November 6th Volunteer Workday

Our next volunteer workday will be Saturday 6th November, from 10am – about 4pm

We will be working on the Roundhouse again this time.

Watercolour and Ink map of the farm
Above: Watercolour and Ink map of the farm

We will be mixing batches of cob to:

  • infill the tops of walls,
  • finish cob and cordwood on sides of posts
  • sculpt around the windows to hide frames and generally beautify

Other tasks include:

  • Fitting stove chimney
  • “Skirting” around the floor
  • Making a template for the hole in the middle of the the floor, ready for infilling
  • Making hessian and straw “draught excluders” for top of walls.

It also a great opportunity to meet, socialise, share experiences and enjoy a delicious bring and share lunch!

Places are limited and must be booked in advance. The day is free to attend.

Please bring a contribution for a bring and share lunch, work gloves, work boots and/or wellies and any clothing that the weather might need!

Croeso Cynnes i Bawb!

Posted in Volunteer Workdays | Leave a comment

October 9th Volunteer Workday

Our next volunteer workday will be Saturday 9th October, from 10am – about 4pm
We will be working on getting the Trust’s infrastructure ready for winter.

Remember our fancy new accessible composting toilet? It’s getting good reviews from visitors and now we need to ensure that the access to it doesn’t flood if (when??) we get a lot of rain this winter.

In brief, jobs will include:

  • planning
  • clearing vegetation
  • extending the ditch by the hedge
  • meeting and talking to other Trust members and volunteers
  • enjoying a delicious bring and share lunch!

There may also be some tasks to do on the roundhouse, depending on numbers.

Places are limited and must be booked in advance. The day is free to attend.

Please bring a contribution for a bring and share lunch, work gloves, work boots and/or wellies, loppers / secateurs / spades / digging tools if you have any and any clothing that the weather might need!

Croeso Cynnes i Bawb!

Posted in Volunteer Workdays | Leave a comment

September 12th Roundhouse Volunteer Day!

Our next volunteer workday will be Sunday 12th September, from 10am – about 4pm

We will be working on the Trust’s beautiful Roundhouse. There will be various task to do with the aim of moving the structure closer towards “finished”.

Have a look at the Roundhouse “to-do” list at the end of this email for a fuller idea of what we’ll be doing. In brief volunteers can:

  • Learn to mix and use cob
  • Make bottle bricks
  • Do some walling with cord wood and bottle bricks
  • Meet and talk to other Trust members and volunteers
  • Enjoy a delicious bring and share lunch!make your contribution to the Roundhouse. So many hands have helped with this project!

Places are limited and must be booked in advance. The day is free to attend.

Please bring a contribution for a bring and share lunch, work gloves (and/or rubber gloves for cob),work boots and/or wellies and any clothing that the weather might need!

Croeso Cynnes i Bawb!


The Roundhouse List
Here are some of the things we need to do on this and future workdays.

  • Cob mixing
  • Bottle brick making
  • Using cob to put in half logs up the outside of the Roundhouse uprights.
  • Taking the funky stove to pieces, wire brushing, blacking and reassembling.
  • Fitting stove chimney and stove, infilling the top half of the wall behind the stove with cob / bottle bricks / cordwood.
  • Fitting last window.
  • Finishing around the tall window – cob and bottle bricks.
  • Infilling tops of walls where cob has shrunk away from top beam
  • Fitting of the final wood slabs under the wardrobe, cob around it and fix into place.
  • “Skirting” around the floor (planning how to do it, maybe getting started)
  • Developing a plan for the hole in the middle of the floor
  • Grading the entrance
  • Developing a plan for front three panels – temporary closures so the roundhouse can be used open or closed?
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

August 2021 Volunteer Workday

Our July workday was just to hot to work, so it has been rescheduled to Sunday 8th August, from 10am – about 4pm.

We will have various tasks including….

  • Putting up the beautiful signs made on the Sign Writing Workshop
  • Make little benches for around the campfire using larch and telegraph pole
  • Weeding the perennial beds around barn
  • Sorting and mending various donated chairs

If you want to come along and help, please get in touch 🙂

The day is free to attend. Places are limited and must be booked in advance. Please contact Michelle (michelle_laine@yahoo.co.uk / 07813 464990)

Please bring a contribution for a bring and share lunch and suitable work clothes and gloves.

Posted in Volunteer Workdays | Leave a comment

Compost Toilet Building Workshop 2021

After a years pause, we are back and ready for action. Come and help us build a Wheelchair Accessible Compost Toilet!

During the course you will:

  • Help create a small timber framed building and compost toilet infrastructure, using sustainable and reclaimed materials.
  • Learn about the benefits of composting toilets, the various kinds of compost toilet systems that can be built and how they work.
  • Learn how to design and build a simple timber framed building. The principles of this build will be transferable to the creation of many small structures such as cabins, dens, studios or sheds.
  • Gain confidence in a range of wood working skills and in the use of common wood working tools

This workshop is led by Matthew Douglas, experienced wood worker, artist and compost loo builder. We are keeping the number of participants small to ensure that everyone receives maximum benefit.

23rd-26th July 2021
9am – 5pm

Course fee – £200
This includes:
Four days of tuition and fun
– Daily delicious two course lunch from the kitchen of the talented Veganishmum
– Tea breaks
-Free Onsite Camping if required

For more information and to book contact

Matt Douglas or book online (right)

galleri.matthew@gmail.com
Tel 07904 918811

Posted in Courses, Permaculture | Leave a comment

Roundhouse Volunteer Day

Saturday 12th June, 10am – 5pm (ish)

Join us for a volunteer day, working on our beautiful Roundhouse. Previous days have been great fun 🙂

Led by experienced Roundhouse builder Richard Sylvan.

