Author Archives: Molly

Entering the yurt on a cool, sunny autumn morning is always a delight. Sitting quietly, power point at the ready is Fraser, who will be leading our session today alongside his delightful canine assistants, Angel and Lola. Today, birds – a daunting subject of fast moving brown blobs to me. Being from a city with […]

The world of fungi, a vast kingdom that spreads across the lands making connections and relationships with all sorts of flora and fauna. The only way to get to know your fungi is to go out and get a little bit dirty, which is exactly what we did. Dr Christian Taylor, a fungi expert who […]

As soon as I entered the lanes that led to Ambios farm and the grounds themselves, I was overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation of the weeks to come. It was like being transported to another world, one full of life round every corner and filled with colour; a far cry from Leeds where I’d come […]

Winding down to the end of a long narrow road you arrive at the hidden Ambios site tucked away into the hillside. We were all greeted with warm hugs and smiles by Jack, Molly and the rest of the crew, before being introduced to the other trainees that we will be spending next 12 weeks […]

Imagine you are going on a journey. The route you will take is one you have never travelled before, and it will take several lifetimes to get there. In fact, you will never arrive: only your grandchildren will see the destination, and only their grandchildren will finally arrive back at home. Between you, you and […]

Something quietly radical has just happened in the Dart valley. With Lower Sharpham Farm and Home Farm now fully converted to organic status, certified by the Soil Association, the Sharpham Estate is now top-to-toe, beetle-to-bat organic. Why does this matter? And by how much? Organic is one of those words that’s settled comfortably into the […]

I started my nine-month placement in late September- I’d been looking forward to it all summer; having already gone through the three-month traineeship in the spring, I was constantly comparing the sweltering streets of my hometown of London with the shaded slopes and cool river of Lower Sharpham, much to the annoyance of everyone around […]

Moths are wonderful. Massively overlooked and overshadowed by their equally wonderful and beautiful butterfly relatives. Many associate moths with their habit of eating woolly jumpers but it is in fact only six of 2500 UK moth species that is guilty of this crime! Let us forgive this and see them for what they are – […]

Think of the actions of a beaver. They create dams that produce pools in which they can protect themselves from predators. A selfish act that results in a plethora of benefits for a wide variety of other flora and fauna. Last week myself and the other trainees learnt the art of hedge laying; a hedgerow […]

Even though the three of us had to isolate for a week due to Covid secure measures we found ourselves active and time passed quickly.  We were warmly welcomed on arrival and taken care of with the provision of some delicious food kindly prepared by Ella and Phil who are both long term volunteers here […]