shepherd with attitude
Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design
  • Home
    • my blog
  • My Diploma Journey
    • My Permaculture Designer CV
    • Diploma Journey Reflections
    • Summary of Relevant Activities
  • diploma designs
    • The Hill Farm
    • Animals On The Hill Farm
    • Outdoor Living Space
    • Food Peace
    • Reflection and Planner Journal
    • Designing Dying
    • Action Learning Pathway
    • Memories Space
    • Healing Agriculture
    • Journey To Spain
  • articles, reviews and workshops written by me
  • the grazing diaries

...wild times at Nethergill

24/4/2013

6 Comments

 
Picture
the beautiful Nethergill Farm
....on Saturday myself and 5 other lucky folk ventured over to Nethergill Farm (...just down the track/over the hill from me) for the first of their series of 'Wild Workshops' ...all about River life and conservation. Chris and Fi at Nethergill have created a beautiful environment to learn about and share the amazing work they are doing to create and promote sustainable farming here in the Uplands of the Yorkshire Dales. Take a look at their website (see 'links' below) for lots more details about what they offer, but the brand new Field Studies Centre, landscape and lovely hospitality was perfect for the workshop. 
Picture
...observing and sampling from the river bed....
Dan and Ed from the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust ran the workshop. In the 'classroom' we learnt about the work of the Trust, the current issues threatening river life and then the work being done to tackle these....Then it was out in the amazing sunshine to 'survey' half a mile or so of Nethergill river, with added input from Chris about other ways the work being done at Nethergill is promoting and linking to river conservation (we saw otter poo!)....after that we spent time having a good look in the water at the life on different sections of river bed (rock, silt etc) and took samples of what we found back to the classroom to look more closely under the excellent 'magnifier linked to big screen' setup.......

Picture
Karen, doing an excellent job of supervising the willow bundling!
Picture
...fantastic growth of willow from bundles sited along the banks at Nethergill last year.....
........after (a very yummy) lunch and tea drinking it was back out to make and site willow bundles ...I was so impressed by this, (already being really successfully used at Nethergill), easy and effective method of river bank erosion control.......in addition, the willow also creates; Beneficial habitats for river life, birds, mammals, insects; Shelter and shade; ...and of course a crop for building with, craft work, fuel, animal feed etc....

Picture
...siting the willow bundles...(using wire and posts...)

....also creating essential habitats and the really important role of regulating the temperature of the water in sun are trees, which are all too often missing from our agricultural landscapes, due to grazing animals......Our last activity of the day was to plant some trees (in secure guards...to protect from Nethergill's cows and sheep...and also wild deer) to add to the already impressive riverside planting carried out as part of the conservation plan ........then it was back to the classroom for some reflection time about the day, while consuming more tea and cake.....
Picture
Pip....a key member of the Nethergill team....and a great role model for swift river crossing..
...the day really got my mind twirling, not only during the reflection/feedback time, but in the days since.... I spend a lot of time and energy considering the earth/soil and air, in my thinking and work, but I really don't give water, especially the becks and streams on the land I live and work on, enough of my detailed attention. Dan and Ed had SO much knowledge and motivation about their work to teach and share.......one particular thought I am going to expand on is how like a forest structure the river is...it needs rotting wood, leaves etc to create the optimum environment for its healthy abundance to be generated. 


So an excellent day...great learning, fab people, amazing location......i'll be back...'Peat' is next on the my list for Wild Workshops to attend at Nethergill...cant wait!


Very useful links....


Nethergill Farm

http://nethergill.co.uk

Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust
www.yorkshiredalesriverstrust.com

6 Comments

..the grass is greener.....right here

15/4/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
1st born, 2013
....spring is in the air, at last....


over the last few days the temperature has risen...most of the snow is melting....the grass has a green tinge to it....geese and swallows have arrived.... the daffodils are (almost) out and this morning our first lamb was born in the breezy sunshine....Now the ground is finally warming up, i've been sowing lots of seeds in modules to grow in the polytunnel for planting out in a few weeks time....the sun looks like it will shine tomorrow and hopefully this means getting the early potatoes and shallots into their allocated raised beds in the edible garden.......as a neighbour said to me this morning, 'you can smell the grass growing...she's right.... 


..i've been making full use of my Action Learning Pathway design and started using the pathway to guide my Diploma work......the awakening of spring feels like such the right time to be making these changes and positive steps forward x 

Picture
my Action Learning Pathway design, for more details see the Designs section of this website
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Author

     Katie Shepherd

Visit my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter