Volunteer Life at Fordhall Farm
January 13, 2025
Have you been thinking about volunteering here at the farm, but aren’t sure what to expect? Volunteer lead Mike is here to help!
Volunteers continue to keep all things FCLI ticking over. From maintenance at the yurts to creating and putting out the farm trails, as well as an ever-increasing focus on conservation and countryside management, we have been very busy over the last few months.
The most recent Volunteer Weekend and Volunteer Fridays have seen us focusing on the fairly new wildlife pond located in one of the far corners of the farm. Several keen and some not-so-keen volunteers have been putting themselves forward to get suited and booted in the comically oversized waders and plunging into the chilly depths of the pond. It turns out the silt trap that we had designed specifically for this pond has been working almost too well, so before the silt starts overflowing into the pond it was time for us to get in there and start clearing the silt from the trap. A long and smelly but rewarding job. Seeing the fresh water trickling into the pond shows a good job has been done. That is not the end of the trusty waders for winter though, as we will be back in clearing overgrowth from this pond, transplanting plants into others and doing much of the same at the Three Ponds.
It has not been all hands-on ponds though. There has also been a lot of hedgerow maintenance. The planting of thousands of trees on the farm in the last few years is a fantastic achievement and was only possible with the assistance of the many new volunteers. Planting the tree, though, is maybe the easiest and most rewarding part of a tree’s life, but here on the farm it’s not as simple as plant a tree and wait. With such varied topography and wild weather, every tree we plant needs an individual bit of love. Weed clearing, re-staking, sheep wool mulching, livestock fencing, watering and the occasional bit of tree whispering is what it takes for us to keep on top of the happy, healthy life of a Fordhall tree.
If you think you have what it takes to give up some time and give our trees the bit of the love they need then we would love to hear from you. You can join our happy team of Friday Volunteers as regularly as you like and be a part of Fordhall’s story.
Get in touch with me at mike.grabarz@fordhallfarm.com for more information or to sign yourself up.
Mike Grabarz, Youth Worker, Volunteer Lead and Residential Extraordinaire
