Dreamcatcher Farm and the “Orchard Rescue”

Report on the permaculture design work from Angus Soutar

Incorporating exhibits and pictures from Patti Pinto, Charlotte Dean and Peter Aston December 2013 Introduction

This is a study of an engagement with a venture involving a warehouse, an adjoining field, a new charity working with ex-soldiers and a village community in , . It also involves a rare, and possibly priceless, collection of locally-adapted fruit trees.

The study may be used to explore issues around:

• managing a design team in a commercial environment • working alongside volunteers in a community project • working with an “unpredictable” client.

In the project discussed here, we can see typical aspects of emergent systems including sensitivity to external and early events. Analysis can only take us so far into complexity, and soon patterning - “gut feel” - becomes the designer's preferred approach.

Our experiences with the project have led to equal measures of frustration and opportunism. (In other words, a perfectly “normal” experience for permaculture designers in our part of the world). I hope that this document will function as useful case study to help with learning around the application of permaculture design.

This write-up is a compendium of three reports, re-edited to give here:

• an overview of the concept design for the Dreamcatcher Farm site • the structural design of the “food forest” and orchard areas to determine “canopy” fruit tree planting • a photo diary of the implementation of the “orchard rescue”.

I have tried to make all of this manageable to the reader by giving most of the detailed information in the exhibits, as shown in the Table of Contents on the next page.

I led the design team for this complex project, providing services to the client through two organisations, CommEnt CIC and the Northern School of Permaculture. In both these organisations I play a leading role.

In preparing this document I must give credit to:

• Patti Pinto: Orchard Rescue Project Leader and a source of many of the photographs here • Michael Corbett: for surveying and mapping • Charlotte Dean: Design Team Assistant and co-director at CommEnt

Angus Soutar December 2013

Page 2 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Dreamcatcher Farm - Table of Contents Introduction...... 2 Dreamcatcher Farm – project information...... 4 Location...... 4 Site description and client information...... 4 Design Brief...... 5 Site concept design...... 7 Observation...... 7 Analysis...... 7 Design...... 8 Implementation and lessons learned...... 9 Orchard rescue!...... 12 Observation...... 12 Analysis...... 12 Design...... 13 Planning...... 15 Implementation and lessons learned...... 15 Ex-aptation...... 16 (The importance of doing the right thing badly, rather than the wrong thing well). 16 Exhibit 1 – Guidelines for planting of fruit and nut trees...... 17 Exhibit 2 - Planning and implementation diary...... 20 Exhibit 3 - Concept site design for outdoors – design report...... 31

End of Table of Contents

Angus and Patti on site with Trevor Wynne assisting

Page 3 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Dreamcatcher Farm – project information

Location Dreamcatcher Farm Bosley Cross Cheshire SK11 0PS

See map: Google Maps 53° 11' N, 2° 7' W Elevation: 190m above sea level The site is undulating, with a gentle slope, with the eastern boundary right next to the steeper outcrops of the southern , being about 1km from the boundary of the Peak District National Park. It is also next to a major lake that is a compensation reservoir for the nearby canal system.

Climate: the site is in a cool-temperate climate zone which is influenced by the North Atlantic Gulf Stream and so is somewhat milder that at corresponding latitudes elsewhere in the world. The average annual rainfall is around 850mm, much less than other part of the region, being in a (relative) rain-shadow of the North Wales mountains.

Climax vegetation: Atlantic Oak forest

Site description and client information Dreamcatcher Farm is a 12 acre (4.5 hectare) site at a significant crossroads to the north of Bosley, near in Cheshire. The holding currently consists of one large field maintained as pasture with an adjoining modern building fitted out as warehousing and offices.

The land is typical of the Cheshire_Plain farmland; land use in Cheshire is predominantly pasture for dairy cattle, although many fields are now held for paddock (horses and ponies). Medieval field strips, hedge and-ditch lines have been gradually erased as the moves towards mechanised farming have progressed.

The site has recently been handed over to the LOL Foundation by Dawn Gibbons, a local benefactor. The Foundation was set up in September 2012 to channel the support in Congleton for ex-service personnel who have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly those from the local regiment (the Mercian). The beneficiaries have been living rough on the streets in towns and cities around the UK. The Foundation aims to support casualties by providing them with counselling, housing and employment.

