Wild Dorset
LIFE ON THE EDGE Adam & Ellen Simon, Tamarisk Farm
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inter is the quiet time for a mixed farm. Next yearâs crops are either safely in the ground or, like our spring barley, waiting until spring to be sown, and the ewes and cows are still pregnant for another month or two. Itâs the lull before the storm of late nights, early mornings and constant supervision of calving and lambing. So winter is a time to catch up on other jobs that have slipped by throughout the rest of the year: clearing gateways and footpaths, tidying the tools and workshops, repairing fences and stiles, cutting back hedges. Perhaps most excitingly, itâs the season to plant trees. This may seem confusing â why plant during the cold season? Surely it needs to be sunny and warm to help them grow? Trees go dormant during the cold months - the sap hasnât yet ârisenâ - which makes this the time when working with trees is the least stressful to them. Planting trees is definitely not one of the easy jobs. You are outside in the winter weather which may be bright clear sun but is often wind, with sudden sea squalls that can come with no warning. Sometimes you are working in frozen ground, often in wet clay which sticks to your boots and your spade. Deer and rabbits like to eat the young trees and our own horses, sheep and cattle will do also given the chance, so trees we put in are therefore given tree guards and fenced away from livestock - all more work. But, like so many aspects of 28 | Bridport Times | February 2018
farming, aching muscles and wind-swept hair are part of working outdoors, which we relish, and the reward of sitting by the fire with a hot cup of tea, knowing that the fruits of our labours will stand for many years makes it all worthwhile. There is an old adage: âThe best time to plant trees is twenty years ago, the second-best time is now.â We have tried to work to that adage, and are now enjoying the benefit of those who did so before us. We do this despite the fact that West Bexington is not tree-growing country. We have salt winds from the sea. They nip off fresh growth when it comes in the spring; they tear off heavy, leafy branches when they come in the summer. In autumn and winter they blast all the seaward buds or simply blow the trees down. Woods planted just over the hill in the Bride Valley will mature in half the time that ours will. But the more we plant the more shelter there is, meaning we can plant even more new trees which will then grow better. We think thatâs a good thing, no matter how long it takes. Britain used to be more tree-covered and we believe that, even here, the scrub and low trees are the natural habitat. We also know that woody plants can be part of both working to counter climate change and mitigating its effects, so we are continuing the tree and hedge planting project started in the 1960s by Arthur and Josephine. We started then by growing trees which we knew