What is fedging?
I had to ask too!! It's a cross between a hedge and a fence and it's created by using living willow. Nature's pretty clever eh! Ever since we got the go ahead about the new garden site, Libby has been so excited about using Willow. She loves the stuff and was keen to use it as a feature, so this weekend, along with help from some equally enthusiastic people, one of Libby's visions came to life! LIBBY 12/13th February 2016 – FEDGE & SHED What is a Fedge. A Fedge is a cross between a fence and a hedge! Willow rods are cut in February when the willow is dormant and pliable and these are then put in the ground at intervals and woven in to make a fence. The willow sets roots, gets leaves and grows so it is a bit like a hedge! Willow grows very quickly at least 1m per year and so this time next year we can weave in or cut more rods to plant. Friday 12th – Laura May and I met Fred Conacher from Angus Council to cut willow rods to make a fedge. Angus Council sells willow rods to make fedges or hurdles and also Hazel for pea sticks. We cut 160 rods which is what we needed to make a 32m fedge. Fred can be contacted on [email protected] I took the willow to the site and happed it up for the night. If we weren’t planting it the next day then I would have stood it in buckets of water. Saturday 13th February 2016 Got down to the garden at Panda Lane and sorted the rods into 2 bundles of thicker and thinner rods. Brian and Ethan measured out thicker rods at 2m intervals to use as fedge posts. We were lucky with the weather again. Colder than last week but very dry. Volunteers (20 – 30) started to arrive and I explained to them what a fedge was and what the plan was. Before we even started any work the photography from The Courier took lots of photos of the group! Modelling over we started working in twos, people took 2 m spaces and start cutting, dibbing and putting the willow in the ground and then weaving or tying it where necessary. We left the totty wee bits till last and stuck them in randomly where there was gaps and then laid down a mulch to suppress weeds. It was great getting to know all the different people that were there and lot’s of folk were doing this for the first time. So we now have a beautiful fedge going along the side wall. It will be brilliant to see the catkins come out and the leaves start to appear and see how it grows. At the same time Dan delivered the shed in a oner in the trailer and the muscles lifted it off the trailer and then proceeded to plane it, screw decorations onto it etc.! The bit of ground that it will eventually sit on was cleared and levelled and we will soon be able to get the shed moved. And then Dan and Alec and John went back and filled the trailer with manure and brought it back and put it in the compost bay to rot down and give us lovely soil. Jean and Pauline were on hand to supply everyone with hot drinks and biscuits! We had a BIG DIG on the 6th of February and what a BIG TURN OUT!! Over 40 people turned up for our Big Dig including lots of kids aging from 3 to 18. As we were lucky enough to have had the really big job of clearing the top surface , of what has essentially been a dog walking ground for years, cleared by DJ Laings digger, we were able to get on with other pressing jobs. It was all hands on deck to dig out and clear the overgrown edges. There were compost boxes to be made and dung to be collected. We dug ditches and prepared ground for a living willow fedge. Thankfully we had help from Jean Brown for manning the cuppies and biscuits!! It was a great day in terms of weather, the turnout and the camaraderie and enthusiasm from those came to join in. Thank you’s
DJ Laing for clearing the land with digger Jean Brown for manning the cuppies and biscuits Rosemary and Dan Champion for manure and helping with the shed Sally Welham for the Tunnocks treats Colourful Carnoustie members for coming along with help and support Panmure Centre for letting us use the loos Fred Conacher at Angus Council for helping coppice the willow Brian Ness Factotum for helping with van and chapping and EVERYONE who turned up. Click on "Download File" below to read our first brandspanking new Newsletter.
http://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/article/carnoustie-growing-food-free
https://www.sundaypost.com/in10/chat/food-is-free-initiative-bringing-communities-together-to-grow-vegetables/ Future projects include:
Supporting residents of Gibson Street to establish manageable plots in raised flower beds. Make a start to clearing off top surface to Kinloch Street site. Apply for various funding. Prepare and plant boxes at Panmure community centre. Support Colourful Carnoustie with planter boxes. Seed Exchange. Potato Day. Fruit Map. Seed bombing. We were approached by Helen Ross, a resident of Gibson Street asking for help to transform a garden space in front of her and her neighbours' homes which had long been neglected and had now become some what of an eye sore. Helen won't mind me saying that her days of clambering up raised walls and digging out well established bushes are behind her but she and her fellow gardening enthusiast are still able and willing to maintain a plot. So she asked us for help to clear out the raised bed and give them a clean canvas to work with and maintain.
We put out a call for help on our facebook and once again were blown away with the response. So now Helen and her pals are busy planning and plotting what they are going to plant and grow in the spring in their new rejuvenated space. We held our first open meeting on the 28th of October 2015 to update the local community on the groups progress and future plans. Despite the horrendous weather on the night, a good turn out of approx. 30 people attended the meeting and the feedback was tremendous. We had a slide show and talk from Laura-May with a run down of what has been happening to date. One of the biggest news was that that very week we had just been given the green light on getting the use of a large plot on Panda Lane from Ross Smyth of Smyth Composites, he has kindly donated the use of the land for us to use as a community space! This is very exciting and goes a long way towards the shared vision we have as a space where people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities can come together to learn, share, benefit and build communities. If you are interested in being part of this community garden in any shape or form, please get in touch by emailing [email protected] or messaging us on our facebook page. FIF Carnoustie began in May 2015 as a community sharing project. We were given the use of a piece of land and worked on it over the summer. What started off as an overgrown piece of waste land was fairly quickly transformed into a manageable fruit and veg producing plot. These were then harvested when ready, put into baskets and displayed around town for people to help themselves. Although initially there was a little reluctance and some confusion as to what was going, people began to get over their shyness and began to help themselves and enjoy what was put out . We started a facebook page around the same time and began to get more and more people joining. We’ve had some really lovely feed back on the page and a whole lot of encouragement from other groups and organisations. In August we had a huge boost by receiving a substantial donation from ForCarnoustie Charity shop. We started forging contacts with local community groups. We had a visit from Colourful Carnoustie and made plans to work together in the new year on various projects such as using some of the planters for growing vegetables and a possible wildflower Seed Bombing Cycle along the cycle path from Carnoustie to Easthaven. We were also in contact with the Berryfields Allotment Association to discuss how we can work together. The Carnoustie and Monifieth Men’s Shed group which had recently been set up have made raised beds for us which are situated outside the Panmure Community Centre ready for spring planting. We had a stall at Carnoustie Gala Day where we were promoting FoodisFree Carnoustie and handed out free food, leaflets and recruited more volunteers. We were contacted by several people who live in and around Carnoustie offering us surplus goodies from their gardens which included apples and plums. These were happily snapped up and quickly made into jams, sauces and dressings and given out at various meetings and hotspots throughout the town. |
|