Page 4 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 The Foundation asked CommEnt CIC to work with them to produce a permaculuture design for the site. The design team was led by Angus Soutar. Concept design work started in January 2013.

There is an extensive land-drain system under the field with the main drain running as a stream in a culvert under the road away to the west, even in dry weather. In wet weather, parts of the field become water-logged indicating that the field drains are blocked or broken.

The topsoil has not been cultivated within local memory, there is some evidence of biodiversity and fertility besides the dominant grasses. In recent years, the land has been leased to a local farmer who has run cattle on it and cut the grass for hay.

The subsoil is clay, quite heavy in places. There are signs of previous pond-digging (or perhaps clay extraction).

Design Brief The design brief is to provide meaningful work for the beneficiaries of the Foundation, at the same time optimising the site yields as economic, social and ecological benefits. It is envisaged that the design team will be working over a period of several years to develop the site to its full potential - a "rolling permaculture" strategy will be adopted.

Providing a sense of scale, tree planting already in progress. (March 2013) Looking from the warehouse across the field, east, towards the hills of the southern Peak District.

Page 5 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Fig 1 Site map produced for the CommEnt design team by Michael Corbett February 2013

Page 6 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Site concept design

The client had a small amount of money to devote to a concept design for the site and this was developed for the site in December 2012 through to January 2013. Charlotte Dean put together a report on behalf our design team at CommEnt CIC and this is attached as Exhibit 3 . A summary follows here, along with my commentary.

Observation

Several visits were made to site, with particular attention given to wind and water. Some visits involved survey work on site, and, later, tree planting, involving working outside for extended periods. From this, we gained an understanding of current working conditions in the field.

The land is a “blank canvas”, full of potential for conversion to polyculture and biodiversity.

We also had a careful look round the boundaries, noting the condition of neighbouring properties, and walked out into local features. Although the local landscape is dominated by open fields, trees grow well in the vicinity. The future patterning suggested for the site is a temperate food forest. A permaculture future is an attractive one but will take time in this cool climate.

Analysis

The site was surveyed using a dumpy level and a base map with contours was produced (Fig 1, above).

Additional visits were made to see how the land drain system works - a fascinating piece of “archaeology”.

The site lends itself to a classic permaculture zoning approach with the building as “zone 1”. “Work flow” analysis will be crucial to siting elements in the design and access ways.

Page 7 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Basic information was put together for a sector analysis . This is an exposed site and, although catching nearly all the available sunshine, it is open to prevailing winds: • wet and relatively mild from the west/ south west coming up the valley of the • cold northerlies and sometimes bitterly cold easterlies coming down from the Peak District hills.

Our observations were augmented by talking to local people (particularly dog-walkers) and farmers. More survey work into weather records and general site conditions is required We gathered enough information to make a start on a data overlay picture. This led to an examination of other limiting factors.. We turned our attention to the client, the brief and the stakeholders in the site. Social and organisational factoprs were identified:

• relationships with “neighbours” and stakeholders • availability of skills, time and money • abilities of the beneficiary group • goodwill and volunteering • the client is a new organisation in new premises, “settling in” • an atypical relationship with the benefactor and leases • deteriorating economic and social conditions in the UK • no local permaculture design team available.

A number of these involve “the management of unknowns”. This list, more than anything, will shape the our proposals design and development of the site.

Design The suggested design strategy is to produce a concept design to ensure that the site will be economically viable through good application of relative location and optimum exploitation of niche and micro-climate. We can then adopt a “rolling” approach, prioritising development areas and producing detailed designs and plans according to those priorities. This will also give time for learning and “exaptation” - the “evolutionary design” approach.

We produced a freehand sketch on the base-map, described as “indicative”, for the client (Fig 2). Based on careful observation and analysis of both the site and the needs of the Client and stakeholders, we identified optimum land use for specific areas in four main categories as shown on the sketch

1. market gardening 2. wetland/aquaculture 3. shelterbelt 4. visitor car parking

Shelter-belt was identified as a priority, because the exposed nature of the site results in extensive wind-chill. The proposal is to plant shelter-belt round the site perimeter, up to 15m wide, with further extensions into the field to provide additional micro- climates on site (particularly for fruit trees and gardens). The shelter-belt would consist of a mixture of standard trees and dense inter-planting. Species would be

Page 8 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 diverse and as local as possible. Adjoining areas will be set aside to observe natural regeneration. The primary function is the production of micro-climates, but additional functions include screening, seed-stock, education and an eventual harvest of useful woodland materials (in moderation), as well as the usual biodiversity and carbon capture functions.

