Spring has arrived, and Muddy Fork, is growing in more than one sense of the word! We have welcomed new participants and volunteers, but we still have space for more participants, and would welcome referrals, including self-referrals, for our sessions on Mondays and Fridays. Enquiries about our new Tuesday afternoon bike project, The Wellbeing Cycle, run in partnership with Retford’s Bike Pedlars, are also welcome. Thanks to Cycling UK for helping with this project.
We are now starting to sow our seeds for produce later in the year. I’m sure some of you are aware our polytunnels are on their last legs, they leak, are draughty and have had more repairs than I care to think. Grateful thanks to D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust and Ollerton based construction company J Murphy & Son who have awarded us grants which will ensure at least one new polytunnel, if not allow both to be replaced or renewed. In the meantime we have started to sow, sweetcorn, sprouts, tomatoes, peppers, dwarf beans and a variety of herbs.
We have made a new potato bed—which has been very wet and one of our participant has done a splendid job on trenching around it, digging it over and clearing the weeds so that we were able to sow our first variety of potatoes (“Nicola”), they were cossetted in wool from last years fleeces which will keep them warm in the ground. More varieties to be sown over the coming weeks. Red onions are in, hopefully beetroot soon.
We have been experimenting with our home made netting supports and this year we are using willow (which we harvest anyway), its quite successful, however we have had to trim newly growing side shoots so we can get the netting on and off without snagging it!
The rhubarb is coming along and should be due for picking in the next week or so (we forced some and left some to it). The asparagus is just starting to poke its head through the ground, alas the frost got some before it had got high enough to pick!
The tree nursery fencing is complete and some of the oaks were dug up, tap roots shortened and planted in the new area, this will make it easier to lift them for buyers. A big thank you to Councillor Karen Roberts at Southwell town council for their purchase of 5 black poplar trees which were planted in Froggatt’s Field, Southwell – at a community event held on the 3rd of April 2021.
Over winter we had a general tidy up and we laid a new path towards a new area, potentially to move our bees to at some stage. Speaking of bees – we have entered into a new partnership with Welbeck farm shop for them to sell our honey alongside some of the produce we grow. This is a great venture for us. Of course, you can still buy our honey and produce from our pantry on this website. We also had a stall outside the farm shop on Easter Saturday, where we were able to tell everyone about our work at Muddy Fork and sell some of our honey, candles and produce.
The inside of the hub is now almost completed and looking smart, thanks to donations from our local councillors and the Co-op Community Fund. We hope to expand the “hub” area and improve the surrounding ground and we are grateful to Screwfix for a grant to enable us to do this. We are hoping to put new seating and landscape the area a little to provide a lovely, relaxing seating area for participants, volunteers, and visitors.
Another big development will be the installation of a rabbit-proof fence, provided through the earlier Lottery Covid 19 fund grant. This should make a huge difference, though since we still harbour a range of wildlife on our site, it is unlikely to be the end of jokes about the foolhardiness of gardening on a nature reserve! A related improvement will be new, wider, gates, to facilitate access by wheelchair users.
A splendid willow woven stag can now be seen from the Idle Valley car park, which was made this February from some of the willow we harvested. We also have a small selection of bird feeders for sale.
We remain grateful for the ongoing support we receive not only from our volunteers but from the wider community. Our participants benefit greatly from coming to Muddy Fork and we survive because of the generosity of the community and our funders – so a big “thank you” to all of you reading this.