Tree planting

 

This is my cousin and his dog Ruby looking at the tree I am about to plant. This was at the Hilfield Friary event on Saturday where we were celebrating 100 years of the Friary by having a tree planting day. The Friars have been there since 1921 and my grandmother was very fond of them. When I was a child we would go to the tiny church and she would sing hymns loudly. My mother was Mary in the nativity there. 

Lots of people were there and when we got our tree we all got a tag to put round it. By some strange co-incidence I was number 1 tag. I took my tag and my small tree with its roots and my cousin Bill came with his spade and we found a nice spot, marked with a post. half way up the hill. I tried to make an incision into the ground but it was hard work, I had to stand on the spade. A nice volunteer called Greta came along and tried to help - it was clear she didn't know much about tree planting. I managed to do a cut that lifted a chunk of turf up and eventually a hole was revealed into which the tree could be planted. I put the turf back but apparently I should have put it back upside down so the grass didn't take all the nutrients out of the soil. 

After we planted our trees a woman came with a video camera and we recorded our memories. I told the woman about going to the little church with my grand mother and my mother told the story about how she was Mary. Then we walked down the hillside in the afternoon sun. 

I also thought about intergenerational tree planting, stories in families and how the tree will be still there when my grandchildren are grown up, hopefully.