Come and help put the polytunnel up! – It’s your farm!

We walked into the orchard and pessimistically surveyed the endless piles of dead brambles.  The plan for today was to move all the piles to the end where it could all rot and leave us space to get on with planting.  But the task before us seemed daunting, Olympian, even.  Various methods were used to tackle the enormous heaps of lethally barbed brambles: some went for the rural pitchfork approach, bearing a bundle of brambles aloft, some piled them onto dumpy bags and dragged them, others cut up the brambles and put them into the dumpy bags, while the most ambitious heaped the brambles onto a large tarpaulin, enlisted the help of three others and carried it down to the pile at the end.   The level of teamwork was impressive and by the end of the day, we had cleared all but the couple of piles at the gate end of the orchard.  The difference was amazing.  The sense of community was further enhanced by the lunch we all had together, centred around the table and chairs kindly brought for us by Marion.  And we liked the fact that although he was not fit, Rod came anyway and gave us lots of moral support from the comfort of his chair.  Just because you can’t work like a slave doesn’t mean you can’t be part of our community! The highlight of the lunch break was Malcolm’s joke – ‘What did the chicken say when it saw the duck about to cross the road? “Oh, I wouldn’t do that, mate.  I did once, and have never heard the end of it.”!’  Altogether (despite the joke), it was a very satisfactory day.  We had more people than ever who came to help, the weather was fabulous, and we ended up with a lovely clear area ready for planting and a beautiful wildlife habitat (not a giant heap of rubbish) at the end of our orchard.  We now wonder what there is left to do (apart, obviously, from planting trees…).  Jenny heartened us by recounting what fellow community orchard people had said during the visit to Tatnum Patch in Poole.  They started their area nine years ago, but say that they are still battling against a relentless tide of brambles.  So, still plenty to do for at least the next nine years, everyone… 

Digging up trees – 3rd April

During the workday, we heard that there was an opportunity to get hold of some apple trees for the orchard.  Dan, an old transition friend, has recently moved from his smallholding in Sydling St. Nicholas at extremely short notice.  He had 140 five year old organically certified trees and needed to sell them quickly. He was offering them at a really good price….£5 a tree, but they needed to be dug up and transferred to their new homes as quickly as possible because this is not really the time of year to move trees.  The site was due to be ploughed in a week’s time, so there was some urgency to get the trees out. 

Initially we didn’t think that we could plant into the orchard because we had not worked out any kind of water collection device, and young trees need lots of water, so we began to plant them down at the farm.  However, we made such good progress clearing the orchard yesterday, and the big yawning space we created seemed to cry out for trees.  We visited a neighbour of the site who very kindly agreed to let us use their outside tap to fill the water butts we had on site.  So the decision was made by those at the workday to go up to Sydling and get some trees for the orchard.   Nine of us went up and spent an afternoon digging out trees, red and black currant bushes and rhubarb, and brought them back in our cars.  We immediately planted them onto the orchard.  There are nine different varieties, all local or traditional species.  And now suddenly, from being a scrappy bit of land covered in piles of rubbish as it was yesterday morning, our orchard looks like an orchard!

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In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.
The woman apologized to her and  explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my  day.”

That’s right, they didn’t have the green thing in her day.  Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer  bottles to the store.The store sent them back to the plant to be  washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over.  So they really were recycled……  But they didn’t have the green thing back her day.

In her day, they  walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They  walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300- horsepower machine every time they  had to go two blocks.  But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing  in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s nappies because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line,  not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 240 volts – wind and solar power really did  dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room.  And the TV had a small screen  the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of  Scotland. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you.
When they packaged a fragile item to send in the  mail, they used scunched up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or  plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn’t fire up an  engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. They used a  push mower that ran on human power.   They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills  that operate on electricity. But she’s right, they  didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank  from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They  refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and  they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing  away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
Back then,  people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi  service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an  entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances..
And they didn’t  need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites  2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza  joint.

But that old lady is right………..
They didn’t need the green  thing back in her  day.

It’s your farm!

Come and help put the greenhouse up, plant an apple tree or a fruit bush or help finish the raised beds. The big push is on to get everything sorted for Spring Planting!

Saturday April 9th from 10 am on…. We will have a shared lunch so we can have lunch there and continue the work so bring something along!

Follow us on twitter: @UnderLancheFarm

The next meeting for the Railway Orchard is Wednesday April 6th in the Bakers’ Arms at 7pm.

Newcomers welcome!

Follow us on twitter: @RailwayOrchard