Tasks for the day include:

  • Cob / cordwood – mixing cob and filling in any gaps remaining in the walls with Cob, Cordwood and “Bottle Bricks”
  • Woodwork – Fitting the reclaimed wooden floor
  • Woodburner – Fitting the funky woodburner
  • Gardening – If we have time, general tidying up of the perennial / edible plantings surrounding the Roundhouse and Barn.

The day is free to attend, and you are welcome to book for one or both days.

Due to Covid restrictions, places on the weekend are limited and must be booked in advance.

Please bring a contribution for a bring and share lunch. Camping is available on site if required.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Solstice Moth Weekend 18th-19th June

Our annual celebration of all things Moth returns!

NOTE DATE HAS CHANGED DUE TO POOR WEATHER FORECAST FOR SATURDAY NIGHT. Sorry for the short notice, hope you can still come🤞

After a year off due to you-know-what, we’ll be setting up the moth trap on the night of 18th June and seeing what wonders we have found on the morning of 19th June.

All lovingly surrounded by friends, campfires, lovely food, chat, games, wildflower labyrinths and all that lovely stuff we missed last year.

Due to Covid, there will be some changes from previous years.

  • We will be limiting numbers to 30 and you MUST pre-book if you want to come.
  • We will not be sharing food. You can either bring your own food or order a delicious takeaway for collection from @veganishmum

The event will be held outdoors around the Trust barn and Roundhouse. (If the forecast is very poor we will postpone.) If you want to stay overnight, camping is available on site at no extra cost.

Cost
£10 (1 adult or 1 adult with 1 child)
£20 (2 adults or family of 1 or 2 adults plus children)
PLEASE BOOK IN ADVANCE

Outline Timetable

Friday 18th June

  • 5pm – Arrivals, campers set up
  • 6.30pm – Eat your own food
  • Evening – Campfires, games or craft, walk the wildflower labyrinth
  • At Dark – Set up the moth trap, probably in Mari Jones
  • Bed!

Saturday 19th June

  • 9am – Look in the moth trap! Identify, record and release the moths with the help of Sally Hall
  • Departures by lunchtime.

To book please contact Michelle – michelle_laine@yahoo.co.uk / 07813 464990

Posted in All Year Round, Events | Leave a comment

Sustainable Beekeeping Training

Sustainable Beekeeping Training

May 21st, 22nd, 23rd 10 am to 5pm

We are really excited to be hosting a 3 day Sustainable Beekeeping training run by experienced natural beekeeper, Sean Hearn

During the course we will look at beekeeping practice from a holistic perspective and seek to explore what a practice would look like if bee health and bee-centred design were at its core, rather than honey production

The course starts by seeking to understand the honeybee as deeply as possible. This includes basic biology, swarming behaviour and honeybees in the wild. We view this knowledge as an essential starting point on the journey to more sustainable ways of working with bees.

We will also seek to place honeybees in the context of the wider ecology and spend time understanding other types of bee including bumblebees and solitary bees

Then grounded in our understanding of bees we will then look into the craft of sustainably working with bees. This will include sustainable hive design, Warre management throughout the season, swarming, honeybee health and the sustainable harvest of honey, wax and propolis.

We will also spend time observing the beehives at Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust during the course.

This course is for anyone from beginners to experienced beekeepers who are interested in learning about more sustainable methods of beekeeping. There are 12 places available.

We are asking for £225 for the 3 day course and £180 concession rate and we are more than happy to talk about payment plans to make accessing this course as fair as possible.

To book a place on the course and with any questions please contact naomi.glass@gmail.com.

We will be providing teas and coffees but ask that you bring along your own food for the day and a bee suit if you have one!

Beautiful accommodation is available at nearby Larkhill Tipis and Yurts for the course if required. Please contact larkhillcamping@gmail.com.

Camping may be possible at the Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust whilst you are on the course. Please contact Michelle on 07813464990 or michelle_laine@yahoo.co.uk for more info.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sign Writing Workshop

Saturday 15th May and Saturday 29th May

Over two Saturday workshops, Fay Burnett will be creating some beautiful new signage for the Trust whilst teaching participants the art of Sign Writing.

Participants will:

  • Learn about and practice the art of signwriting
  • Make a valuable contribution to the fabric of Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust
  • Enjoy a two course lunch provided by the fabulous (and very local) Veganishmum
  • Enjoy the company of 4-5 other budding signwriters!

An outline of the course is below. At £20 for both days, including lunch, the workshop is great value!

Places are limited, please get in touch to book

To give you an idea of what might be achieved, I have added some photos of the work Fay has done for our neighbouring project, Eva’s Garden, at the end of this post.

Course Outline
The courses runs over two days, 9am-5pm each day.
Participants will be invited back to a future volunteer workday to help install the signs, if they wish.

Day 1 (Saturday 15th May)
Introduction to sign writing, preparing the wood, design your sign and get stencils ready

Day 2 (Saturday 29th May)
The basic signs prepared on day one will now be dry, ready to paint on the final designs.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Roundhouse Volunteer Weekend

Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th May 

Our beautiful Roundhouse started takeing shape in 2019. Progress was slowed, but not halted, by the events of 2020

Led be experienced Roundhouse builder Richard Sylvan, we’re ready for the next push!

Tasks for the weekend include:

  • Cob / cordwood – mixing cob and filling in wall panels with Cob, Cordwood and “Bottle Bricks” (see image above for how the walls look so far).
  • Woodwork – Fitting wooden framing for windows and cupboards, made with locally sourced larch. Installing windows and cupboards

The weekend is free to attend, and you are welcome to book for one or both days.

Due to Covid restrictions, places on the weekend are limited and must be booked in advance.

Please bring a contribution for a bring and share lunch. Camping is available on site if required.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment