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All Year Round – Spring Equinox / Easter
All Year Round met to celebrate Easter and the Spring Equinox, on Sunday 23rd March.
After weaving pretty paper baskets we were off on a co-operative hunt to find the scattered pieces of a map which would show us the way to the nest of the fabled Easter bird.
Whilst sharing a delicious cake we pieced the map together then studied it carefully to discover the nesting place. The trail was followed, bringing us to a hidden glade where the nest was discovered high in a tree. But how to reach the nest? We all sang a special Spring song and the nest magically lowered to revel a feast of chocolate eggs inside!
The next All Year Round celebration will be on Sunday 27th April. Join us for an early May Day celebration, including making instruments from scrap, making (and eating!) spring Flower Cakes and dancing around the May Pole.
Posted in All Year Round
Tagged All Year Round, easter, family celebration, spring equinox
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Making our own Laburnum fence posts
We are gradually working towards using hedges as the stock proof boundaries of the Trust’s fields, both through an ongoing programme of laying and restoring existing hedges and by planting new ones.
While this work is in progress we need to maintain the fences we currently have. Inevitably posts break and need replacing. We are finding that some modern tanalised soft wood posts are lasting less then 5 years, depending on the strain they are put under.
Led by a desire for the farm to be an increasingly self-sustaining system and to avoid using chemically treated posts and all the industrial processing and environmental impact that goes with them, we are experimenting with making our own Laburnum fence posts.
Lengths of Laburnum selected out for making fence posts, also showing a Silky Fox hand saw.
We coppiced several stools of Laburnum earlier in the winter, as is detailed in this post. Laburnum has a very hard heartwood and it lasts a long time in contact with the soil, making it very suitable for fence posts.
We put aside the thicker lengths for use as straining posts and selected out a dozen or so that could make decent fence posts. These were cut to length using the Trust’s new Silky Fox hand saw. These saws are rather expensive compared to a bow saw but are wonderful to use, with a comfortable hand grip and a good cutting action. The ends of the posts were then pointed with a bilhook.
Laburnum fence posts, cut to length and pointed
As can be seen in the picture above, there is quite a variation in the posts. It will be interesting to monitor how long the various thickness of post last in the soil and how they compare to tanalised soft wood posts.
The picture below shows one of the fence posts in place in the fence. All but the thickest or most awkwardly shaped posts were put in with a post knocker. They went in easily, with two of us working the post knocker together, and look interestingly organic in the fence compared to the more uniform tanalised posts. Two thick posts that were knocked in with a fencing maul split at the top. In future, it may be worth considering splitting thick post into two or more smaller posts if they are straight enough. They should then be less susceptible to splitting and could also be knocked in with the post knocker which is much less likely to split posts.
A Laburnum fence post in place in the fence
Using Laburnum to make fence posts is probably nothing new in this area. Sometimes, Laburnum will take root when large branches and trunks are pushed into the ground (limbar cuttings). In our area, it is said that Laburnum was imported by the Cawdor estate for use as fence posts, many of which took root, leading to the multitude of Laburnums now seen in local hedgerows. We have recent examples of this happening on the Trust land, including a tree in our garden which was originally a support for a washing line! Perhaps some of these fence post will become trees that will, in their turn, be coppiced to produce more fence posts.
Posted in Land Management, Permaculture
Tagged fence post, laburnum, make your own fence posts
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Shark’s Fin Melon Seeds 2014
Cucurbita Ficifolia “Shark’s Fin Melon” grown at Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust
Our Shark’s Fin Melon Cucurbita ficifolia seeds were very popular last year and we are pleased to be able to offer them again this year.
The seeds we have are from Sheffield (our original source of seed) as we did not have a good crop in our garden this year. Our seed donor grows Shark’s Fin Melons on an allotment in Sheffield. The plants seems to like the micro-climate offered by the city as she and her neighbours have had a bumper crop. A friend who lives down in the valley near us also had a good crop, so perhaps we are just a bit too high up at the Trust!
See this post for more information on growing and using Shark’s Fin Melons
Seed is avalible in exchange for a suggested donation of £2.50 to the Trust. Money raised through donations will be put towards extending the forest garden / agroforestry planting at the Trust, as well as covering post and packing costs. If you do not live locally to us we can post a packet to you (UK only)
Donations can be made through Pay Pal by pressing the button below, or you can contact us via our contact page to make a donation via bank transfer or cheque.
February Workday – Ram Pump Preperations
The February Workday was dedicated to carrying out some preparation work ahead of installation of a Ram Pump from a spring on the Trust land to pump water to the top of the farm. Ram pumps are ingenious devices that utilise the power of water flowing into the pump down a drive pipe to push some of that water up a delivery pipe. A more detailed explanation of how ram pumps work will come in another post.
We started off the day laying out 150m of 20mm blue pipe, which will form part of the delivery pipe, taking water from the ram pump up to the top of the land.
The next stage was to position an IBC tank to act as a reservoir for the ram pump. The Trust spring collects into a concrete and brick sediment trap box, from which we are planning to fill our reservoir tank. After a fair bit of digging, one group managed to find the bottom of the box and the exit point of an existing pipe, while the other cleared fallen branches and debris from the place where we wanted to put the IBC. We are positioning the IBC on the other side of the stream from the brick box so as to get the best line for running a pipe down to the ram pump. A pipe will be run to it from the brick box for filling.
We put the IBC roughly into position, then we needed to check it’s level in comparison to the spring. We need the top of the tank to be level with the pipe that exits the bottom of the brick box.
To check the levels we used a classic piece of permaculture kit – a Bunyip. Our bunyip consists of two one metre lengths of clear pipe attached to bamboo canes. Lengths of an old tape measure are attached to each cane to give a readable scale. The two clear pipes are then joined by a length of hose.
Back at the spring, Jono took one end of the Bunyip and stood by the brick box and Phil took the other and stood by the IBC. The whole thing was then filled with water, such that the level of water could be seen in each clear tube. The idea behind a Bunyip is that water in the tube is part of one column, so will settle at the same level at both end.
Jono holding the Bunyip by the brick box
Jono held his stick vertically with the bottom by the pipe exiting the brick box. Phil held his stick with the bottom on the top of the IBC. Jono and Phil then both read the measurement at which the water was sitting at in their respective pipes. By comparing the measurements, Phil could calculate if the bottom of his stick was higher or lower then Jono’s. He then moved it up and down until the water level reading in his pipe was the same as Jono’s, indicating that the bottom of his stick was at the same level as the bottom of the brick box. (For more information on making and using a Bunyip see this article by Tim Murphy.)
Phil holding the other end of the Bunyip on top of the IBC to find the level with the brick box.
A stick was pushed into the ground to mark the level at which the top of the tank needed to be at, then we pulled the tank aside and dug away and levelled the footing under the tank such that it would sit flat and at the correct level.
It was a fun days work and everyone went home feeling satisfied with what had been achieved and eagerly awaiting the results of a trial fit of the ram pump the following week……
The next work day will be Sunday 9th March, 10.30 until 4pm. A warm welcome to anyone who would like to join us.
The IBC in position and levelled, with the brick box and blue delivery pipe in the background.
Posted in Permaculture, Volunteer Workdays
Tagged ram pump, spring, using a bunyip, volunteer workday
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Sustainable Collection of Lichen for Dyeing Wool
All this wild weather has blown down a lot of branches and twigs around the Trust. It is an ill wind that blows no good they say, and on the advise of Susan Martin, we have been busy collecting any fallen twigs and branches that are covered in Lichen. These will be stored undercover ready for use in the summer as a dye source during the Natural Dyeing Workshop that Susan will be leading at the Trust on Sunday 17th August.
As Lichen is very slow growing, we will only be using Lichen that has fallen and will not harvest it from the trees. The various textures are really interesting and we are looking forward to seeing what colours the lichens will dye the wool.
Posted in Courses, Dyeing with Plants
Tagged course, Lichen, natural dye, Wales, wool, workshop
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All Year Round – Candlemas
Small Bees Wax Candles, with Moulds in the Background
On Sunday 2nd February the All Year Round group gathered to celebrate Candlemas.
We started the session making small beeswax candles, as can be seen in the pictures above. Molten beeswax was poured into silicon ice cube moulds. At the same time a length of wick was “primed” – dipped into molten wax then left to set. The candles were turned out when just set and a hole made through the centre with a knitting needle – an easy job in the still warm wax. Then a length of primed wick was threaded through and the candles were complete. The wax smells lovely and is a beautiful rich yellow colour.
The showers held off long enough for us to enjoy some co-operative games outside. We also cooked some simple bread on a camp fire which tasted great with lashing of butter and jam.
Our next gathering is for Spring Equinox / Easter on Sunday 23rd March. Croeso Cynnes i Bawb!
Posted in All Year Round
Tagged All Year Round, candlemas, Family, seasonal celebration
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Seed Swap 2014
We will be at Seedy Saturday in St Peter’s Hall, Carmarthen on Saturday 8th March, with seeds from the garden, scythes for sale and information. Come along for a chat!
See the Carmarthen Seedy Saturday Facebook page for more information about the fair.
Volunteer Workdays 2014
Information about and dates for Volunteer Workdays at Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust can now be found on their own page, here.
This is a great opportunity to visit the Trust, learn more about what we do, get involved with a bit of work and perhaps learn some new skills in a relaxed and sociable setting. All are welcome to join us. If you are interested in attending, please contact us.
Nawr, mae gwybodaeth am a dyddiadau ar gyfer Diwrnodau Gwaith Gwirfoddol yn Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust ar gael ar eu tudalen eu hunain, yma.
Mae’n gyfle gwych i ymweld â’r Trust, dysgu mwy am beth dyn ni’n ‘wneud, cymryd rhan gydag ychydig o waith ac efallai ddysgu sgiliau newydd mewn awyrgylch hamddenol a chymdeithasol. Croeso cynnes i bawb. Os oes diddordeb mewn mynychu gyda chi, cysylltwch â ni.
Posted in Diwrnodau Gwaith, Volunteer Workdays
Tagged Permaculture, volunteer, Wales, workday
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Reindeer at All Year Round Winter Solstice
Making Masks
Just before Christmas we held our last All Year Round of 2013 with a celebration for the Winter solstice.
The day was themed around the Sami reindeer herders of Northern Europe. We made reindeer masks then learnt a Reindeer Herders song. After a delicious bring and share tea, Pamela Gaunt told a wonderful story about the lives of the Sami reindeer herders, and the adventures of two Sami children as they travel to see the Mountain King during the dark of the Northern winter. There was plenty of audience participation singing the song we had learnt earlier and the children providing atmosphere with percussion instruments.
Our next All Year Round will be for Imbolc / Candlemas on Sunday 2nd February. A warm welcome to all!