Each of the categories will need detailed design and planning of the designated areas if the yields are to be economic. Continual prioritisation should be given to obtain an early financial yield to provide funds for further site development.

To this end, through the Northern School of Permaculture we organised a weekend design event in early March 2013, with the purpose of doing detailed work on the development of the designated market garden area, to prepare for the forthcoming growing season. This event is self funding, with knowledgeable apprentices working under the direction of experienced designers. The Client's staff take on the role of the client and, apart from devoting a small amount of time, there is no cost to them. And they should benefit from the design proposals that come out of the event.

The weekend was run as a pilot and was intended to be repeated regularly to assist with the development of the site - “rolling permaculture design”. Later, an architects drawing was produced from the information available to date, with the primary purpose of helping the Client get funding (Fig 3).

Implementation and lessons learned The whole process was interrupted by the “Orchard Rescue” (described below) which started in March 2013. Further design was then postponed by a lack of funds to apply to initial implementation and also to further survey and detailed design work. Subsequent implementation by the Client shows that it is not clear whether the design input already submitted is valued (see Exaptation section, below). Perhaps the report from the designers' weekend and the tabling of the landscape architect's drawing (Fig 3) was seen by some as the end of the process, rather than the beginning.

Although the Designers Weekend in March was a success in educational terms, with participants arriving from as far away as the Netherlands, most of the design proposals have still not been acted upon. We have prioritised other sites to provide us with these learning and practice opportunities.

Our evaluation is focused on the limiting factors listed above, with additional issues being:

• the ex-soldiers will only become a resource if the tasks required are matched to their abilities • • following an initial flush of success and goodwill, the client organisation may have an unrealistic idea about what can be achieved with voluntary work.

We recommend that the client revisit the concept report that we drew up for them in January 2013 and carry out further consultation work, internally, also with stakeholders.

Page 9 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Fig 2 Concept design in development prior to consideration of fruit tree planting

February 2013

Page 10 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Fig 3 Indicative site concept plan - developed to show forest garden areas

Drawing by Michael Corbett

Page 11 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Orchard rescue!

Then another opportunity arose, one which was both to interrupt and to test the concept design work.. The benefactor/landowner had previously made some promises to the local village council regarding the planting of fruit trees on the site. This was co-incident with the pressing need to plant out around 230 young fruit trees, all of them adapted to the area, with over 20 local varieties, some of them extremely rare.

Tony Gentil had grown this collection at Briarfields on a farm at Aston, near , 30 miles to the south-west of Dreamcatcher Farm. Unfortunately, he had died 18 months previously, and the trees in the nursery were suffering from overcrowding and rabbit damage. Movement was overdue, and the year's planting season was due to end in March. If left for another year, many trees would die.

Observation

Although we had identified that we were are still short of data regarding soil conditions, drainage and the wind on site, we used our concept design, together with our observations of the field, to make some rough positioning of productive orchard/forest garden areas that would accept the trees that were to be transplanted.

Tony Gentil had chosen to use the M25 rootstock, the most vigorous one available, growing fully-sized trees that are suitable for planting in open fields, advising against any supplement to soil fertility.

Client and stakeholders had fed into the design that they would like to plant some of the trees as a traditional “grazed orchard” and have sheep and chickens on site.

Analysis

The previous concept design suggests strengthening the hedgerows and providing a substantial shelter-belt of trees around much of the perimeter of the site. This is intended to provide a micro-climate for fruit and nut tree planting and a generous margin needs to be allowed when planting the orchard trees.

Although there are 12 acres to play with, there are competing proposals for site use. And the fruit trees will fare best if they are protected by shelter-belt. They need to be placed on the slightly higher ground and on gentle slopes to avoid water logging. Our data overlay information needed supplementing with further observation “on the ground”.

Page 12 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Design Assembling this information through an “exclusion method” we determined three areas for fruit-tree planting:

• a grazed orchard to the south of the site (nearest to the village) • a “forest garden”style of orchard with the available fruit trees as the top, or "canopy", layer, situated at the north of the field, to the east of the proposed "market garden" area (and linked to it) • another forest garden area further east with a thick hedge or shelter-belt between it and its neighbour, this time with walnuts as the canopy layer.

