Infinity and beyond

By Martin Harker | Published: 09/03/2022

A poem written by the sister of Martin Harker, our bee man, that captures the wonder of working and interacting with the natural world.  May it bring a smile, deep nourishment and a sense of hope that springs from this beautiful world we live in.

How many trees have you planted

How many seeds have you sown

How many lives have you touched

How many minds have you grown

 

How many ideas have you sown

In how many hearts and minds

How many minds have you blown

With a kiss of your butterfly’s wings

 

How many flowers have you grown

How many butterflies fed

How many of your bees have flown

How many birds have you fed

 

How many ideas have you launched

To fly like seeds in thermals fair

We can only guess how many take root

And how many still dance in the air

 

By Gillian Vergine in loving memory of Gary Vergine

 

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Conservation Hub Completion

By jonathan.caddy | Published: 09/03/2022

The 19th February marked a significant event in terms of the work of the Findhorn Hinterland Trust – the completion of our new and beautiful physical base for our conservation and educational work created from trees from our woodland.  It is a symbol of our long-term commitment to the land we are custodians of and a very practical tool to help fulfil our charitable purposes of conservation, environmental education, building local community and providing recreational resources on the Findhorn peninsula.


The well-attended celebration and ceremony on that day was the culmination of a lot of thought and hard work which started over five years ago when members of the newly formed trust, George Paul, Kajedo Wanderer and I, visited a site near Lochinver where master woodworker Henry Fosbrooke was completing a similarly designed building.  The journey has required dealing with the details of planning permission, building control, employing a structural engineer, timing when to fell trees for building, reaching out for funding, involving folks in the hard work of preparing trees for the build, finding a skilled practitioner to lead the build, encouraging volunteers and professionals to help with the work and a thousand and one other details. 


The end result is a beautiful and functional building which brings more joy and efficiency to the work we do but equally as important has been the way that it has been created – the whole network of people that have willingly come together to freely contribute their time and skill to build something positive within our local community that has been challenged by covid, redundancies, fires and major restructuring.  It has definitely helped kick start the rebuilding of our sense of community and hopefully will inspire things to come in relation to the future creation of our new sanctuary and community centre as well as bring nourishment and hope to many.

 

For now let’s give thanks to the many, many people and organisations that have given of themselves by being involved in this whole process as we share a few pictures of our celebration together at the end of this part of the journey. 

Many blessings and appreciations,

Jonathan Caddy

FHT Chair 

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FHT Chair’s Roundup – November 2021 to March 2022

By jonathan.caddy | Published: 09/03/2022

Although dealing with storm damage, finishing the building of the Conservation Hub and enabling the production of wood for the new sanctuary have dominated the Trust’s work this quarter, there have also been a whole host of noteworthy activities that have been going on in parallel.  To tell you the truth the organisation has been buzzing with positive activity and events these past months!

For example this year’s Christmas tree event was able to be held this year at the Woodland Shelter in a much more normal way with a fire, festive nibbles, drinks, a few crafts and a social time as individuals and families came from far and wide to select their own special tree.  Over £1000 was generated through this very popular event – a big thank you to all that helped to make it such a success particularly Judith Berry, Judith Bone and our land manager Kajedo.

The Woodland Shelter was also the location for a number of other gatherings notably a little Christmas Gathering put on by Sabine to once more get people out and experience the beauty of this convivial outdoor and social setting.

A couple of funerals for people in the local area also took place at our Wilkies Wood Green Burial Ground.  This allowed the new green burial team comprising Kajedo and Jamie who organise the physical burial and Laura and Juanna who coordinate the burial logistics to get a bit more practice in their new found roles with Will Russell who remains as our green burial consultant continuing to give support in the background.   It is a joy to know that such a strong team now holds this important aspect of the Trust’s work.  Thanks go to those that have been willing to step up to this challenge and Will who has gracefully orchestrated this essential transition that now ensures continuity and succession.

Bees are quiet during the winter but our beekeepers have been kept busy. Reroofing the bee shed during an unusual snowstorm was more akin to working in the arctic – have a look at the snapshot video of Martin and Luis carrying on regardless in a blizzard.  The roof had been blown off twice by the unprecedented storms that we have had this winter.

