Seeds, Scoping, Making Plans

Whist out scoping their May Light Walk Carole and Jo found this bridge spanning the A6 near Rushden / Higham Ferrers. Whilst standing on the bridge they decided the intervention for the next walk should involve weaving something through the bars. Ribbon? Fabric? 

When they reached the other side and looked back at the bridge the V shaped bars seemed to suggest bunting. There was only a few days between the scoping walk and the actual walk and they knew that they would need permission to attempt their intervention in such a public space. Jo undertook the creation of a marvellous visual of what they intended to make and scoured Leicester market for something suitably red, white and blue to weave into the bars.

Carole tracked down the right people to talk to about getting permission, it was touch and go, would the powers that be say yes, would the group say yes, would the forms get signed in time? Thankfully Yes was the resounding end to the week. Both artists are very excited about their Jubilee inspired activity and rumour has it that Carolyn is busy creating a fabulous picnic to take out on the walk.

Beyond the bridge, the intrepid explorers crossed into fields, where the sun danced on buttercups and lit the grass a delicious translucent green.

Around a complicated three-directional kissing gate...

and into a further field, the flourescent yellow of rapeseed glowing in the distance. The sky became an incredible heavy blue-grey, further brightening the yellows and greens around into an almost surreal effect, they felt as though they were stepping into a painting.

And then...

they could see the heavy clouds approaching, and before they could zip up their jackets a violent hail storm was upon them! Throwing its little bullets in their faces, they had to crouch by a hedge for cover.

As they were trying to shelter from the hail Carole's phone rang, it was Alastair from the Northamptonshire Community Foundation, concerned that Beanfield Artists' (Miles & Dacombe) Local Giving Page had received no donations and was missing out on the NCF match giving opportunity. Carole said that both she and Jo had been Tweeting, emailing, contacting supporters and were hoping to hear about some definite donations shortly - again the news at the end of the match funding period was good and they have raised some funds to put towards the Art of Growing project they are planning at The Green Patch in Kettering later in the year. A big thank you  to all who donated - although the match funding has ended it is still possible to donate by clicking the Local Giving icon on the homepage of this blog or by following this link.

On the way back to Kettering Carole and Jo decided to see if anything had started growing in Finedon, on the site of their last Guerilla Gardening adventure with the Light Walks group. Jo had no trouble at all climbing over the wall whilst the less than agile Carole stumbled into some nettles disturbing the rabbit kitten sheltering under the assorted greenery.

The recent rain and the slightly warmer days had caused a lot of growth 

but they managed to find traces of their seed bombs,

some of which had started to sprout.

It had been an amazing day, with all sorts of weather, dramatic light and the promise of new growth. Plans were afoot for the next walk, coming soon in the next post - would the bridge bunting installation be a success?

Spring Forwards

Whilst scoping our second Kettering Light Walk and looking for a place to plant some living willow  we came across The Green Patch Community Allotments run by Groundwork a wonderful growing resource in the heart of the community. We approached Lucy Darby, who said they had received a commemorative bench, and that a willow half bower would work perfectly with the bench adding some gentle shade. We had planned to plant the willows as the culmination of our next walk, but the walk had to be postponed and we had already collected the willow. To grow willow from unrooted cuttings or whips, the willow should be cut and planted after leaf fall and before leaf bud - usually during December, January and February. We decided it was best to go ahead with the planting.

Nigel helped us dig a channel for the whips

We began by setting in the uprights, pushing the longest sturdiest whips about 6 inches into the ground vertically to make the main structure. It took quite a lot of effort as the ground was still compacted and quite dry due to the lack of rain we have had in February.

Tying in the front of the arch. 

Once the diagonal whips were in position we began to weave them into shape. The interwoven diagonals are for strength to create an open lattice interlinked  feature, the tension of the willow should generally hold the structure together.

We then replaced the clumps of soil and turf, then tried out the Bower for size!

Winter Aconites seen on our walk

Getting ready for some more Guerilla Gardening

We were so glad to have been out in the fresh air planting that when we were next together in our studios we began preparing a new batch of seed bombs to take on our Finedon Light Walk. The clay had gone hard and was about to be thrown away when Carole salvaged the bags and reconstituted them in a bucket of water. It was still quite tough to excavate from the bucket but we had more than enough for our purposes! 

Clay and wild flower seeds

shaped with cookie cutters.

Carole has been popping back to The Green Patch 

at regular intervals to check on our willow's progress.

Nigel has been keeping The Bower well watered,

paving slabs have been placed under the bench and 

there is a mulch of bark chips around the whips.

 Vertical whips sprouting fresh growth  from the top

Diagonally planted whips sprouting along the 

full length giving a denser growth to the structure

We ordered our willow from here 

Willows Nursery Walgrave 

Northampton  NN6  9QA