Project::Community Orchard & Checking In::The First Week

This past spring the Environmental Group was responsible for planting out a community orchard on land donated to the community. This piece of land is actually a large, rolling meadow behind the football pitch (soccer field); part of the central greenbelt in the village, a circuitous strip of meadows and trees which follow the route of the West Kilbride burn (creek). This orchard has been planted out with the help of the local primary school. Also a grant was given in order to promote nutrition and sustainable living amongst Scottish youth. (It turns out Irn-Bru & deep-fried pizza  are not on the food pyramid.) The orchard is planted around the outside of the meadow, along a little footpath. The 50 odd trees are in their first season, and need a lot of support; physical support, from the wind, as well as protection from the pervasive blackberry and meadow grasses that are quietly choking them to death. Enter the California gardeners! We spent 2 good days out there in the orchard, forking out brambles, digging up the thick thatch of grasses, talking to people, waving away the midges and horseflies that wanted to land inside our nose, ears and eyes. The EG wants to keep as much of the meadow as wild as they can in order to protect the integrity of the meadow's ecosystem, but their secondary reason is more interesting, they want the trees to blend in to the hedgerows behind them in order to keep them under the radar of the rampant vandalism that plagues this community. We see it everywhere, litter, benches upturned, things broken, newly planted gardens trampled, plants nicked (stolen). 
The first day working there ended spectacularly with a rainstorm (the second storm of the day) that included a large, grey funnel cloud. That's right, a funnel cloud! Ed, Julie, Celicia, Joanna and Colleen all grabbed their tools and beat a retreat slogging home (on foot) back to the Seamill Centre to dry off, and drink some tea. We worked with Fiona Mackintosh from the Environmental Group, which was a real treat.


The second day in the orchard we met Elaine, another EG member and professional landscaper. She brought her two boys, Liam (7) and Ryan (6) , who romped around with our wee Gracie, and generally added to the fun of the day. Elaine also brought her considerable plant knowledge and even more considerable accent, which many of us found quite hard to understand. According to Julie, when Elaine was weeding next to her she had to resort to nodding and smiling, not understanding a word! We probably sound just as strange......
The last little look-in we'll have in the orchard is helping with a plant survey of the different things growing in the orchard and meadow. Which sounds like great fun.