The trust also felt very supported by the New Findhorn Directions team that, amongst other things, run the Findhorn Bay Holiday Park.  They dismantled the old toilet blocks for holiday makers and offered the FHT materials that have been so useful in a whole host of ways – hard plastic toilet cubical sheets that make excellent roofing material for timber stores or temporary shelters, plumbing material that saved us hundreds of pounds building the Hub, metal profiled roofing material that is essential for covering the sanctuary wood and will be used in construction in the future, the plastic water tank that is now storing roof water from the Outdoor Learning Space in the Woodland Garden, the metal water tank base that is providing a perfect rain shelter whilst we do our wood milling work…  Thanks goes in particular to these unsung heroes- to Kat their manager, Adrian in accounts and to Gus who does so much essential work on the ground and who was so helpful when it came to connecting the Hub up to the Park water system.  A huge thank you is in order for this much appreciated community spirited help.



Our monthly work parties have been able to happen again.   These have been very well attended and in these past few months, have focussed on helping with the backlog of tasks needed to happen around the Woodland Garden.  Draeyk who now focalises this aspect of the Trust has done so much to bring more life into the garden with regular daily volunteers and lining up the activities for these bigger work events.  It has been particularly exciting to see the new greenhouse donated by Carl and Jenni-Linn start to take shape with some expertise provided by local avid gardeners Hugh Andrews and Howard.

Last but not least there is the work that Paulo Bessa, one of our trustees and amongst other things a passionate bird watcher, and John Willoner have been doing caring for our bird boxes.  We have about 20 of them scattered in our woodland and they need annual cleaning and a little TLC to encourage our many feathered friends to make our land their home.  

I trust the above gives you some idea of the network of people that give freely of their time and skills to help with the dynamic work of the trust and the work of caring for this land that we so value. 

Blessings,

Jonathan Caddy

FHT Chair

March 2022   

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FHT Partnership with Equal Adventure

By jonathan.caddy | Published: 09/03/2022

Providing opportunities to get individuals that are physically challenged out onto our special land that we live next to is what this partnership is all about.  It is progressing with planned Findhorn Friday events set for the end of March. To prepare for this development, Rowan Morgan one of the EA staff based in Grantown, was on the land with a couple of clients putting together a promotional video which we share with you here.  

If you are aware of any individual or family that may benefit from this programme do contact Rowan directly at [email protected]

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Storm Arwen – natural disturbance in action

By Alan Watson Featherstone | Published: 09/03/2022

On the night of Friday 26th-Saturday 27th November 2021, a major storm, called Storm Arwen by meteorologists, hit the east coast of Scotland with very strong winds of up to 90 mph. Unusually, the wind direction came from the northeast (most of the country’s stormy weather comes from the southwest) and this resulted in many trees being blown down in exposed areas.

Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) blown down over a stack of cut logs by Storm Arwen on the night of 26th November 2021, Findhorn Hinterland.

Here at the Findhorn Hinterland over 100 large trees were uprooted and blown over, with most of those being in the northeast corner of the pine plantation, closest to the wind turbines. They were the trees that were most exposed to the direction the wind came from, and because they were tall and straight and had grown close to each other they were quite vulnerable to exceptionally strong winds like this. A few trees even got snapped off in the middle of their trunks by the sheer force of the gales they were subjected to.

Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) blown down, & one pine snapped in half, by Storm Arwen on the night of 26th November 2021, Findhorn Hinterland.

While the first thought that many people may have had is that this was a ‘disaster’ and very bad for the woodland, it is in fact a relatively common occurrence that brings its own benefits for the ecosystem. It is an example of what is known in ecological terms as ‘natural disturbance’, and is one of several irregular events that create change in the ecosystem. Other examples include naturally-occurring forest fires, occasional outbreaks of insect infestations and unusually cold winter conditions. All of these have similar effects in that they disturb the status quo in the ecosystem, and create heterogeneity, or variation, where before there may have been uniformity. 

Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) blown down by Storm Arwen on the night of 26th November 2021, Findhorn Hinterland.

