We had our own little climate strike on Friday here at Manor Bottom. Too introverted to take to the streets, we decided instead to plant 20 trees to mark the day (we got a bit carried away and planted 25!). We gathered up acorns, cherry pips, cobs, and chestnuts that had fallen on hard ground and potted them in a nursery to plant out next year. We also put in the ground some of the saplings from our current nursery. This is our first planting here at Manor Bottom. The previous owner planted a wood, we call it Dorothy's Wood, of some 250 trees which is now maturing very healthily. We add to the wood by transplanting saplings that are growing too near the house, also planting some further up in the top quarry field. We have added some 50 or so trees to the wood ourselves in this way. We never kill a healthy tree here - even the ones we cut for firewood are either pollarded or coppiced so that they reinvigorate. And all the brush and unused wood is put out as habitat for insects and animals. Manor Bottom's trees and wildlife are strong under our stewardship.
We hope that the newly planted trees live to be as big as our sentinel ash tree, and that there will be people to enjoy them! If not then at least the trees will have a the planet to themselves for I am sure they will survive us. I sometimes lie in bed at night imaging this place reclaimed by the wild. Though a beautiful image, it is rather haunting and I'd rather we we around along with the trees.
So our new pledge, in celebration of the global strike, is to plant a tree for every set of guests that stay at The Granary!
The trees, though, can't do it all! Please listen to the climate strikers and do what they ask!
A tune or two for the trees:
And tenuously: