Whit Ramble Round

In the Gateway of Top Hay field

Two years since planting the Sibley apple tree now standing 8ft. high in First Meadow.

Crow Meadow ferns amidst thick bluebells with possibly the site’s oldest oak just beyond the in-bloom hawthorn.

Beech tree planted from a pot kept in a Penzance yard until 2003 when Liz thought it a good spot in the shelter of the adjacent gorse. Originally collected as sprouted coteledons from Trevaylor woods by Paul on a walk with Sarah in 1995. Grown on in fish crates with some 80 others for a couple of years at Helnoweth, most planted out into hedgerows there.

Some hand weeding of seed trenches reveal

Seeds into trenches were Ash last Easter, Chestnuts and Birch in the early Autumn. Birch seeds were from the upper branches of a 30 ft. tree taken down in a Surrey garden. Thanks Sue. As well as planting it’s seeds we also made the most of the wood some being made into Besoms for the family including a small one for our new niece Daisy born on the day we felled the tree.

Having taken down two sections of 10 ft we were unable to get a saw behind the remaining pollard. This Spring it unexpectedly began to regrow.

April 2010

With some help from a friend we put in most of the the 1300 trees we purchased this year. Mostly planted on the Croft which is visible from the road and raised a few comments from neighbours - all positive. Some infilling and extension of the shelter belt started in 2008. Both areas partly visible in the picture below taken from near the car park.

We found also found that Google had updated their sateillite imagery to show the extent of the bracken management mowing last year. Will be able to use this to check the success of trees in shading out bracken in the future.

August 2009

Bit late going up with these from August 2009. A walk around fields with camera caught the following three creatures amongst more common varieities.

9th April 2009

Some basket making willow planted down near the spring. In the background some other willow planted a few years go by Withy Liz, now ready for cutting and replanting. It's a bit late in the year for this, but with Spring being damp and planting near the stream we have decided to give it a try.



Looking on

15 February 2009

Planting in Little Stitch Field around some 7 year old survivors - Ash and Hawthorn. In the middle of the top hay fields this small enclosure is too stony to maintain as meadow. Put in a mix of Ash Sycamore and oak along the northern boundary.































In the second meadow the willow archway has partially died back, so we decided to trim and replant the willows to form a wider access across the green lane to give tractor access to the The Slope field our worst bracken affected field. Some digger work needed first to flatten historic cattle erosion.















Lots of orange fungi growing around the site, hence the new title image.

Latest arrivals at Cranken are some Belted Galloway cows. They are feasting on our hay meadow to see how they like it and if it helps the condition of the grassland.














The two year old beech trees transplanted into a lined trench last October have survived meaning the rabbit fencing is working well. We now have on-site storage for whips to go in this February and are trialling two trenches filled with birch and ash seeds. These are for tree stock in 2-3 years. If they work well, more trenches next year and a greater variety of stock. Making more use of this space means we can suppress the bracken that has taken over and be more self sustainable in generating our own supply of tree stock. Could also create a sheltered spot to gather for work breaks in windy weather.

The alders that survived the dry spell last Spring have done well, doubling their height and a good start to the shelter belt for the new orchard. Also being tried is some interplanting of Elder sticks to see if they will root and provide some low level growth to shelter new trees.

17 February

Tree planting day with West Cornwall Conservation Volunteers and friends.







































Apple trees.














New shelter belt through First Wet Meadow and The Slope fields through the middle of a slight valley widening. The idea is to deflect the winds that come up and down the valley warming the microclimate either side making the most of topographical shelter. Main trees being planted Ash and Alder this year. Alder as nursery trees and other natives inter-planted in the future.










































Tried planting blackcurrants on outside of rabbit
fence. Turns out Cranken rabbits like eating blackcurrant stems.