With Storm Arwen, while it’s obviously sad to see the trees that have been blown down, one immediate result of that is the creation of light gaps in the otherwise relatively dense and evenly shaded areas under the pines in the woodland. These light gaps provide the ideal opportunity for pioneer species which need lots of light to grow, and they quickly become established after such an event. In 2004 an even stronger storm blew down a much larger area of the pine woodland on the Hinterland, which we now call the Fallen Acres. In the following two years foxgloves blossomed in profusion there, and they were followed by prolific regeneration of silver birches. In fact those were so dense that we have done regular work since then to thin them out, and the area is now a beautiful young birch woodland.

Alan with some of the Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) blown down by Storm Arwen on the night of 26th November 2021, Findhorn Hinterland.

Other results of this natural disturbance include the creation of micro-habitats that can be utilised by small mammals, various invertebrates etc. A good example are the upturned root plates of the fallen trees and the bare soil that is exposed underneath them. Saprotrophic fungi of course have a literal field day, as they have a lot of newly-dead wood to feed on and decompose, releasing the nutrients stored there and making them available for other organisms in the soil.

For me, it’s part of the rewilding of both the land and ourselves to see the positive side of an event like Storm Arwen, and to recognise the benefits it can bring to many parts of our local ecosystem.

Alan Watson Featherstone

Upturned root plate of a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) blown down by Storm Arwen, showing the sandy nature of the soil, Findhorn Hinterland.

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Fungi on the Findhorn Hinterland

By Alan Watson Featherstone | Published: 01/12/2021

As part of our work to identify the biodiversity of the Findhorn Hinterland area we commissioned Liz Holden, Scotland’s leading mycologist, to carry out a survey of the fungi that are present on the site. She spent two days on the Hinterland in 2020, at the beginning of September and in mid-October, and then returned again with members of the Scottish Fungal Foray group, led by Cameron Diekonigin, for another day in September 2021. That group visit had been planned for 2020 but had to be postponed because of Covid-related lockdown restrictions that were in force at the time. I accompanied Liz on all three days, and have also been sending her fungal specimens from the Hinterland for identification for the past three years. As a result of this, we now have 216 species of fungi recorded here, including some interesting and unusual ones.

Amongst those of particular note is the sandy earthtongue fungus (Sabuloglossum arenarium), for which there are only a handful of records in Scotland. As its name implies it grows in sand dunes, and is thought to have an association with another fungus, the moor club fungus (Clavaria argillacea), so we were very pleased to find the two species fruiting together on the dune area of the Hinterland in October 2020. Another rare species that exists on our site is the rust fungus (Pucciniastrum goodyerae), which only occurs on creeping lady’s tresses orchids (Goodyera repens). This had previously been recorded on the Hinterland by Heather Paul, our local lichen specialist, and this is one of just a few sites in Scotland (all in the northeast) where it has been recorded.

Fungi come in a wide variety of shapes and forms, not just the typical ‘mushroom shape’ that is familiar from culinary mushrooms and children’s story books. They are the fruiting bodies of each fungal species, with the main part of the fungus being a fine network of thread-like structures in the soil. Those are called hyphae, and the network they form is known as a mycelium. The mycelial networks wrap around the roots of trees and other plants, and an exchange of nutrients take place, whereby the fungi (which have no chlorophyll and therefore cannot photosynthesise by themselves) receive carbohydrates and sugars from the trees and plants, while they pass on minerals and other nutrients from the soil in return. This mycorrhizal relationship, as it is known, is fundamental and crucial to the health of forests and many other terrestrial ecosystems. Other fungi are saprotrophic, meaning that they play an essential role in the decomposition and recycling of organic material – without them all woodlands would soon be overflowing with dead plant matter. The photographs here show some of the diversity of fungi we’ve found so far on the Hinterland. 

