I live on a farm and have taken over the one and a half acres of the field next to the house that used to have calves grazing there or potatoes planted in it. 22 years ago I began the process of turning a third of it into a forest garden; it now contains over 60 fruit and nut trees, very many berry plants, herbs and shrubs as well as ground cover. It is a haven for wildlife with 30 different bird species, frogs, moths, butterflies and too any insect species to count.The rest of the area is now allowed to rewild itself by self seeding of trees and plants. I am documenting the progression of the rewilding. Firstly brambles and bracken covered all of the space but in the last 4 years 100 ash trees have self seeded there and are now a considerable size. They are loved by the birds and insects. Several sycamore trees are getting established as well as scrub willow. Wild flowers are now growing in the grass area which is mown every autumn; cow parsley, red campion, meadow cranesbill and trefoils started to appear this summer but the most awe inspiring sight is that of the vast area of rosebay willowherb as seen below. There are many thousands of honey and bumblebees gathering nectar from it. I am a textile artist and produce natural dyes from the plants in my garden. These are used to dye wool and
this is felted to be made into items for my online shop patktextiles.com
