Thursday 28 April 2011

Dorchester - two gardens

In Poole, patches of land for growing food are a bit scarce, the http://tatnampatch.org.uk garden has been going for 13 years, but several others are being considered.

20 miles to the west, a more rural location, Transition Town Dorchester have secured a decent parcel of land for a Community Farm, and asked for our help in erecting a Polytunnel on it. They came to us for some ideas, and reported that on their blog at http://www.underlanche.blogspot.com/.  I haven't met up on site with them yet, but as I am sometimes working in Dorchester and Poundbury, I have been and taken a sneak preview of the site.


Two large ponds have been dug, fruit trees and soft fruit planted, a beehive was buzzing away, and 8 or so raised beds are being planted up. The post holes for the polytunnel are mostly dug. There is a hedge planted to shield the site from westerly winds (and to partly shield the new sheds being constructed beyond), There are established mature hedges on the Southern and Eastern boundaries. There is so much potential here, and the site is very much at the beginning.

And just up the path, behind the old Poundbury Middle Farm is an oval walled garden, laid out as incredibly neat, but small allotments. The grass was very clipped, and there was no sight of recycled contraptions to hold up the beans (and lots of imported bamboo rather than hazel beanpoles). But in the bright sunshine, it was a delightful spot to sit and eat my lunch and admire the many crops, which seemed very advanced in their cosy microclimate.

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