other picture is of Philip sharpening his implement (again, not a euphemism). I stepped on a covey of grouse while I was up there. Six of them, and they didn't take off until I was literally almost stepping on them. I think they need to shape up a bit before the glorious twelfth, or their prospects aren't good. And we might have seen a Ring Ouzel, but we aren't sure.

Nettle bashing at High Wood

A fine morning bracken and nettle bashing at High Wood, rescuing small trees from being swamped and deprived of light. Very worthwhile, there were lots of little trees in there that benefited. And it was a lovely morning too. I was experimenting with the panorama setting on my phone, and we had chocolate brownies at break time.

Marsden Cuckoo's nest AGM

Tonight I attended the Marsden cuckoo's nest AGM, and got the chance to thank them for the generous grant they recently gave us. A lovely bunch of people.

Lindley Methodist green fair

Today Philip and I set up our stall at the Lindley Methodist green fair. We were outside under a small gazebo, and it was unseasonably cold. Philip had to phone home and get a coat brought out. Neil and Duncan also turned up to lend a hand. Turnout wasn't huge, probably due to the weather, but someone did give us 10 trees (Douglas Firs?)

Bracken bashing and bee stings at High Brow

See those pesky bracken stems, look harmless don't they, they're not.

Philip and I went to High Brow above Meltham this evening to cut back some of the bracken growing over this years new planting. Very sunny and warm, and I got stung by something, not sure what it was, but it was flippin' painful. An otherwise successful evening. The trees at High Brow are doing very well. We did walk down to Jess's field to look at the planting from the year before, and bumped into Jess and her horses.

Looking out overMeltham.

Deer guards at Marsden Golf Club

Five members headed up to Marsden Golf Club to do a variety of jobs. Firstly we put on 50 deer guards in phase 4 of the plantiing at the golf course. The guards were put on the sessile oak in an area which has seen much unwanted sheep grazing action over the last few years. Duncan began taking off guards on some well established trees adjacent to the 'sheep super-highway' which were planted only marginally before the other trees. Later, after a break involving hastily bought digestive biscuits, a splinter group went to bracken-bash around Butterley reservoir. Finding that the trees were doing well, above the bracken, and didn't need bashing, Geoff continued his filming of all things 'Tree Society'. There was no need to take a photo of the biscuits (mostly broken) for the archive.