With a little help from my friends (4/5th Aug 2012).

So the weekend continued with more Balsam Bashing. 

 

Thankfully, we were visited by many members of the family, excited to come and see our new project, who swiftly found themselves armed with scythes, shears, and gloves.

 

This was a lovely sight to behold. The weather was on our side and the sun shone down on the meadow-it's a real little sun trap; the occasional car passing down the private road that runs alongside the land was the only sound to remind us that we were still in the middle of our hometown and not miles away from anywhere. The children happily filled their time doing all manner of things that children should be able to do; exploring, fishing, climbing trees and building dens, whilst the adults got stuck into the task with a real sense of enthusiasm. 

 

The encouragement and positive comments received throughout the weekend were greatly appreciated.  To date I had some reservations about the responses we would get when we told people our ideas (Not the family I hasten to add-I'm sure they love us warts and all!).  Yes, it is a massive undertaking, No, we have never done anything like this previously BUT anyone who knows us will realise that this is something we are passionate about and have the tenacity to make it  into something both usable and wonderful.   If we can create a safe environment in which our family and friends can spend time then we will have succeeded with the basics of our plan.  If we can expand this idea and maintain a sustainable woodland and meadow that will provide a natural habitat for the diverse range of wildlife we know is in our area then we will be happy.  If we can grow fruit, vegetables and other produce on the land and keep a greater range of livestock then we will be truly blessed.

 

Picture 1, looking up the meadow with the river on the left.

Here are some pictures at the end of the Balsam Bashing weekend. As you can see the whole meadow has been cleared and you begin to get a real sense of the space. 

The children are stood in the middle of the meadow with photographs taken from each end to show both views.

In picture one, the river is on the left side.  The embankment is around a metre high in most places and we have decided to leave the strip of plants in place; both to provide a natural border and to maintain stability of the riverbank.

 

 

This picture is a view down the meadow, again with the children at the middle point.  At present the greenery visible to the left of the picture are low hanging branches from the trees that border the meadow. These are covering the majority of the width and the shade they create means very little is able to grow underneath; Barr the odd Balsam and plenty ivy.  As an ancient area the trees are covered by a woodland protection order and permission from the local council is needed before any work can be carried out.  From the research that husband has done, this doesn't appear to pose any problems and a meeting has been arranged to discuss our plans.  We do not want to remove the trees or to destroy any of the natural environment, just to manage it and guide it back to its' original and enhanced state. 

 

So the Balsam is down-Hoorah! The next job is to rake it clear and seed the whole area with a meadow seed for overwinter.  This, we hope, will work twofold; by protecting the soil during the winter weather and also allow the weeds to be managed via strimming or such, when they do start rearing their ugly heads.