The truly remarkable and scary thing about brambles is they grow upto 3cm a day so by May the brambles I had cut in March had grown back in the field so I have been working out how to reclaim it for the grasses and wild flowers. I did some experiments. First I spent two days digging up a 3mx5m patch and attempted to extract all the roots. It was very hard work and I knew I couldn't repliecate it for the whole area infested by brambles. Next I did some burning which seemed to be effective for areas where I had a fire for several hours but not for areas of superficial burning. Then I tried a trio of herbicides and eventually found that vitax SBK worked best. So I painstakingly criss-crossed the field many times with my 1 litre spray bottle administering every plant I could find. After 3 weeks I can see that I have had some success and I am perhaps half way to acjieving my goal. I made a short film to explain my project.
This year I declared war on the brambles (and nettles) in the field. It's not their fault. We love letting nature take its course without interfering too much and for 15 years I have let them grow unchecked and they have taken advantage of my generosity becoming the dominant plant in at least half of the field. So this year, prompted by my good fortune in February of the railway contractors who cleared the 5 metres of scrub and brambles along the northern fence, I decided to make a concerted effort. First in February and March I cut the grass and brambles short and chopped down all the saplings. Then in April I cleared the southern boundary along the fence as I repaired it. The truly remarkable and scary thing about brambles is they grow upto 3cm a day so by May the brambles I had cut in March had grown back in the field so I have been working out how to reclaim it for the grasses and wild flowers. I did some experiments. First I spent two days digging up a 3mx5m patch and attempted to extract all the roots. It was very hard work and I knew I couldn't repliecate it for the whole area infested by brambles. Next I did some burning which seemed to be effective for areas where I had a fire for several hours but not for areas of superficial burning. Then I tried a trio of herbicides and eventually found that vitax SBK worked best. So I painstakingly criss-crossed the field many times with my 1 litre spray bottle administering every plant I could find. After 3 weeks I can see that I have had some success and I am perhaps half way to acjieving my goal. I made a short film to explain my project.
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May fifth is always a difficult day for me – it’s the anniversary of the death of my first wife. I miss her presence as I have done for the last twenty one years but this special day is always sad, in spite of the love and support of my wife and family. The day was bright and sunny, as it usually is on this anniversary, but as I looked out of the kitchen window I saw something unusual. The Canada geese were sitting in a tight group as they usually do but several metres away was one small gosling. Canada geese are the most diligent parents and the chicks are well disciplined so this was extremely unusual. So I went out to investigate. Neither the chick or his family moved, which was also unusual, and I got to within a dew metres of the chick. It was clear that this was the smallest of the chicks and it looked ill and in a state of shock breathing fast. Later in the day the chick managed to find its way back to the group but it was always a little way removed. The last time I saw him he was walking with his siblings to the shade of the willow tree. This morning he was not with the group and so he must have died in the night. I hope his last day was not too much of a struggle and he wasn't in pain and that he enjoyed playing with the daisy's. I had to make this movie as a tribute to him and his short life. I am sad for him and sad for the fact that his family won’t miss him. Missing someone is sad but having no one to miss you is even sadder. |
PATHWAYS DIARY
In March 2023 I began an experiential inquiry called Pathways to a Sustainable Future and many of my posts between March-September were written for this project. Diary Starts Here Garden Notes
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