Author: Steve Elderkin
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All together now
All five Abounded founders got together this weekend. Ben and Nikola are just back from a decade living in Africa and this was the first chance they have had to visit the field. It was satisfying to walk round with them and talk through the work that we have done over the winter. Seeing it…
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Making Hay while the sun shines
With thunderstorms forecast for tonight, a local farmer has raced against time to get the hay cut and bailed this week. Visiting the field this morning, all was tidy, and the bails were gone. The 10cm of rain that is expected can now fall. It is very welcome for the saplings that we planted this…
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They’re alive
With the clocks going forward, I had enough time to get down to the field after work this week and see if any of the planting that we had done in February showed signs of life. All the saplings I surveyed, whether peering into the protective tubes for the hedge plants or just looking at…
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And the trees are in!
With the help of some friends we have managed to get all the (nearly 3000) trees planted this week. We have planted up 425m of new hedgerow, and scattered some trees where the new woodland will be along the bank of the stream. Something to celebrate this Sunday evening before getting too down about going…
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Hedge Fun(d)
We have just finished day two of planting the new hedge. Now Dan and I are sitting back tired but happy with a beer in hand. More than a third, but less than a half of the new hedgerow is now planted. By the end of the week the hope is that we will have…
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Updated baseline and planting preparations
We have now received an updated baseline report. We decided to update the scheme design following a wet walkabout before Christmas (“Wet Winter Walkabout”). There are two additional ponds located in depressions where the field is naturally wettest. The biggest of the ponds extends to about 40 metres by 15 metres. I think Val has…
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Nuts for Christmas
Today we reached a milestone. After months of searching for the land, surveying the land and designing the biodiversity scheme, we finally planted something. Three things. Three standard English walnut trees. I have long wanted to plant some walnut trees. Admittedly a fairly obscure desire, but there are worse vices. They are beautiful trees, provide…
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Wet Winter Walkabout
We thought we had completed the Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan (HMMP) this week, but following a tour of the field this afternoon we need to make a few further tweaks. The HMMP sets out the management regime that will realistically achieve the targeted habitat improvement. This is not just for our use, it is…
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Meadow, hedgerow, ponds and woodland.
Is this the right piece of land to dedicate to nature recovery? The Environment Act stipulates that only low grade agricultural land can be used for biodiversity schemes, to ensure that nationally we keep our most fertile and productive land for farming. We pass that test – our field is low grade and the survey…
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Baselining
As someone working in environmental sustainability, it can be challenging to remain positive. The climate crisis, nature crisis, pollution crisis, worst ever, hottest ever, greatest ever… it is easy to slip into a doomster state of mind. A year ago, four friends and I decided to do something to contribute, something to reverse the decline…
Abounded 