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Tuesday 11 December 2018

Freshwinds Fairy Forest

Most mornings I wake at my old work time
6.45, and I just want to get up.
I think of all the working mornings I wanted to stay put.
There is an irony here.

On the very morning we have promised Anne to help with tree planting, we do not wake until 9.20!!
So our first morning was rather a late start.
It was a beautiful morning with low, bright sunshine.,
Tim and Anne already busy.
And they have been planting since last Wednesday.
 
So, there have been about 900 mixed trees to plant in what was once the buttercup meadow.
It runs alongside the fairy trail.
This will be Tim and Anne`s legacy to the next generation, and how privileged we feel to take part in the great planting.
It is a chance in a lifetime to be able to plant up a wood.

Our first job was to plant two oak trees which will stand alone on the right hand side before you reach the lake.













As we dug the holes I was wondering how big the trees would become in our remaining lifetime.
Indeed those were my thoughts as the rest of the trees 
were going in, but not in a morbid way.

That day we managed 40 trees ..... crabapple, silverbirch, 
field maple and alder.
Each one required a spade`s slit, heeling in, a stake and a tree guard with two clips to tighten up.














 There was a huge pile of stakes, tree guards and canes which gradually grew smaller through the morning.

The bags of trees had been soaked in the lake.



We were all glad that it had rained as the digging was easy although claggy in places. However, we did manage to break 
one of our spades.
 We worked steadily until a rather late lunchtime.
Whatever this wood is eventually called, in my head this section will forever be Grist Corner.



Here are some views of the whole area.
 Looking towards the Goblin`s Lair.


 Looking up towards the copse.

 Looking towards the camping field. 
 
 Looking up towards the garden.
 
Grist Corner.
 
As we wandered between the stakes and guards, it was fun to imagine the canopy that would one day be overhead, as well as the range of autumn colours the wood will provide.
 
As we strode back to the farm, this was our view.
 
We spent another glorious morning there today, with a light frost and mist hanging over the lower fields, cobwebs shimmering like gossamer over the grass and warm sunshine.
We managed 50 trees ..... silverbirch, beech, field maple and hornbeam.
 
What a way to spend our days.
 


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