Happy new year!
The Walled Garden project is well and truly underway with the focus of activity mainly in the recently scythed north west quadrant. The only planting that has happened so far are 6 apple trees – varieties include Kidd’s Orange Red, Limelight Blush, Scotch Bridget, Bramley, and two unknown varieties – and a beleaguered redcurrant “bush” that we brought up from London 3 years ago, which has been languishing in an undersized pot ever since.
In order to get things going quickly, I opted for plastic sheets as a means to suppress the intense amount of latent weeds in the coming spring – planting trees in and amongst it. I feel uneasy of course about the use of plastic here, and it feels already like my permaculture “principles” have been compromised. The area it covers is still only a small percentage of the whole garden, but I still anticipate being reprimanded by my tutors at my forthcoming permaculture design course, so I will probably be forced to seek alternatives in the future whenever possible. But as the purpose of this garden is to also one day make it a business enterprise, amongst others things, it felt like a kick start was needed, and that this form of mulch was the most efficient option to quickly prepare an area for planting. We shall see..
Other work at the moment is limited mainly to clearing up: hard pruning self seeded sycamores that have grown to heights above the walls themselves, and clearing areas for access and for future planting. I will try to make as much use as possible of the sticks, logs and branches from the sycamore, and anything else I find lying around.
My mind is constantly buzzing with all the amazing potential of this space, including what may become of some of the existing structures – namely the giant abandoned cattle sheds, and the ruined victorian ghosts of potting sheds and heated greenhouses…more on these another time.
The Bamff Walled Garden. 