 

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Christmas Tree Event 2021

By jonathan.caddy | Published: 29/11/2021

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A Sense of Wonder

By Alan Watson Featherstone | Published: 28/11/2021

Magical Images from the Land Captured by Alan Watson-Featherstone

Although the land that the Findhorn Hinterland Trust manages is relatively small in area, it is nevertheless rich in its biological diversity. In most cases this does not consist of large and charismatic species (our largest is the roe deer), but instead comprises many beautiful, and often brightly coloured small creatures and other organisms. By looking closely, it’s possible to discover a world of natural wonders that thrives around the Findhorn Community, and this 7 minute video, ‘A Sense of Wonder’, offers an inspiring introduction to that.  It was originally produced for the Findhorn Ecovillage Community’s 59th birthday sharing.  Enjoy!

 

 

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New Champion for the Edible Woodland Garden

By Draeyk van der Horn | Published: 28/11/2021

Introducing Draeyk van der Horn

Howdy folks! By way of an intro on becoming the Woodland Gardener for the FHT’s Edible Woodland Garden and Outdoor Learning Space, I am pondering where to begin. I could say it was the Fae in my parents’ garden that had me connect with the land and growing as a wee lad. I went on to run my own garden business and then into Conservation Management and Landscape Architecture before landing into community liaison, local planning, setting up neighbourhood schemes such as “green estates” and food networks. I’ve established farmers markets, community gardens and city farms. I am a plant based, vegan chef and for the last eight years, until we moved to Scotland, I was busy re-wilding our smallholding on Dartmoor with my Husband, where I also became a spokesperson on Food, Farming and Environment. For 15 years I have been exploring natural planting systems in challenging environments, such as drought gardens in California as well as permaculture, Biodynamics and forest gardening. 


I believe in working with the intrinsic wisdom of our natural environment and the practice of participatory, self-identified spiritual paths through collaboration and immersion with the wild.  


I would love to see everyone come along and say hello and be engaged in this wonderful space.  I will be there most days from 9.00 to 10.00am but best to give me a call on 07595434624 to confirm that you will be coming along to make sure I am there.  To me gardening is an access to unseen worlds and connections, a world of healing and wonder. So come and explore with me. There is so much shared wisdom, passion and curiosity amongst us, let’s celebrate that.

…and if you have never grown a vegetable, or met a companion plant, then now is the time! 

See you soon. 

The Woodland Gardener

 

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Celebrating Our Bees and the 2021 Honey Harvest

By jonathan.caddy | Published: 28/11/2021

Our apiary and our hundreds of thousands of bees up by the wind turbines continue to be one of the important ways we have of interacting with the land that the FHT  looks after.  Martin Harker, John Willoner and I hold the awareness of our hives and their seasonal needs whilst encouraging as many others to get involved as possible.  This has proved a little tricky with Covid restrictions but there has been a steady stream of helpers and those wanting to get involved – we feel that it is essential to encourage this and the next generation to take an interest in these vital and fascinating creatures.

This year has been a strange one as it was so cold during the month of May that we had to feed the bees to keep them alive.  That said, once summer arrived the bees made the most of it and we were able to not only increase the number of hives from 4 in the spring to 10 going into the winter but also to have a bumper harvest.


Harvest time is always a delight to me bringing back childhood memories of taking honey combs down to the minister’s manse at Kinloss and revelling in the smell, stickiness and productive feeling of the honey extraction process.  It was our dear departed Dorothy Maclean who was our beekeeper then despite her being very allergic to their stings.  This year the extraction process took place at John Willoner’s house and was aided by the Holden family, Ted, Christine, Dell and others.  It was particularly hard work as our extractor was on its last legs and required a lot of effort to get the liquid gold spinning out as it should.  Tasteful new Findhorn Honey labels had been designed and produced by Avalon de Santos and Christopher Holden was a particularly keen decanter into the jars.  


The Great Garden Gathering was a time we could share and sell our harvest with Dell looking after the stall.  This event along with sales John Willoner also made from his home on the field, we made a total of £600+ this year which will go right back into caring for and developing our apiary in the coming years.

Great thanks goes to the wonderful bees we care for and all those that have been involved in caring for them and those that bought honey to support this venture. 

Jonathan Caddy

FHT Chair 

 

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Findhorn Hinterland Trust, Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) SC045806
228 Pineridge, Findhorn, Forres, Moray IV36 3TB