During the February half term, The Grower welcomed 35 families from across Cornwall to the farm to undertake a day of community tree planting. The day was built around giving the local community a chance to come and see what we grow, why and how, including how we work with nature – as well as plant some trees! The day focused on one of the farm’s Public Rights of Ways (PRoWs) designed so our community can come back year on year to see how the trees grow in the future.
It turned out to be the sunniest day of half term (which made us very happy) and with an amazing turn out, together we planted over 350 trees in the double staggered row hedge (to use a technical term!) This comprised hawthorn, blackthorn, cherry, wild plum, sycamore and beech, for variety and to allow the faster-growing hedgerow trees to protect the slower-growing sycamore and beech. All the trees were grown on the farm and chosen for this location as it gets the worst of our north Cornish coast weather. We also planned a diversity of species, for flowering varieties, to create a hardy windbreak and hopefully introduce some new tree species. We chose this section of the farm to host the day so that visitors can return and watch ‘their’ trees growing.
In addition to planting the trees, we had a selection of display boards for people to read, and talked to our guests about why we are growing trees, and what else we produce on the farm. Even some of our youngest visitors made the connection between our methods and aspirations, and the topic of sustainability that they’re looking at at school.
Our guests were grateful for the refreshments we supplied, and we were delighted to see that we were eaten out of biscuits, cakes, saffron buns and pasties. It’s an indicator that we had a well- worked workforce, and we shall ensure that there are plenty more supplies for next time! We created some nature activity packs for the younger children, to help them learn about all the animals which call the farm their home. This included an I-spy search game, looking for mini beasts, bees and flowers, which will give them something to take away and continue to learn from. We were delighted how engaged everyone was, whatever their age. One youngster said it was the best day of half term, which is high praise indeed, and much more than we expected!
There were more teenagers than expected, which was lovely, and one mum of teens said that she'd not expected her young people to be so involved, and to have so much fun. There was a lot of mud on the farm, and more than one person parted company with a welly boot, but the soil on our farm is so well enriched, with the work that has been put in over many years, that the land is mostly safe to walk on, after all the rain we have had.
Inez of The Grower said of the day ‘I was absolutely delighted with the turnout, and couldn’t have asked for a more positive response to the day. Seeing families plant trees along a Public Right of Way which they can revisit year after year is a real privilege. It’s a way of sharing a bit of the good fortune that I feel that I’ve had, with growing up on this farm, and such free access to nature. Hopefully it will give the children who attended the confidence to eventually walk these footpaths themselves in years to come - that’s our aspiration.’
Please look out for more community days and get in touch on contact@thegrower.co.uk
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