Author: dirtieswebspinner

CALDERS COMMUNITY GARDEN, WHAT A COOL PLACE. LOTS OF KIDS RUNNING AROUND AND CATCHING BUGS AND GENERALLY HAVING A GOOD TIME. IT TOOK ABOUT AN HOUR TO GET THERE BETWEEN THE WALK AND THE BUS, SO I GOT TO SEE A PART OF EDINBURGH I HADN’T BEEN TO BEFORE. WE HAD A FEW DIFFERENT PROJECTS TO WORK ON. I STARTED OUT DIGGING A HOLE. NOT JUST ANY HOLE. THIS HOLE HAD A GREAT DESTINY, IT WOULD ONE DAY BE A THREE-TIERED POND FOR BUGS AND ANIMALS TO CHILL OUT IN. I’M KIND OF A FAN OF DIGGING HOLES, ANY SORT OF REPETITIVE MANUAL LABOUR REALLY, AS IT GIVES ME TIME TO THINK. SINCE THIS WAS A GROUP ACTIVITY IT WAS ALSO TIME TO TALK AND GET TO KNOW THE GROUP OF PEOPLE I’D JUST MET THE DAY BEFORE. WORKING TOGETHER ON A PROJECT IS A GREAT WAY TO FEEL CLOSE WITH A GROUP OF NEW PEOPLE AND I QUICKLY BECAME COMFORTABLE. IT’S A VERY WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT AND I’M REALLY GLAD I DECIDED TO TRY IT OUT.

FREE FOOD IS ANOTHER THING THAT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER. THE LUNCH WAS GOOD, WE IMRPOVISED THE USUAL SANDWICHES AND THERE WAS ALSO SOME CURRY OR STEW OR SOMETHING WITH SOME REALLY GOOD BREAD. AFTER LUNCH I TOOK A BREAK FROM THE HOLE AND DID WILLOW WEAVING. THAT WAS PRETTY COOL, YOU FEEL LIKE A FORCE OF NATURE BY BENDING AND TYING THE TREES. PLUS THE END RESULT WAS REALLY PRETTY. WE FORMED AN UNRULY HALF-RING OF WILD WILLOWS INTO AN INTRICATE, ALMOST ORNATE CIRCLE WITH TWO BEAUTIFUL GATES. BY THE TIME WE WERE DONE I WENT BACK TO CHECK ON THE HOLE, AND IT HAD ABOUT DOUBLED IN SIZE SINCE I LEFT. WOW!

I LOVE THESE PEOPLE.

Dirties are Mighty

Dig a Big Hole, Kill That Tree

Biscuits Shall Appear.

 

At the time of the Dirty Weekenders 25^th Anniversary (Can’t believe Dirties is older than most of its current members!) we embarked on a bothy before the dirties term began. We headed up to Sam’s place which is at Comrie Croft roughly 60 miles north of Edinburgh. Sam’s place is a fantastic organic market garden which last time we went was just starting up. When we arrived those of us who were there before couldn’t believe how the place had come along, where there were just dug beds and empty polytunnels, there is now huge amounts of fruit and veg growing!

On the Friday we settled into the polytunnel and made a sort of cardboard fort to place our roll mats. Also it rained lots! On the Saturday we started work at around 9. We split up into two groups, with one group working on the market garden with Sam and the other heading to the woods to do some tree work for Comrie Croft. In the morning I worked on the garden, weeding and digging potatoes ready for market. Other people picked broad beans and other veg, and we also cleared some paths between the plants in the polytunnels. Lunch saw us have the mighty dirties sandwich, which had been missing from my life for too long! There was also an excellent game of biscuit Frisbee. After lunch I switched to the tree side of things, where I teamed up with French Will and we were cutting down some smaller trees to make space for the others to grow, and then cutting the branches off to make poles out of the trees. We also had to avoid many a mountain biker.

In the evening we had a bonfire and some drinks and there was singing and merriment (in some cases maybe a tad too much merriment!) On Sunday I was on team hole digging, where we were digging holes in the berry bush beds to put stakes into. Many rocks were battled then vanquished in the process.

This isn’t the most detailed post, but there is a Haiku. The bothy was fantastic fun and I can’t wait for the next one. Thank you to Keira and Tanya for organising, and our drivers Nina, Elu and Not French Lord Grantham for bringing us there (and doing a cider run).

Love from Bam Bam xxxx