owl

There's a new resident at Cordwood... a carved wooden owl who now perches on top of a tall horse chestnut stump in our woodland garden and looks over the hedge at passers by.

Thanks to local chainsaw artist Mark Butler for this distinctive addition to the Cordwood fauna.

privet hedge - gone

To bring power, water and phone lines onto the site, a metre deep trench has been dug that followed the route of the privet hedge which separated the woodland garden and the orchard and vegetable garden.

Privet is an unlovely thing, so we were pleased to see it removed.

And while the privet was being ripped out, the big digger took a quick sidestep and tore out the two cherry stumps left in the vegetable garden that remained from our earlier ground clearance. These stumps concealed a Medusa's head of dense and thick roots that would have been impossible to remove without a machine. And removing these stumps and their roots will now make the creation of our vegetable garden raised beds much more 'do-able'.

But the empty space left by the removal of the privet hedge created a headache. Thankfully, Steve had got the digger driver (also Steve) to use his big bucket and scoop out clumps of birch in the area we hope to use as our flower meadow.

So, on Wednesday, 'the boys' planted nearly fifty seedling silver birches in an informal row. Thanks to Gary, Jim and dad we got the job done in record time.

In the years ahead we hope to move these birch trees to new homes at cordwood and replace them with shrubs and small trees that will form a permanent boundary between these key sections of the garden.



 

a beautiful weekend

A beautiful, dry weekend.

The hen house Roger is building is shaping up nicely. We only have two little bantams - I just hope they don't suffer from agoraphobia in the interior that rivals the O2: there's enough room in here for a mega-flock! Hmmm - there's an idea!!

Mum, dad and Judith built this informal cordwood wall to further separate the vegetable garden and the orchard. The gaps between the logs are great places for wrens to explore.

The orchard is a fine place for a picnic - as you can see. 

symphytum officinale rhs wisley

Ah ..... two days of complete self-indulgence at the nations' mecca of gardening at the Royal Horticultural Society gardens in Wisley, Surrey.

Wet and cold was the weather but our spirits were warmed by all we saw.

Our last visit to Wisley saw us spending an inordinate amount of time poking around the prairie gardens and learning about the plants they used there. And inspired we were.

This time, it was the woodland areas that were at their brilliant, fresh, dripping best.

And perhaps surprisingly there was a consensus amongst us (Trev and Linda joined us) that the star plant of the two days was humble old symphytum officianale.

The symphytums share a clever trick with the pulmonarias of being full of flower but having flowers of a range of colours on each stem. This gives a greater depth and interest, especially when they are planted 'en masse'. Wildife gardeners welcome symphytums especially as bees go boogalloo for them!

There was a lovely, low-growing lemon form and then what I'm guessing was 'Hidcote Blue'. We bought ourselves a pot of 'Hidcote Blue' at the National Trust gardens at Hidcote on the way home and the poor thing was chopped into three pieces and planted in our Cedar walk garden as soon as we got it back to Cordwood.

Symphytums are also called comfrey and for organic gardeners comfrey is an almost talismanic plant. Lawrence Hills, the founder of the British organic gardening movement waxed lyrical about the health-giving properties of Russian Comfrey and the benefits its sterile hybrid 'Bocking 14' brings to the organic garden. 'Bocking 14' is really useful as its leaves contain high proportions of potassium. It is, however a garden bully and grows long roots that are almost impossible to eradicate if you change your mind about its location!

Sympytums are tolerant of drier conditions and will love the shade of our wooded setting. Expect them to become a signature plant of the Cordwood spring in the coming years!

'keeping on top'.....

Wonderful wet rain has continued from April through into May. You can almost hear our sandland guzzling it up.

The fourteen month drought has truly ended and despite the cold, the plants are responding.

So as well as continuing to develop the gardens (whilst elsewhere on site big diggers excavate our foundations), just 'keeping on top' is a challenge.

A great day on Wednesday...

As well as pricking out yet more seedlings, Jill cleared all of our beds by hand with our Punjabi 'dachti' tool and then began edging the border onto the orchard.

I have been clearing nettles from the vegetable garden area but grabbed 35 minutes up in Picnic Wood and scythed 200 square metres before the rain became so steady that I had to give in...

 And throughout, the music of the Mistle Thrush echoing around the woodland: short, evocative, liquid phrases delivered from the tree tops even in the heavy rain.

cordwood birds

Recording the wildlife at Cordwood is my idea of fun! And I hope that my records will tell me an interesting story as seasons and years go by and our work to improve the site for wildlife takes effect.

I have sited fifteen nestboxes this year and will report on their success next month. Here's a sneeky peek of the contents of a nestbox sited in our Woodland Garden. The Great Tit (Parus major) has used horsehair collected from the animals next door as its nest material.

Here are my records of birds on site in April....