The grazed orchard was placed near the road on the southern boundary – this gives good access to the village, where the residents have been promised free access to the site, and where support for this feature was strong. Forest gardens 1 and 2 were suitably located on small mounds along the northern boundary of the site.

In each of these areas, we attempted to leave a 12-15 metre gap to the property boundary to allow for the future planting of shelter-belt.

Because of the “emergency” nature of the project, and the poor condition of the trees, the design has to accommodate some loss, but this will give the opportunity to replace fruit trees with nitrogen fixers in a modified (triangular) pattern similar to that used by Robert Kooyman in the tropics. The trees were inevitably going to suffer some degree of “root pruning” when they were dug up. It seemed wise to follow up transplanting with branch pruning and to graft cuttings, particularly of the rarer trees.

At the Northern School design event at the beginning of March, initially intended to look at Market Gardening, we set up and ran a parallel design team to look at the planting positions of the fruit trees within the rough areas already identified. This resulted in some modifications to the planting pattern to fit the terrain.

Planting pattern

Since we are dealing with standard fruit trees, the canopies are significant, and with the M25 rootstock, we recommend that the trees be spaced at 7m centres, to allow for sunny breaks in overall the canopy, providing sunny planting niches and easy access.

Planting pattern for Forest Garden areas

In a case like this, with pressure to get into action, my design response is to leave plenty of space in the design for future infill and encourage “ex-aptation”. My aim was to provide a structure that will support further development.

Page 13 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 The pattern from nature that allows the best stacking is the natural logarithmic spiral (the equiangular spiral). However, this is time-consuming to lay out on the ground. In this case, I chose the equidistant spiral (the Archimedes spiral) as a base pattern. The planting areas will be protected on one side by shelter-belt, so only half of the spiral will be evident. This allows radial planting in a fan-shape, providing increasing distance between the canopy trees as you move outwards along the radius, providing the potential for “fingers” of open field to enter the food forest and providing plenty of “edge” for the fruit trees and maximum sunlight for the fruit. (Fig 4, below)

Calculations showed that the number of fruit trees accommodated by this pattern would not be large enough, so some “infill” trees were added to the planting plan. Further, area no. 2 proved to be limited for suitable terrain. Tree planting centres were reduced to 6m here. This all indicated the flexibility of the pattern.

Forest garden area 1: 7m x 7 trees, x 7 radials = 49m radial length (46+20 trees Forest garden area 2: 6m x 5 trees x 7 radials = 30m radial length (39+20 trees) (Allowing for spacing at the centre of the spiral and plus “infill” trees.) The remainder of the trees were to be accommodated in the grazed orchard

Fig 4 Radial planting of canopy fruit trees on an “equidistant spiral” pattern (only half the spiral is applied)

Initial proposals were modified “on the ground” when pegging the positions, to take into account the topography.

Page 14 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Planting pattern for Grazed orchard area

I indicated my preference for a sinuous planting pattern, the project team were considering mechanical hole-digging at this point. Everyone was short of time, so I suggested staggered rows to get the best layout of the grazed orchard. This plan has to allow for 100 trees in four rows at 6m spacing.

In all the planting areas, there will be losses that will then open up the canopy.

Planning After marking the positions to be planted during the designers' weekend in March, permaculture associate Mick Fuzz recorded the positions by GPS on his mobile phone. As a demonstration, these were uploaded onto a Google map

I issued planting guidelines to the Client and the project team – see Exhibit 1. Actual positions were pegged out during the designers' weekend.

Implementation and lessons learned The project can be followed through to its conclusion through the photo-diary in Exhibit 2 At the time of writing, nine months in, the estimate is that 90 per cent of the trees have survived.

It soon became apparent that we had recovered more fruit trees than expected from Briarfields. Additional radial arms were added to the forest gardens and infill was increased. An extra row was added to the grazed orchard. Common varieties of the apple trees were planted at the edge of space reserved for the shelter-belt

The use of a machine to dig holes was abandon after the available bucket was too big for the job. The trial was abandoned leaving several holes of up to 1 metre square. Some of these promptly filled with water. The project team decided to plant the trees by hand.

