Transforming The Mill Pond

In the centre of our venue space there is a pond. Around 10 or 15 years ago it was in use as a trout pond, but since then it's become overgrown and bit of an eye-sore. Frank, the head gardener here at Radford Mill Farm, has been beautifying the venue space for over a year and half and, as the seasons started to change at the end of 2013, it was the mill pond's turn!

Before

Frank's vision is to create a water garden you can walk into via steps and a small jetty. It's to be a place of beauty for people to enjoy but also one that increases biodiversity on the farm. The pond is to be planted with many pollinator-friendly species and, in time, become a haven for wildlife. 

After

The first job was to drain the pond and clear the banks of nettles and other perennial weeds that had taken over. Wwoofers armed with slashers, spades and trusty garden forks got stuck in and soon we could start planting. 

Before

After

Steps were built using old railway sleepers which made the pond much more accessible (we nearly lost a few tools and Frank himself to the deep mud!).

Frank managed to spend very little money on plants through sourcing things from the farm itself and other contacts, donations or propagation.

Around the pond's margins (in or just above the water) we planted Juncus Grass and just above this Miscanthus sinensis which will spread and whose soft heads will look nice in winter. The bright green and red bark of Shrubby Dogwoods planted along both banks will also bring winter colour to the pond. Hart's Tongue Fern (Phyllitis scolopendrium) was planted into the edges where the stream enters the pond creating an instant fern gully. The upper parts of the bank were planted with the pollinator-friendly flowering plants Rud Beckia and Abyssinian Gladiolus, while in the water there is Papyrus and Yellow Flag Iris. 

There are still a few more improvements to be made including more planting (White Water Buttercups, Water Lillies, Bull Rushes and Horsetail) and building a jetty.  The banks will need to be tended to eliminate the last of the perennial weeds that were choking the pond but Frank sees it becoming self-maintaining in two or three years. A lot of hard work went into this project and it's a huge reward just seeing the impressive difference, even before things have had a chance to take root and spread out.

What's Cooking Arnault?

    So what will you do if you come to volunteer with us, here at Radford Mill Farm. Well we do our very best to try and vary the work but when it all comes down to it, we have a lot of manual work in the soil (I'm trying not to say the 'W' word ...  weeding!). It's an organic farm so to produce great tasting healthy food, the weeds are a part of our life! C'est la vie :) 

    Sometimes though we change things around a bit. A snapshot of the tasks from today is as follows: planting leaks, picking gooseberries and blackcurrants (and weeding them), weeding out an invasive species (Himalayan Balsam) from our willow plantation, repairing a trailer, planning a rainwater harvesting system, doing improvements to the mill building, collecting a large number of old stone slabs and a used toilet for reuse (thanks freecycle!), more planning for our soon to be fitted new solar photo voltaic systems and of course everyone over the week, takes turns washing up and cooking. 

    Many people find it a challenge to cook for 10 or 15 people but theres always help at hand and once completed, you can enjoy a great sense of achievement, when you produce a nice meal for everyone. Don’t forget to cook something for the vegetarians though!!

    Here’s Arnault from Brittany, one of our long term WWOOFers, cooking us all pork chops, which were yummy! Arnault will also give you advice on anything to do with Cheese because everyday is cheeseday! Arnault is also a big fan of cakes and is a dab hand at making them.

    This chocolate treat graced our dinner table for nearly 2 whole minutes! You can't buy any of Arnault's cakes as we are guarding them with a high security fence but we will be selling our freshly picked, organic gooseberries and blackcurrants throughout July. You can get these at the Radford Mill Farm shop, in Picton Street in Bristol. Pop in if you're nearby and treat yourself! 

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Look No Rain

    Yes it's hard to believe but we almost had no rain today! At least it's quite good for the crops but the little sunshine we did have today, put a smile on people's faces and everyone was in a good mood.

    WWOOFers come, WWOOFers Go. Here's the current gang at Radford Mill Farm. From left to right we have Richard, Lea, Rico, Aida, Liam, Arnault, Lou, Chris, Valentin, Carlotta, Sam, Cyril, Tom and Mikael. Shortly before this picture was taken we had just had a lovely pasta dinner and an impromptu game of Boules!

Cider With WWOOFERS

    WWOOF or 'Willing Workers on Organic Farms', is a loose network of national organisations that facilitate placement of volunteers on organic farms. There are placements available in 99 countries around the world, with each country's WWOOF organisation, responsible for running itself, to loosely similar standards.

     At Radford Mill Farm we rely heavily on 'WWOOFers' to keep our fields and polytunnels in good order, as well as making improvements to the facilities and buildings here. The current crop of 'WWOOFers' includes one American, one Welshman, two from England and 5 from France. WWOOFERS get to improve their English and have a cheap working holiday, as well a chance to learn a little about organic farming and food production.

Left to Right : Chris, Lou, Liam, Valentine, Caio, Ben, Leah, Mikael and Ben

    Here's the current motley crew, pictured shortly before returning to work after a hearty lunch. If you fancy a little time down on the farm, in a peaceful part of the beautiful English countryside, why not get in touch with us directly or through the WWOOF organisation. In exchange for 6 hours work a day (Mon-Fri) you'll get fed and be given a bed and you can enjoy a little community living to boot. Work includes planting, weeding and harvesting, a bit of painting and woodwork, garden maintenance and all sorts of other things and we try and tailor your skills to the work that's needed. We look forward to sharing a cider with you!

richardrmf@hotmail.com

www.wwoof.org

Welcome, Bienvenida, Ola, Ciao, Salut, Hae, Velkomin, Ahoj, привет, Hej, Szia, こんにちは, Sveiki, Labas, Hei, Czesc, Merhaba and हाय !

Welcome to the Radford Mill Farm blog, coming to you from the heart of the beautiful Somerset countryside, here in the UK.  Please spend a bit of time getting to know us and what we do and maybe we can tempt you to come and visit our farm.

While here you can help by volunteering as a WWOOF guest or why not buy some of our yummy organic food and drink. Here at Radford Mill Farm we also host weddings, offer camping and group accommodation, willow for basket making, scrumtious apple juice and offer a range of brilliant educational courses. All produce is made or grown to the highest standards, as Radford Mill Farm has been certified organic by the Soil Association, since 1980.

So pull up a chair, relax and enjoy your visit to our blog. Thanks for reading.