Species	Site	First date	Last date	Max count	Notes
Red Legged Partridge	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			2	Present throughout
Common Pheasant	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			2	Two males displaying - in territories corresponding with  'Waxwings' and 'Goldcrest' boundaries
Eurasian Sparrowhawk	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood	19/04/12		1	Female overhead
Common Kestrel	Lamins Lane	20/04/12		1
Northern Lapwing	Fields, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout
Stock Dove	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			1	Calling throughout
	Keepers Cottage, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			3	Beneath feeders
Wood Pigeon	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout
Collared Dove	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			2	Present throughout
Tawny Owl	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			1	Throughout Calling from Crimea Plantation.
Green Woodpecker	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			1	Present throughout
Greater Spotted Woodpecker	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			1	Present throughout
Sky Lark	Lamins Lane, Bestwood			1	Present throughout
	Lamins Lane, Bestwood	22/02/12		2
Pied Wagtail	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood	28/04/12		2	Attracted to concrete piles.
Wren	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			5	Present throughout. Singing males in five territories.
Dunnock	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			2	Present throughout. Singing males in two territories.
Robin	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			6	Present throughout.
		30/04/12			Singing males in six territories. Fledged young from teapot nest in privet hedge and bracken stack in Vegetable garden.
Blackbird	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			3	Present throughout. 3 males fighting.
Song Thrush	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			1
Mistle Thrush	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			1	Male singing throughout
Blackcap	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			2
Garden Warbler	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood		29/04/2012	1	Male singing.
Common Chiffchaff	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			max 2	Calling throughout
Willow Warbler	Former tarmac Quarry, Off Lamins lane, bestwood	19/04/12		2	Singing
Goldcrest	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			2	Present throughout - Woodland Garden (Scots Pine) and Cedar Walk
Coal Tit	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			2	Present throughout
Blue Tit	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout. Nest box records will follow.
Great Tit	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout. Nest box records will follow.
European Nuthatch	Crimea Plantation, Bestwood				Present throughout and calling from valley area.
Eurasian Jay	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout
Magpie	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout
Carrion Crow	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout
Common Starling	Lamins Lane, Beswood			1	Present throughout
House Sparrow	Killarney Park, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout
Tree Sparrow	Keepers Cottage, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout
	Lamins Lane, Bestwood				In hedgerow.
Common Chaffinch	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			4	Calling from beginning of month.Especially in 'Waxwings' area.
	Lamins Lane, Beswood				In hedgerow.
Greenfinch	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood			2	Pair recorded from middle of month.
Goldfinch	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout
Linnet	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood	20/04/12		2	Flying overhead
Common Bullfinch	Cordwood, Lamins Lane, Bestwood				Present throughout

new home for the hens...

Our Light Sussex bantam hens have had a traumatic time recently when the local fox killed our cockerel and two of the hens.

So, our temporary hen coop needs replacing and who better to do this than ........Roger?!

The coop will be raised up on legs so that vermin can't hide beneath. It'll also make the coop a little warmer in winter, being away from the cold ground.

Inside there will be perches and removable trays so that we can clean them out with minimum disturbance. The roof will be corrugated sheeting and there will also be corrugated sheeting covering part of the run.

Here he is on Sunday, putting the finishing touches to the frame - all made from recycled materials. He's working on the nestboxes where the hens will snuggle down into straw and lay. Dad's dubbed the nestboxes 'The Eggery'. That'll be its name forever.

The hens will be able to run in the orchard when we can watch them but will have a spacious 3m X 3m run for every day.

Here's a photo of Emmy having a lovely sandbath in the polytunnel.

turning sand into fertile soil (3)

Our sandy soil is being impoved by the incorporation of well-rotted manure, leafmould and calcified seaweed.

We hope that this work improves the soil's ability to retain water, improves fertility and stimulates invertebrate and mycorhizal fungi.

'No-dig' methods should ensure that vital worm activity is encouraged and that this will allow the worms to bring extra fertility to the soil through the fertile gel they secrete as they pass through their undisturbed underground tunnels.

Growing plants in the newly-improved soil will allow the roots to create a good soil structure and prevent the leaching away of nutrients.

The final job will be to cover the soil with a thick mulch that will surpess weeds, add fertility and condition the soil ... and reduce water loss through evaporation.

This mulch is likely to be of home-produced compost .. and now it is time to build a big compost pile because the baby robins that were living in the pile of dried bracken have fledged and gone.

So, like a true professional I assembled my compostable material: dry bracken; leafy weeds; manure; grass cuttings; cardboard and paper; wood chippings; and wood ash.

I filled one section of our compost bins and will give this several weeks before moving it across into the next section so that air can speed the composting process.

crushing concrete......

Day one of concrete and brick crushing began today as we entered week two of our building project.

A huge concrete crusher was delivered on a low loader and set to work immediately ... crushing concrete.

It could all have ended with tears when the low loader got stuck in our drive and needed a tow from the big digger. I apologised to the drivers in the short tailback of traffic that had built up.

Two diggers were needed to satisfy this concrete-crushing beast with one more day of crushing planned for tomorrow.