A good proportion of planting was carried out by the rescue project manager and the Chair of the charity. On the occasion that I turned up to help, it was bitterly cold and none of the ex-soldiers were there to help. In any case, many of these are temperamentally unsuited to the attentiveness needed for planting and transplanting. Some volunteers also had difficulty in following simple instructions.

The root balls on the trees that I planted were suffering from a worrying degree of “root pruning” and it was fortunate that we were suffering a cold and extended springtime which inhibited budding. If we were following the rule book, it would have been too late in the year to plant them.

All in all, many of the tentative concerns that we expressed as social and organisational “limiting factors” at the initial concept stage were confirmed during the orchard rescue project. These need to be taken into account in any future design and development work on the site.

Page 15 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Ex-aptation (The importance of doing the right thing badly, rather than the wrong thing well).

May 2013: Client decides to represent, faithfully, the concept plan's “indicative” pond system upon the landscape without further design work. A neighbour with a digger is given a free hand, unrestricted by any notions of the practicality (or safety) of the outcome.

Excavations were made too deep, and have caused extensive damage to the existing land drain system (which we were in the process of mapping).

We have gained an initial benefit from this exercise - we now know that the subsoil will, as expected, hold water without a lining and even without much track-rolling …

All in all, at this stage, the result looks like a disaster. However, our advice to hold up some of the water currently running under the field had been achieved.

Even though the site is in an area where it rains often, dry spells are not unknown. And so it turned out that in 2013, the winter-like spring season was finally broken in June, when a prolonged hot and dry spell of weather started.

The fruit trees had suffered extensive damage during the “rescue”. Extensive pruning was carried out to compensate, and new tree nurseries established to take the grafted material. Around 90 per cent of the trees came into leaf, a good success rate.

Now the trees were suffering signs of distress due to drying out. They were not mulched well, if at all. There were too many trees and not enough people to water them, even with a bowser system. The weather became so dry that moorland fires began to break out in some parts of the country.

The local fire service were contacted to see if they could help. They were reluctant and said that, in any case, there were no suitable fire hydrants nearby. When told about the new pond, their attitude changed. The site would be an ideal one for a “moorland fire-fighting” exercise which followed quickly, using the pond as a source of water and giving the trees a good drenching to see them through to the (inevitable) breakdown of the English “heat-wave”.

Page 16 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Exhibit 1 – Guidelines for planting of fruit and nut trees at Dreamcatcher Farm Submitted to Client February 2013 Angus Soutar

General conditions

A relatively large number of fruit trees are available, and they must be moved to site soon. Given the short time-scale, planting planning may be a combination of "on paper" and "on the ground". The following guidelines should help to obtain a productive result.

The site is undulating and the underlying soil is clay with indications of a compacted clay "pan" beneath the topsoil, this clay layer is reported at around 100mm thick. Field drains have been laid but there are signs that some drains are blocked. At the time of writing, most of the site is water- logged although some areas are drier than others.

Concept design

Although we are still short of data regarding soil conditions, drainage and the wind on site, we have made some rough positioning of productive orchard/forest garden areas

At the meeting on site on 6th February we refined these to focus on three areas:

- a grazed orchard to the south of the site (nearest to the village) - a "forest garden" style of orchard with the available fruit trees as the top, or "canopy", layer, situated at the north of the field, to the east of the proposed "market garden" area (and linked to it) - another forest garden area further east with a thick hedge or shelter-belt between it and its neighbour, this time with walnuts as the canopy layer.

The concept design suggests strengthening the hedgerows and providing a substantial shelter-belt of trees around much of the perimeter of the site. This is intended to provide a microclimate for friut and nut tree planting and a generous margin needs to be allowed when planting the current round of orchard trees.

Planting Guidelines

Planting should consider both structural functions "the wood", how the orchard functions as a whole, and also species selection, "the trees", how each individual plant will contribute to the whole.

To a certain extent, the planning task is simplified by the stock that is available - in this case we will have to "go with what we have been given". The aim of these guidelines is to assist with decisions, both in pre-planning and also "in the field" where there has been little or no allowance in the plan on paper.

Page 17 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Structural

At the inspection on site on 6th February, we agreed that the locations of planting areas would be better staked out on the ground rather than attempt to record the subtle variations in conditions on paper first.

