Last Saturday felt almost like spring, and CSA members gathered at the farm to make an excellent start to the new growing season!
Kirsty and Kate sowing Swiss chard and broad bean seeds
Mike's mammouth weeding session!
Clearing the Brussels sprouts
Eric planting out the Forest Garden Nursery
Tom sorting out the essential business of getting the tea made in a low carbon way using last year's sunflower stalks
We hosted a regional meeting of CSAs organised by The Soil Association this afternoon. People came from
Organised by Kirstin Glendinning from the Soil Association
People from community supported agriculture project in East Anglia
View over the potato bed
Joanne on the benefits of comfreyBocking 14
The Herb Garden
Eric Nelson describing the principles underlying the Forest Garden
Tom and Kirsty from the Oak Tree CSA leaving at the end of the day in Low Carbon style
We have had a very dry April so far, so Eric, newly appointed Guardian of the forest garden decided we needed to water the newly planted trees.
As they grow, the trees will develop a larger root system and become more drought-resistant, however we want to err on the safe side to preserve the investment and the volunteers’ hard work on the planting days.
Eric, guardian of the Oak Tree Forest Garden next to the temporary water tower
We’ve therefore rigged up this temporary water tower from the frame of an intermediate bulk container and mustered every piece of hose we could fit together to fill the top IBC from the borehole. Eric and Joanne then used watering cans to take the water from here to the trees, this saves lugging water all the way up the field loads of times.
Chris and Lorna planting a tree
Thank you to everyone who braved the wind today to come and plant trees for the permaculture forest garden at The Oak Tree. Lots of friendly, interesting people and we got so much done!
Chris and Lorna planting
Looked like stormy weather, but we were spared rain
A well deserved lunch break