We are proud and excited to send you this first GFRFC @ Bridies Farm newsletter. It feels like a long time since we had our first public stall at the Town Hall open day in Autumn 2021 and started collecting your contact details. We have had a mountain of systems and processes to climb since then but we are now getting ready to welcome you onto the land, announcing our first workshop coming up on April 22nd and a summary of our manoeuvres so far:
Workshop: April 22nd
Learn how to graft your own fruit trees using scions from the Chalice Well Garden.
Lunch will be provided. We will have shelter and toilets by then but please come prepared with warm, wet weather gear, a mug, bowl and spoon!
Suggested donation £10 to cover costs.
For booking, access and parking details please hit reply to this newsletter.
Coming Up
We will be hosting quarterly forums and building focus groups specific to the farm’s functions. We currently have emerging groups for the herb gardens, food growing, and the construction and education teams.
To be hosted at the Red Brick Building, the first event will include a walk to the site. Look out for our next newsletter for more details.
Latest updates
We hosted two tree planting events in February and March courtesy of Re-imagining the Levels and were blessed with good weather and a brilliant support team to plant hundreds of trees and two stretches of hedgerow with only a gazebo, a gas stove and big pot of soup.
Over the next few weeks we will be able to host events in a bit more comfort thanks to the arrival of our static caravans which will provide some cosy shelter, toilet facilities and kitchen and grow into the central hub of activities as we begin the project in earnest in the summer and autumn months.
It has been good to observe the lay of the land since it was purchased last autumn, watching the water levels rise and fall and monitoring where the low lying areas are so that we can build our first foundations on dry land! Part of the bigger picture for this local regenerative food and farming centre is to experiment and show how to grow seasonal crops on low-lying land, sculpting the boggy areas and planting the existing swales to provide abundant water throughout the dryer months of the year. It is interesting to note that this land was not affected by the droughts last year and stayed green and healthy in what was the joint hottest summer on record.