While all of this activity was happening, Steve was setting out the posts that mark the outer corners of where our new homes will be.

biochar experiment

The claims made for biochar are impressive.

Biochar is granulated charcoal. It was first discovered as a soil additive used by South American farmers before western invaders arrived. What has caught the imagination is that unlike other organic additives that break down in the soil, biochar remains - as does the increased fertility it brings.

On Nottinghamshire sandlands, the soil is only made productive by pouring on huge quantities of oil-derived fertilisers and pesticides in addition to the precious water that is abstracted to keep plants growing.

We are all too old and wise to believe in panaceas ... but wouldn't it be great if biochar could play a part in increasing soil productivity and therefore in giving us more food with reduced inputs?

So, this week I've embarked on the Big Biochar experiment.

I've planted two square metres of Sturon summer onions and added biochar to one metre. I've lightly forked the biochar into the soil as onions have shallow roots.

I've arranged for ome of my fellow plotholders to take part in the experiment too. We'll all be doing it 'our way' and feeding our results back to the central database.

I will record progress and report it on the blog.

the big build......

Day four of the building project.

Three quarters of concrete bases lifted and brick & concrete piled and inert material piled separately.

Heavy rain on Wednesday slowed progress - and the forecast suggests we're in for another soggy one tomorrow.

turning sand into fertile soil (2)

It has poured this month, ending the excessively dry spell we've endured since February 2011.

....... which is ideal for establishing plants and our new raised beds, although the cold temperatures have inhibited new growth and the germination of some seeds.

We've removed the network of roots, incorporated manure and leafmould and planted our growing collection of little plants. All of this will help the new soil to establish.


A healthy soil needs a balance of nutrients and a community of invertebrates. We now understand that mycorhizal fungi too are necessary in the soil to enable plant roots to function properly. So, to further stimulate this fungi I have dusted the beds with calcified seaweed (left). Calcified seaweed is considered to be a 'soil conditioner' and is reputed to stimulate mycorhizal activity.

The final step will be to add a thick mulch of organic matter ... but that must wait until the baby robins have fledged. This torrential rain may cause many early nests to fail.

Perhaps, one day, the soil at Cordwood will be as hearty as it is at our allotment (pictured right), about a mile down the hill.

up, up and away...........!

Today was the day!!

Having dreamed of this moment since the Cordwood adventure began in 2008, we finally welcomed the builders and their big machinery onto site.

And like a small boy, I watched in amazement as the 21 tonne digger ripped up tree stumps, shattered the concrete bases of former mushroom sheds and knocked over trees!

Ground clearance has begun and should be completed with two weeks. This should see all concrete & brick and tarmac lifted and crushed and the ground levelled.

There could be some topsoil arriving too.

This enabling work will prepare the ground for foundations and septic tank .....

Never before has the installation of a septic tank been so eagerly awaited!

rhs harlow carr

The Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Harlow Carr, Harrogate are as close to a place of worship for gardeners that the north of England has.

This was our third haj. And every pilgrimage brings forward different highlights - this time those of the spring.

Massed plantings of scented narcissus set within lawns..... as large a group of pretty erythroniums as I've seen.... glorious snakeshead fritillaries hidden away in the woods ...imaginative weavings of cornus and willow.....

But, for me, the star of the show was nothing quite as pretty or eye-catching.

As an organic gardener, I know that the God of good gardening is the soil from which all blessings flow and the years of composting and mulching were in evidence in every corner. Gorgeous, friable, improved soil!!

Soil improvement is essential if we are to produce vigorous, healthy communities of plants. The impact of the work of generations of gardeners at Harlow Carr was evident around our feet.

As soon as those pesky Robins have fledged their young I can get at my composting altar!!!

seedling grasses

Use of beautiful ornamental grasses is a key ingredient in 'prairie gardening'.

But these grasses are slow to grow and even though we have bought a number of stock plants for division, we are miles and miles away from having half of what we'll need to fill the spaces in the new garden. And, as you have probably heard me tell before, no budget for landscaping.

So, in my usual quaint fashion, I saved five pence pieces in an empty Sol beer bottle until it was almost full, cashed them in at the Post Office and we had enough to order grass seeds!

And like incantations from Harry Potter we have ordered:

Andropogon gerardii    £ 2.68
Deschampsia caespitosa    £ 1.87
Melica altissima var. atropurpurea    £ 2.58
Milium effusum aureum    £ 2.25
Molinia caerulea ssp. arundinacea    £ 2.58
Panicum virgatum    £ 2.18
Luzula sylvatica    £ 2.25
Sub Total:    7 Items    £ 16.39

Postage   £ 1.99   
Total    £ 18.38

And now, plastic modules enrobed in polythene bags adorn our little windowsills. And we have seedlings growing. Too soon to shout about it, because we've found grasses 'damp off' (wilt and die) easily.

But the starting gun has sounded and we are a step closer to our prairie gardening landscaping dream. Visitors to the RHS gardens at Wisley are greeted by the lovely grasses above. One day, at Cordwood too, perhaps?