The historic first planting on the land. A hedge of hawthorn, maple, hazel, wild cherry, and hornbeam . Totally unexpected as it was a Warm Room day in the cabin – but all who turned up fancied planting a hedge.
Chris rocked up – he thought he’d surprise me and he did. (He almost didn’t leave as his tramper lost power. A bit of twiddling with battery connections by Theo got it going, phew). Gemma was a spontaneous surprise, escaping Halesworth. Peter came as he does every Thursday, because I cannot contact him to tell him not to, and he was a star. Kingsley made an entrance on his Harley. Leslie arrived because Thursday would not be the same without her gentle kind ways. Theo was on hand, thank goodness, not only did he solve the motor, but dug like a demon the slits for the whips. Jo and Diana kept us all in good humour. Martin came thinking he was on time. Gabrielle with Cosey, made the amount of dogs almost equal to the amount of people: Oliver, Cosy, Flo, Ruffio, Brow, Kali and Bobji.
The whips came grattis from the wonderful Suffolk Tree Wardens group, via the Woodland Trust, and had sat in boxes for nearly a month. It was a perfect planting day, the ground moist, the whips in tact, the people gathered, the spirit high.
We planted first 3 rows deep, but tailed off with one row, mixing hawthorn with the other species. 440 – Jo counted them – were planted. We finished at dusk, and as I walked away, i felt the emotion of starting something, working among good friends, with laughter and joy.
Kaliwood 
Great post Rachel. I love the mention of all the people who came to help – and the dogs of course!
It’s a wonderful thing you are doing.
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Well done, Kaligang! What a great thing to do! I should love to have been there to help too, but maybe later on….
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