Man Needs Shed

At last our allotment is coming to life. Fruit trees are in bloom and shoots are peeping through the ground. We have even found an abundance of wild garlic on the site. Apart from its potential use in salads, garnishes and cooking, the children love to nibble on the leaves.

My energies have been mainly spent on erecting a shed/shelter (one end is completely open) out of recycled pallets; well, I say shed but actually it’s more like a personal tribute to Heath Robinson, there’s not a straight line, level or square angle on it anywhere.

Pallet wood is not nice stuff to work with; it’s very hard and brittle, loves giving you splinters and is filled with nails that cannot be removed. Having said this, it was all free; so I spent a quite a few lunch hours at work dismantling these nasty spiky items, loading up the car and piling the planks up on site.

Then I set about creating a carefully designed plan, with the help of a fully qualified architect, created a level base out of high grade concrete and fully treated all the timber before measuring twice and cutting everything to exact lengths (this part is all a big, fat lie).

To be truthful, I basically hammered several  posts into steeply-sloping, uneven ground and then stumbled around trying to nail various planks of uneven sizes onto them; very much doing everything by eye and making plans up as I went along. I’m definitely not a qualified builder but I’m quite good at improvisation and the family and I will be pleased enough with the end result, especially if we get caught in a sudden shower.

Orchard Blossom Walk (Short Notice!)

We are organising an impromptu Blossom Walk in the Mansbridge Community Orchard this Saturday, May 18^th. Apologies for the short notice but the late Spring and erratic weather has not helped. Also, as the next two suitable weekends fall in half-term, many will not be able to make these dates.

Everyone is welcome (including children) but we will be walking over rough and potentially muddy ground and possibly through some woods.  We will meet on the old (A27) stone bridge over the River Itchen, between the White Swan Pub (where parking is available) and the Pitch and Putt course at 2:00 pm (whatever the weather).

Wear sensible clothing and footwear, and please remember that this is an informal event and everyone is responsible for their own (and their children’s safety).

If the weather is good, we will have a lovely walk through the fruit trees, which are far easier to spot when they are in blossom. Feel free to bring a picnic blanket, cucumber sandwiches and lashings of lemonade.

During the walk we will collect contact details of anyone willing and interested in volunteering any time or skills to help the orchard as we continue progressing with this lovely project.

Mansbridge Community Orchard Update

Thanks to backing from Southampton Airport Community Fund, we have been able to buy new tools and equipment for use in the Mansbridge Community Orchard. We may also need to get some professional training.

We have purchased pruning equipment; loppers, saws etc as well as picking tools. Renovating a neglected orchard, with many mature trees, will be a lengthy and on-going commitment. It will take several years to get the main trees into a decent state and longer still to sort out the less accessible areas.

In the Autumn, the real fun begins. We will begin to reap the rewards of the project; we will need to buy more fruit picking and collecting gear to help us gather the apples. We also aim to purchase processing kit, like a nice big fruit crusher and a lager cider press.

The Orchard is beginning to flower now and we must organise another Blossom Walk (provided these gales don't blow it all away). Last year we had perfect weather for the walk and had a great turn out. It is the ideal way to get to know the orchard and to familiarise the locations of all the various trees. It is much easier to recognise the fruit trees, when they are covered in bloom. It will also be a good opportunity to recruit more volunteers who want to help manage and get involved with all the other activities in the orchard.

Cherry Blossom

At long last (about a month later than last year) the cherry blossom has finally bloomed; bursting along the tendril like branches.

The more picturesque and complex blossoms are designed to be ornamental; they look fabulous but will not normally produce fruit.

The more plain white flowers still look wonderful, especially as we have been so long under the chilly spell of spring. Knowing that they may later produce fruit, makes the prospect even sweeter.

I even spotted a cherry tree reaching out over the Itchen River, so we might have some water bound fun here later on.

It’s certainly looks a good spot for a Swallows and Amazons style Picknik shipmates!

Now is the time to spot where the cherry trees are in your neighbourhood, the florid trees are easy to spot and they are everywhere in the city.

No Prizes for guessing this location!

The ancient and eldrich Elder trees are getting ready to flower too, and the beautiful Bluebells are finally showing in woodland glades. Park Wood should look glorious for the festival but this Saturday, we are going to Butser Ancient Farm, for a brilliant Beltain.

Elder Ahoy!



Park Wood Festival Walk

Park Wood gets the Thumbs Up!

On Saturday May 11^th we are going to help out at the Park Wood festival (10:00 am – 4:00 pm).  Park Wood is a small, award winning woodland, owned by the Woodland Trust and proudly maintained by volunteers. It is a lovely spot, situated to the west of the A3 road north of Waterlooville. We will be taking people on a foraging walk through the wood, where we will look to spot any fruit or nut trees. Our little walk will begin at 11:00.





Given the time of year, the most likely thing we will be able to collect would be Elderflowers, which can be used to make delicious Cordial or Champagne. We can identify other trees or bushes that are not in season by their leaves, flowers or bark.

We will be accompanied by Eleanor Woodcock and her family. Eleanor is the budding young naturalist who pens the Birding in the Garden blog. So, any lack of seasonable fruit nut trees will be filled in with Eleanor’s bird and wildlife identification and observation skills.

Raspberries, I Believe

It looks to be a very exciting day with oodles of interesting, fun and family-friendly activities.

We went on a quick reccy to familiarise ourselves with the pathways and see what fruit trees we could find.  As far as foraging goes, in Park Wood we found Cherries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Hazel and Elder. According to Eleanor you can eat the red flesh of Yew berries, but bearing in mind that the seeds and leaves are horribly poisonous, these ancient trees are probably best employed as nature’s climbing frames. I think the Bluebells should be out too.

Kids Just Love Trees

My children enjoyed themselves so much that on our return, they were working out possible ways of living permanently in the woods, if perhaps, a massive volcano destroyed all civilisation as we know it...

For more information on Park Wood and the festival contact:

Jackie Buckley

Friends of Park Wood

023 9226 6418

Cherry Blossom and Bluebells

At long last the frozen blast that was the Beast from the East, has abated. The sunshine and showers that we expect in April seem to have returned. Maybe we can finally get around to planting something in the garden and on our allotment.

The air feels distinctly warmer. Yesterday, I even ventured out without a coat; today I saw thee people sporting shorts and several wearing comedy sunglasses!

I have seen cherry buds bursting forth in places and I know that in a very short while, white tentacles of blossom will be reaching for the sky everywhere.

Bluebells are up to a month late in some places this year, due to the snow filled Spring. However, in time, those enchanted woodland havens will gradually cover over with cobalt carpets.

No doubt, the old debate of Spanish Vs English flora will rear its head and traditionalists will bemoan the invading alien Armada. I always think though, that the most important thing is to notice when and where the Bluebells arrive; to marvel at the stunning colours and to simply appreciate the seasonal changes that occur in your locale.

Windy Walks in Wonderful Wales

Someone once said, There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. With this in mind we set off to Pembrokeshire in Wales, for a short Easter break, safe in the knowledge that this was already the coldest March for 60 years and that we would be spending a fair bit of our time outdoors.

As it turned out, we saw what seemed to be the first pale sunshine of the year but the wind was still bitingly cold, with temperatures rarely getting above four degrees and feeling considerably less than zero with the wind factored in.

The landscape was beautiful, the coastline spectacular and all the people we met were very friendly. My favourite spot was Bosherston lakes, where we went for a lovely long walk and tried our hand at otter spotting. At one point we all suddenly stopped dead in our tracks, after hearing a loud squeaking sound coming from the bank... We all heard it once, then after standing quietly for a moment we heard it again… We crept silently, closer to the edge of the lake, our eyes peeled, cameras at the ready… Then we realised that it was a pair of Hawthorn tree branches rubbing together, whenever the wind gusted up!

We all enjoyed the walk, despite the lack of otter photos and when we finally reached the beach, the view was spectacular. A river gently wound its way down to the sea, through wind swept, sea grass filled, sand dunes. As we crested the parapet of the dunes, the inappropriateness of our clothing became apparent; we should have brought full face ski masks... The freezing blast of Arctic wind, bearing stinging sand was simply too much, and we soon turned back to the shelter of the tree lined valleys and beautiful blue lakes.

Fortunately Pembroke is riddled with ruined castles, which gave the kids plenty of room to run around and just enough shelter to give the adults some respite from the bitter weather and a chance to enjoy the sunshine.

The magnificent Castle Carew was my favourite, with its associated tidal mill. I asked our son what he thought they would have used the mill for. He reasoned that the massive, four metre, cast iron and wood paddle wheels, turned by tonnes of cascading water were probably used to power a rotisserie – turning chickens on spikes…

Our son also loves to scramble about and he will climb anything that his small hands can get a grip on. He was spoiled for choice with the wealth of costal cliffs and caves. It’s easy to get concerned about this kind of behaviour but he knows, that I never mind when he needs to shout, Daddy, can you help? I think I’m a bit stuck!

It turns out that our daughter is quite fussy about her castles; she thought that Carew was not ruined enough, for her liking, and neither did she like the new windows that had been fitted in some places. She preferred the nearby Bishop’s Palace in Lamphey (properly crumbling, with barely a roof in sight); this reminded her of our favourite local romantic ruin, Netley Abbey. 



We saw acres of Wild Garlic while walking and both children love to nibble on a pungent leaf  - saying, it doesent fill you up but it makes you less hungry. I occasionally wonder if we are feeding them enough...