Some notes on locations are given above and there are tentative delineations on the current site concept plan. The details will be achieved through applying the following the guidelines here:

- avoid boggy areas - leave a 15m margin between the field hedge-lines and the orchard perimeters (for protective and productive tree planting) - assess each tree's height at maturity and plant the tallest ones at the most northerly extent (layering to catch the most of the sun) - a rough guide is to plant "canopy" fruit trees in staggered rows, but don't worry about regularity and apply the following rules instead. - plant in "staggered" rows, missing holes/trees out if the ground isn't welcoming - we want clear space between the mature trees with no canopy overlap: if the canopy radii of mature trees 1 and 2 are R1 and R2, then the planting centres (distances between the holes) should be around (R1+R2) x 1.5 - in the "forest garden" areas, plant irregularly to leave space for "clearings" which can be assessed and developed later for more open planting or for human activity - an additional guide is to make sure that in the forest garden areas there is at least 20 sq metres per canopy tree and an average of 30-40 sq metres over the whole area, the 40 sq metre is a good figure for the grazed orchard? - we welcome further suggestions on spacing in the grazed orchard area - boundary planting: hedges of fast-growing pioneer species will provide additional (and timely) wind (and perhaps frost) protection, with possible marginal effects from light reflection from their leaves (particularly the silvery undersides).

In the forest gardens, the end result will probably be quite chaotic - this is good, because there will be many niches ready for planting of further "layers".

Page 18 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Species selection

- consider leaving some gaps to be filled with older, unusual and local species (medlar, quince, mulberry) and with nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs - in forest gardens like this, a useful rule of thumb is to have 1 in 5 trees as nitrogen fixers (but note well that these do not have to be canopy trees - low trees and shrubs may be put in later or planted round the margins, e.g. Martin Crawford recommends Italian Alder to the north because of its tall and conical profile) - consider fairly dense boundary planting with pioneer species such as willow and, particularly, eleagnus or the related hippophae (sea buckthorn). The willow can be chopped back when necessary and the eleagnus will provide yield in terms of nitrogen fixing and their berries

Ecology and growth

Consider using a mycorrhiza preparation for the tree roots when planting. Field soils, although they are often rich in bacteria, lack the beneficial fungi that assist trees with nutrient take- up through their roots.

Page 19 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Exhibit 2 - Planning and implementation diary

3rd March 2013 Site design event

Forest garden No 1. Angus and Patti review suitable sites for the forest garden, with Trevor Wynne standing by to peg out areas. Looking west with the DCF warehouse in the background.

Trial excavation Looking east towards the Peak District hills. Angus and Trevor surveying for “Forest Garden 1”. (Note the margin allowed for shelterbelt between the fruit tree planting baseline and the hedge).

4th March 2013

Page 20 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Site design event, Day 2

Marking out site(s) of forest gardens

Looking east towards the Peak District

6th March 2013

Attempting to use mini-digger for tree planting holes for forest garden 1.

Later pictures show that the holes are dug too large, and they fill up with water …..

Plan B! Revert to planting by hand …..

Page 21 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 11th March 2013 Moving the trees from Briarfields at the Gentil farm near Nantwich.

Page 22 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 12th March 2013 Planting begins at Dreamcatcher Farm

Page 23 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 15th March 2013

The race to plant trees continues ….

Page 24 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 18th March 2013

There are more trees than expected and planned for ….

More planting lines introduced. Creative use of the intended gaps in the “fan” shaped forest garden design.

Page 25 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 25th March 2013 Planting in the snow

still many trees to plant “The managers” must finish the job

“Excavated” soil is frozen. Rootballs are damaged. Will this work? Grazed orchard, looking west towards the main road and outskirts of Bosley village.

Page 26 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 30th March 2013 Shelterbelt

Some of the excess fruit trees will have to be incorporated in the shelterbelt. Oak, ash and birch saplings planted. Looking west towards the warehouse.

