On a bright and crisp morning, we milled in the sun excited for our Community Forrest tree planting session to begin. Jess joined us and invited us to the yurt to share a presentation to put our day’s activities in context. She shared the rationale for the project and the process the team went through to design a plan to help realize a mosaic of habitats to support biodiversity and resilience at Sharpham.
Annie, whose sessions in the garden had emphasized the ways that interdependence between mycelium, plants, and trees is vital to soil health and species resilience, guided us in the process of making a mycorrhizal brew. We collected soil from mature healthy areas of the existing woodland and mixed it with water so that we could dip the roots of the trees in this mixture as we planted them.
Ready to plant, we gathered two wheelbarrows full of crab apple and elder whips along with shovels and headed to the northern slope of Badger field. Next, Jess took us through the steps of planting a tree with care, emphasizing the key principles that we would be assessed on later in the day. Reminding us to try and be random in choosing where to plant the trees among earlier plantings, she released us to practice planting in pairs.
The crows flying above and wood pigeons perched on the edges of the woodland witness our planting and chatter as we commented on the processes and shared our thoughts about the use of Artificial Intelligence for skills assessment, which the team is exploring.
One-by-one we took turns being assessed by Stewart, who eased any stressed we were feeling in being evaluated with friendly conversation. As we demonstrated our newly honed planting skills, he kindly offered helpful corrections to our technique.
With all the whips in the ground we gathered our tools and looked back upon the little stems reaching toward the sun with their roots pointing down into the soil. Each of us heartened to imagine them growing up along this beautiful bend in the Dart, extending woodland and shrub habitats for a variety of plant, invertebrate, bird, and mammal species.
✍ Jessica Lusty – Autumn 2024 Nature Recovery Trainee
