Monday 30 May 2005

Village fete


The EGGS stall
Originally uploaded by Feed The Birds.
Our stall at the village fete looked good - well done everyone! - but it rained, and rained. We were all right for the first hour or two, despite a bit of a tussle with the gazebo (poles were in the wrong order, apparently). Sue had brought lots of sunflower seedlings to give away to children who could name the birds on a chart; the idea was that they took them home to grow for bird food in the autumn. James brought lots of branches, to make it look woodland-ish (made me think of Macbeth's "and now a wood comes toward Dunsinane.")

The wind blew the screens over (they were covered in the children's tree poetry), and the balloons bounced about. When everyone got too soggy, we packed up and went home.

Let's see - how does this go?
Liam pins his badge on.

For more pictures, click here.

Friday 27 May 2005

On the radio


On the radio
Originally uploaded by Feed The Birds.
This is Nick Pandolfi, cheerful award-winning BBC Radio Suffolk presenter, grinning at me through the window of the studio while I waited to go in.

Had a senior moment on the way to the studio this morning - well, I hadn't had much sleep. Left my script behind, so had to write a new version in haste when I got there. On top of that, had an uncontrollable tickle, which meant I had to dive out of the door just before I went on air, so's not to deafen the listeners with my coughing. O well - got there in the end!

Leafy Lane


Leafy Lane
Originally uploaded by Feed The Birds.
This is between Boxford and Kersey, but the lanes around here are all bursting with new growth.

Haven't had much rain lately. Heard it's going to be a dry summer. Better make the most of the lushness while we can.

Tree in May


Tree in May
Originally uploaded by Feed The Birds.
This one's at Church Farm, Elmsett.

EGGS is really getting going now. We'll be at the village fete on Monday (30th April). Look for us with the green hats, ivy and baby trees. On 16th June we'll be at the school with a tree-planting and celebration tea.

I'm talking about EGGS on BBC Radio Suffolk today, on Thought for the Day, as follows:

I’ve always been keen on trees. I’ve planted them whenever I’ve had the space. Thirty years ago, I lived near Oxford, where I planted a balsam poplar. It smelt gorgeous after it rained. I’d love to know if it’s still there – someone might have cut it down.

A year ago, the Green Light Trust had a stall at our village fete. The trust supports and encourages those who want to establish community woodlands – woods planted by and for local people. I registered an interest in establishing one in Elmsett.

In March this year we signed a People Planting Agreement with the Green Light Trust and set up Elmsett Greenlife Grove Scheme, a name chosen after consulting the village schoolchildren, who liked the acronym EGGS. In a way, it’s especially apt. An egg is used as a symbol of new life at Easter, the spring equinox festival, and we’re aiming to create new life – trees, and the creatures that live in them.

On Monday, we’ll have an EGGS stall at the village fete, to raise awareness of the scheme. We’ve had encouraging messages from local landowners. Next month we’ll launch the scheme at the school, where the children have started a tree nursery. They’re all going to visit the trust’s woodland at Lawshall. When you plant trees, you need an imagination, and seeing what other people have done should inspire them and make them aware that trees need time to grow and mature. Far-sighted people plant trees.

One of my favourite poems is by an American poet, Wendell Berry. He wrote about planting trees, “Let me desire and wish well the life these trees may live when I no longer rise in the mornings to be pleased by the green of them shining, and their shadow on the ground, and the sound of the wind in them.”

But it’s not just the beauty of trees, the sight and sound of them, that matters. They’re the lungs of the world. They stop soil erosion. They provide a habitat for birds, beasts and insects, and they mean jobs, timber, and the materials for all sort of woodcraft too.

We’ll be collecting tree seeds and seedlings and buying plants from a tree nursery for our woodland. One day, maybe, the grandchildren of some of the children who go to the village school may walk in our woodland. I’ll be long gone by then. I’ll be buried under a tree.