29th April 2013 time to prune the fruit trees

buds are beginning to break

Page 27 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 May 2013

grazed orchard looking west

apple blossom

pear blossom - “Aston”

Page 28 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Summary of project implementation from Patti's diary:

Orchard rescue from Liz Gentil’s farm at Aston, nr Nantwich to Dreamcatcher Farm, Bosley in 2013. Diary 19 Feb visit by PA & PP to Gentil farm to assess apple trees in nursery orchard, at least 240 to move (old & new Cheshire varieties of apples and pears) 27 Feb 22 apple & 3 pear varieties listed & assigned to one of three orchard sites at DF by PP 2/3 Mar decide site of orchards during permaculture design event run by AS 5 Mar detailed planting plans received from AS 5 Mar PP secured transport for trees by Plus Dane (MD) 6 Mar holes begun using mini-digger at DF/LOL 11/12 Mar trees dug up at farm (vols PP, PA, JT, OW, Plus Dane Team), transported to DF/LOL (Plus Dane team), 265 moved in total 12 Mar PP & JT begin to plant at DF, holes too large, new holes to be dug by hand 250 stakes arrive, remainder of trees arrive late afternoon (Plus Dane) 15-19 Mar continue planting trees, PP, PA, JT, LOL team 25 Mar finished planting in snowy conditions (PP, PA, JT, AS, TW) 30 Mar planted some trees (e.g. oak, birch, ash) in hedgerows to boost shelter for orchards. PP, JT 3/4 Apr grafting, cuttings taken from DF (PP), PP & JT at Reaseheath College approx 90 grafts made, stored at RC over summer in their polytunnel with correct heat/watering 29 Apr pruning PP, PA; there is some blossom on pear trees, apple trees a little behind 23 May see summary below

The Team

PA Peter Aston Chair LOL PP Patti Pinto, Eco learning, Orchard move manager CSG/Congleton Food4free/ Congleton In Bloom member AS Angus Soutar Permaculture designer JT Jeremy Thorpe Volunteer OW Olga Whitmore CSG/Congleton Food4free volunteer TW Trevor Wynne Permaculture team

Page 29 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Page 30 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Exhibit 3 - Concept site design – design report Dreamcatcher Farm

Notes from CommEnt CIC: on client priorities and next steps following site visit Prepared by Charlotte Dean 15.01.12

Client: Peter Aston (Trustee) and Jill Dolman (Founder) Listening Out Loud (LOL) Foundation http://www.lol-foundation.org/

Core aims identified by the client (Peter Aston, January 2013):

 Maximizing earnings from the 12 acres land and buildings.  Creating a viable, working permaculture demonstration project that effectively integrates people and landscape.  A project with multiple uses and lots of functions that needs a lot of work to maintain by 35+ charity users, employees, volunteers and military personnel.  Retaining significant amenity space for events such as camping, concerts.

Phase 1 (Spring 2013) next steps include:

[See basemap]

 Providing extensive and year-round variety of led gardening tasks for ex-service personnel, of a therapeutic and capacity-building nature.

 First stage of developing (restoring) a series of ponds to store water as high as possible in the landscape, drain some wet areas (over the clay) and provide water for the growing area. William Dean funding: £4210.

 Developing an (accessible) outdoor growing area / market garden with wind protection – polytunnels for high value intensive cropping e.g. micro cropping salads, hen coop and runs, organic (for conversion status) raised beds for annuals, fruit trees, potato tyres, herb beds, (develop growing plan with crop list for cash crops, year-long harvesting and labour intensity, and also food for users). Include hurdle windbreaks initially, and link to indoor design.

 Planting up first windbreak trees along northern and southern boundaries, to include trees for harvesting, and associated sheltered orchard areas - March 2013

 Wastewater treatment from building – possible project for March Design Weekend?

Page 31 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Task prioritization – Concept Phase By: Who

Research conversation with farmer/s re: drainage, January Peter wind, frost pockets, land use history, 2013 contamination, fertiliser use, what grows at this altitude (177m) etc Clarify planning status and car park ownership January Peter Ecological Survey of grassland biodiversity and January Peter / Matt indicator plants Dowsing land to assess drainage and sources January Dowser /Matt Consultant visit by Millennium Ponds specialist January Angus Sourcing materials for windbreak hurdles January Plotting sun onto basemap, possibly GPS-based January Michael wind speed? Taking closer look at funding situation – for February Peter / Jill polytunnels, tools, trees, plants etc Sourcing recycled pallets for raised beds, Feb Patti? cardboard etc for mulching trees Sourcing fertility sources for raised beds – manure / Feb Patti? compost / mulch / straw etc Production Concept Design Mid Feb Angus, Michael, Design Team Community consultation Saturday event looking at End Feb Patti / Peter concept design Permaculture Design Weekend 2nd March Angus (delivery) / Peter (infrastr) Planting plans and placements – annual veg, Patti Mar Patti / Jules? to consult local grower friends Source fruit trees and fruit bushes Mar Patti Researching other local projects that users might Peter be able to work at? Propagation – seedlings and cuttings, and linking Jules outdoor and outdoor areas Researching herbs for essential oils and culinary Jules / Charlotte

