Posts Tagged ‘hedge’

DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman BUSY WITH THE HOE

Friday, May 21st, 2010

BUSY WITH THE HOE When I was a boy, hedges which divided the gardens of my childhood seemed much higher. Immediately to the left was Mr Knight and two doors on the right lived Mr Knight’s brother. They were both of retirement age even then, avid and obviously experienced gardeners. When they became widowed, once a day [...]

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7 February 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman FEBRUARY WORK PARTY IN THE COMMUNITY ORCHARD

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

FEBRUARY WORK PARTY IN THE COMMUNITY ORCHARD A beautiful late morning down The Donkey Field. Jon, Kate, Tom and I cleared grass and weeds from the bases of all our trees, then hacked back vegetation from our line of Dorset varieties along the top path. Tom enjoyed rides in the wheelbarrow to and fro the compost [...]

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6 February 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman FEELS LIKE SPRING

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

FEELS LIKE SPRING What a beautiful morning! Perfect for climbing on a shed roof and rolling over on your back; for taking a cross-country walk and stripping down to T-shirt when climbing up the sunny sides of hills; for gathering in noisy flocks that roll across the landscape in scattered assemblies, which split and come [...]

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29 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman YESTERDAY MORNING

Friday, January 29th, 2010

YESTERDAY MORNING Stepping out the back door and up in to the garden coincided with the passage of nine noisy ravens overhead. I stood, looked up, observed and counted. Though my breath condenses into steaming clouds from mouth and nostrils, this morning it feels definitely milder. You can read it in the birds. There’s rooks [...]

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10 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman THE POWER OF A MOLE

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

THE POWER OF A MOLE My good friend Helen told the story of a mole she once picked up. The strength in that tiny tiny animal shocked her slightly, and it left a memory which has never been forgot. I was walking across frozen white farmland beyond The Rabbit Warren in the afternoon and noticed a line [...]

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7 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman ANARCHY IN THE U.K.

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

ANARCHY IN THE U.K. Although I’ve had enough of the snow already and look forward to a thaw and emerging signs of spring, I do like the anarchic nature of this frozen beast and the way it brings so many things we take for granted to a grinding halt. In many cases we’ve no choice but [...]

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3 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman SHE WAS THERE, COMMUNITY ORCHARD

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

SHE WAS THERE She was there on awakening, when I straightened my legs. She shadowed me down the stairs and as I dressed in front of the fire. She waited, then pressed on, impatient with my faffing about, then scampered like a mad thing whilst I nursed a mug of tea and strolled round the [...]

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2 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman WHILST SITTING ON THE FLATTENED BUTT OF AN ANCIENT POLLARD OAK

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

WHILST SITTING ON THE FLATTENED BUTT OF AN ANCIENT POLLARD OAK… … a country robin flitted between nine tanalised fence posts which bordered the bottom of an uncut thorny hedge, one-by-one. It surveyed the frozen pasture from the flattened top of each in turn. Jenny wren emerged from a tangle of dead brambles, looked left [...]

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31 December 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman DAFFODIL SHOWS THE WAY

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

DAFFODIL SHOWS THE WAY Weeding along a hedge down on the plot this afternoon. Lifting roots and wiry underground stems. Teasing away unwanted parts, slinging them into a barrow. For two hours at it, working slow but steady, bent double. Every so often straightening, rubbing cold caked hands free of loose dirt. Wheeling refuse round to [...]

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30 December 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman A TRIP OUT GLASTONBURY WAY

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

A TRIP OUT GLASTONBURY WAY Flatlands and levels to the south and east of Glastonbury move me whenever visiting or passing through. It’s the mix of water-filled ditches and streamside willow pollards; the fact that often you have no view beyond the first big hedge. This Somerset landscape, though quite different, none-the-less takes me back [...]

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