We welcomed students from Hadlow College to plant up little nut trees in gaps in the rows - it's called 'gapping up'. They made light work of planting ten trees, in ground which was already moist from the October rains. But when it was time to leave, to everyone's dismay the college minibuses were unable to get a grip and churned up the grass of the pathway making deep ruts. They were stuck! A call for help was not in vain and soon arrived in the shape of a heavy-weight tractor, with driver and helper. It soon had the buses moving and the students were safely on their way. They seemed to have enjoyed that part of the day best of all.
The Gilly Jones brand of cobnut products expanded in the run-up to Christmas into local outlets, including Ide Hill Community shop and Plaxtol Village Stores. As well as cobnuts in shell, there were packets of roasted cobnuts, chocolate bars with roasted cobnuts and, of course, the original Granola-muesli.
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The view from Ide Hill Community Shop
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| Cobnut products on display |
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| Plaxtol Village Stores |
2018
Its New Year and already the main bloc of nut trees have been pruned. Between the rows lie twigs, wands and branches which have to be cleared away before the grass begins to grow. February saw the return of the Hadlow students to help with this task. They set to work with energy and enthusiasm, dragging piles of prunings on tarpaulin 'sledges', down to an open patch where a bonfire was already burning.
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| Collecting prunings |
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| Bonfire is going nicely |
Potatoes which had been pre-baked just had to go in the embers for 20 minutes and were so hot that the butter melted on contact.
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| spuds ready to go in the ashes |
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| Very tasty! |
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| Back to work again and the bonfire is revived |
After that it was time to get back to work and another hour of dragging and burning.
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| Tutors working hard too? |
Thank you Hadlow students; you did a brilliant job and we hope you'll come again!
Meanwhile, back in the nut store, the mice have discovered the sacks and are feeling hungry....
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Raiders have been at work!
Although the furry monsters have helped themselves to a lot of nuts, not all have been consumed. That long green thing in the photo below is a rolled up mat and when I accidentally knocked against it, out poured a veritable waterfall of carefully cleaned and stored nuts I scooped them up - about 20 kg in all - and shut them away in a mouse proof bin: three crates like the one below in all. The mice had taken off the outer husks - and possibly polished them with a duster, they were that clean; no bad or empty nuts were found as the mice can tell (by the weight) and they reject any non-viable cobnuts.
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| cobnuts collected and sorted by mice. |
Thank you mice; you did me a favour. and there's a post script to the story. In March when I inspected two pairs of Wellington boots kept in the same shed, they too were full of cleaned cobnuts.
This year, encouraged by the National Trust at Ightham Mote, I entered for the 'Taste of Kent' Countryside Award which rewards countryside businesses who caring for the environment, the soil, wildlife and the community. It was exciting to receive a visit from the judging panel and to be one of the finalists.
At a dinner at the County Showground, the winners were announced and although we did not come out on top I received this nice framed plaque. It is a reminder of how far we have come since starting in 2012, thanks to so much hard work and support by volunteers, friends and local organisations.
At the middle of March there was till work to be done on the plat and the Hadlow students reappeared, ready for anything. We were fortunate with the weather and apart from a few showers the day turned out mostly sunny. More hardwork, another bonfire and a picnic lunch with baked potatoes. Thank you, Hadlow students and tutors alike!
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| A fine blaze |
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| Picnic time again |
We were indeed lucky with the weather for the very next day the snow was back.
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| What a difference a day can make! |
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| The bonfire site! |
And as I conclude this post snow is still falling outside my window and the biting East wind is whirling it around. Roll on spring!