Tasks for users Date

Creating hurdles and other windbreaks – willow, hazel February Building a hen coop for at least 25 hens from recycled wood February (hens from British Hen Rescue Society) Digging ponds and drainage March Planting trees – shelter belt and fruit trees March Splitting pallets for building raised beds Shifting manure, compost etc for raised beds

Page 32 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Potential issues / conflicts to manage with design:

- SW prevailing wind / NE colder easterlies - Disabled access to growing area - Issue around access off A523 – be easier to access field off A54 for purposes of planning permission – especially for larger events and camping - Issue around car park ownership and possibility of extending - Community versus commercial interests

Other areas / later areas for development:

- Linking users/work teams with local projects – mutually supportive community links? - Monitoring and Evaluation – ongoing, documentation of what works – research e.g. comparing indoor and outdoor methods and experiments for cost effectiveness, therapeutic and capacity-building interventions with user group - Access tracks / paths - Luxury compost loos and temporary structures (if horticultural / agricultural landuse) - Blueberry area between building and road - Nature trails alongside shelter belts – wildlife interest - Temporary structures for workers - Forest garden areas – experimental, aspects integrated with animals? - Fruit tree nurseries and grafting - Edible and medicinal fungi and truffles growing and processing for niche markets - Renewables costing and development – wind turbine - Animals – goats, pigs, rare breed sheep – look into local animal sharing with farmers and schools, community interest in animals. Strong therapeutic argument vs. issues around 24hour supervision and commercial impact - Bees - School visits – pond dipping, growing, wildlife etc. - Camp site – tents, camping pods, toilet provision - Events for community– needs careful feasibility research re|: licenses, access, parking etc.

Page 33 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Useful local resources and links:

- Congleton Sustainability Group – Peter Aston - Matthew Axford, Countryside Ranger / Permaculturalist [email protected] 01782 513289 - Middleport(?) Charity – Matt Axford - Patti Pinto– Congleton Sustainability Group, Food for Free, Low Carbon Group - Patti - Eco Schools link, RHS School Gardening, Orchard planting in community schools - Ian Coppack, Langley. Ex-ranger (now retired), happy to be involved in dowsing 01260 253308 - Debbie Greenwood - volunteers with Matt through Reaseheath College course, runs WATCH group, involved in developing environmental education possibilities with chef / butcher Karl who owns a farm at the southern end of Bosley Minn, oversees Bosley School’s wildlife / environment projects. Lives in Rushton Spencer 01260 226641 - Local police – confiscated kit, dogs - Dane Valley Woodlands Project – Peak Park driven - Sam Alston, Bosley, food growing in the village, ecologist 01260 226340. Helping develop Dane Valley Woodland Project. - Cheshire Ecological Services (Cheshire Wildlife Trust) – Ecological Surveys? - Head Council / local councillors – esp. re planning support - Millennium Ponds - Local Chamber of Commerce – David Watson - for donations of materials and support (Peter) - Local garden centre - Local herbal producer – Alison ? - Possible source: Shelia Consterdine owns a small organic farm / smallholding a couple of miles up the road towards Buxton, was involved in defunct Congleton LETS group, once a WWOOF host and has interests in crafts / skills etc. - Volunteer Co-ordinator, Canal & Rivers Trust (previously British waterways) Manchester & Pennine area (which includes the ) - possible collaborative working in with our Service

- Northern School of Permaculture – Permaculture Design weekend (Angus) - Unlike Minds - Comment CIC – consultancy, design, research, documentation - Brilliant Seeds project – Forest School practitioners and creative outdoor learning with schools (a Comment CIC project) -

Page 34 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013 Draft site plan

Back to table of contents

Page 35 of 35 Angus Soutar December 2013