Bluebell Wood

I've never properly appreciated bluebells until now. I've wandered Trelay's couple of acres of woodland since October and loved the peace and timelessness of the trees and bracken and valleys, but it's often felt dark and dank and dying. Now, suddenly, the wood's floor has delighted into life. There are pansies, cowslips and three-cornered leeks, and I love the weird and wonderful coiled ferns; but these lovely ladies are surely the daddies, or something along those silly sexy lines.

 

Click on one to big it up and scroll through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truly, Spring is Sprung

We'll no doubt have more gales, hail, plagues of frogs and locusts and all sorts of mayhem - and when we do, it's not my fault for declaring it's well and truly Spring. We've certainly had lots of that sort of stuff since the last Spring post in Feb. The sun is shining, the weather is hot, your mama's good lookin, the cotton is high (ok, not that one, but it's not summertime quite yet). But we do have all sorts of amazing growth.

Daffs have been replaced by the most amazing bluebells in the wood (which I thought deserved their own page). Apple trees have turned pink, bigger trees have turned green, and to my great relief and satisfaction, the blackthorn and sycamore hedges that we laid over winter have also sprouted leaves, which seems really miraculous given the ferociously hacked, crazy thin slivers that keep their newly horizontal branches connected to the soil.

The first new greens in the veg patch are pushing through the cracked earth in neatish rows, and the leaves of our experimental permaculturalish 'no-dig' spuds are thankfully breaking out of last year's sodden hay, and top-up chicken poo hay from over the fence.

The polytunnel has evolved from a grey wintry haven of relative warmth to a colourful heaven of fertile heat, our composted waste outside the tunnel obviously a big source of that fecundity. So nice to be able to pick spinach, beans, mint, herbs, marigolds and all sorts of spicy salad leaves already; and just to gently hang out there with the weeds, cricket, and purring cat.

Talking of odd felines, they seem to have made friends with Trelay's new Dexter cow and calf. And everyone's made friends with the other Spring additions of three rescue ponies in the top field - whether or not they'll be of any use helping haul timber out of the woods remains to be seen, but they're certainly good therapy value. And good to see the notsopigletish piglets out and about in the sun, or wallowing in their wallows.

There's also lots of evidence about the place of slightly less organic production - the incredible transformation of the carpark thanks to diggers and dumpers and lots of (other people's) hard work, new steps down to the house (ditto), newly exposed cobbled yards, etc.

Lots of photos of all this to follow, taken over the last couple of months - again, probably best to click on the first and then scroll through.

10 points if you name all the flowers, 20 if you find Wally.