Easy to forget

At this time of year, as our opening date approaches I tend to find myself very critical of our campsite and feel slightly disheartened by how much still needs to be done to fulfil my visualisation of what we could achieve. It is easy to forget how much we have already done to reclaim the site from ivy and blackthorn (which I do like in symbiotic quanitities) and which the pigs have loved to eat.

The voice of reason is usually my other half, Graham, who reminds me just how overgrown the area was and how many trips to the dump and how many bonfires we have had!

It helps to look at some of the before and after pictures - although, why is it one never remembers to take the before pictures, until half-way through or until one has already reached the "after" stage! 

So, as I sit having a coffee in the cottage, on a particularly precipitous morning, I thought I would share some 'before', 'in-between' and 'after' pictures on the blog.

Tiny piglets installed for clearing the blackthorn and hawthorn and brambles in the campsite paddock.

Job done, although we did have to use a digger to get the roots out - there is a limit to what pigs can eat and shift - but we hand raked and seeded the reclaimed land and look what the cornish rain and sun produced......

a lovely new camping area with a view!

When we first started clearing in the reservoir garden, you couldn't even see from one end to the other. We now have a clear view, a lot of green and a tree fern, a date palm and a copper beach planted with light filtering through to help them grow.

The pigs helped clear the entrance side of the old reservoir garden, down towards the campsite facilites, but then the area all looked a little barren and brown, as this is halfway through picture shows.

Again, light, sunshine, rain and some garden furniture, brings out a whole new colour scheme.

There were piles and piles of 'tipped' garden and building debris from local cottage renovations and goodness knows what, just dumped on the land,

 but slowly we have dug and pinchbarred, raked and shifted the rubble, recycled the slate

and cut back hedging to stop walls falling down and tried to bring out what we think nature intended.

New hedges still need planting and weeds controlling and apologies that these photos are not all the exact same angles, but I think they portray what I am trying to get across.

I must not forget.

And finally another winter is over and we have had our first family tentover....albeit a little colder overnight than I usually like (mental note to self we are only May and I need duvets and warmer nightclothes next time) and had our first campfire and toasted marshmallows, celebrated with a glass of prosecco for me, which goes rather well with the marshmallows I have discovered!

Perhaps the message is this, that although it is easy to forget, it is also easy to remember.  And for the moment we are just waiting for opening day on the 23rd May and for the campers to arrive, to share the adventure with us.

Cornish Hedgeing

Peaking through a cornish hedge at the vistas beyond has got to be a great past-time.

From the campsite field you can see across farmland towards Trencrom Hill and on a clear day you can see Hayle Towans. Today is not a clear day, the early morning cloud is lingering but I still love creating the glimpses and I love the greeness of the english countryside.

Our campsite paddock hedge, unfortunately has seen better days, it has fallen away in places and brambles and blackthorn have taken over and pushed parts of the wall down rather than binding them together.

But, there are also pretty pink campions and foxgloves, nettles and ivy creating a network of hedge and wildlife cover. Ultimately though, it could do with a rebuild.

When the equine 'mowers' are in action, I put an electric tape fence along the top of the hedge, to ensure the ponies don't think the grass is greener on the other side and hop over. Trouble is the posts and tape highlight the undulations of the hedge and highlight its disrepair. Looks like a dragon's back!

Perhaps if there are any able cornish hedgers out there reading this, they'd get in touch and aid it's recovery.

Whatever the mowing-machine in use, it will require emptying and when the ponies are in the campsite paddock, that means I am to be found with wheelbarrow and bucket on a daily or twice daily ritual, keeping the paddock clean for future campers and their tents.

Other hedgerows on the site are fighting back and the osteospermum I planted in the reservoir garden hedge is mixing with the campions and looking very pretty. There are some pinks in a pot waiting for a home too.

And the honeysuckle is thriving. Unfortunately the weeds in my succulent beds are also thriving and I need to find time to tackle them into submission.

But, there are so many other little chores to do, in time for opening on May 23rd and I am sure campers won't mind if I garden whilst they camp. As ever we are a work in progress and not as well manicured as a purpose built campsite, but we try our best.

April update and easter wishes

The tree fern seems to have survived both the transplant and the winter. New fiddleheads peeped out at the beginning of the month

and with the warm sunshine last week they have unfurled into green feathery fronds for all to see and I have unwrapped the trunk, watered and sprayed and I think it is looking alright.

Have wanted a Phoenix Palm for ages, I love the architecture of the pineapple shaped base of the date palm when they are mature, but cannot afford the well grown ones, which seem to come with a £250+ pricetag. So have been looking out for a reasonable priced small one. Searched high and low last week and finally tracked one down in a favourite local garden centre (should have looked there first really) - Hardy's Exotics http://www.hardyexotics.co.uk - Have repotted for the moment, but left it in a pot, since I am not completely sure where it will "live" and don't want to plant out only to regret its placement.

The funny part of the story is, that, having popped into another larger store with an orange logo this week to pick up some lobelia for tubs and pots, there were millions of date palms for sale in varying sizes!! Never mind, happy to have supported the local business.

The new chickens have started laying prolifically and found some new hidey holes to nest in and managed to lay a golf ball and a plastic boule!

The go-kart has had to be adapted to allow for egg collection and transport back to the cottage, fits perfectly 2 half dozen egg boxes and a couple of goose eggs.

The egg box holder also has a ring attachment for the puppy, so she can trot along behind the cart.

The go-kart is not just a workhorse though, it is also for zooming down the lane, watching out for traffic and ruining the soles of any shoes or boots being warn in order to apply brakes!

The grass has started to grow in the reservoir garden, as have the hydrangeas I have transplanted. Not so the bay branches, which I stuck in to make a hedge, on the off chance they would grow. Dead as the dodo. However, maybe in the winter I will plant some bare root plants. Bay is great for starting campfires, so it would be a preference hedge, rather than beech, despite the fact I love and covet a Devon beech hedge.

Dom isn't the only one having fun though. James has had his slack line out for a trial run, although if you look carefully you can idenify the "washing line" used as a training tool!

Although the sun has been out and I have managed a little gardening at Ash Farm campsite, I have also had to spend quite a lot of time in the cottage garden at home and paint the outside of the cottage whilst the whether held. However, in the reservoir garden the grass has been strimmed and in the campsite paddock the ponies have been let in to graze and mow for me in preparation for opening on May 23rd. 

And today, a gift from heaven on easter sunday, some rain to make all the planting grow. Wonderful. Rain also gives me the excuse to stay in with some chocolate and a couple of movies. Lovely.
Happy Easter all.

Where has the sand dune gone?

Four days without any rain. Bliss. Ground is really drying out too and boys got down on the beach at the weekend with their boards and winter wet suits on. They stayed in the water much longer than I had anticipated, although if I am honest I was still sat on the beach with softshell, bodywarmer and wellies on.....so it isn't quite summer yet.

Someone had stolen the sand dune we usually run down at Mexico too! From the top it looked completely normal.

But half way down, it was as if a knife had sliced into it and cut it all away, amazing.

None of the rocks usually show at all , it is a straight, steep, but soft, sandy run down and onto the beach.....not so at the moment.

Still, it was wonderful to bask in the warmth of the sun, even if only on your face and to be down on the beach and "feel" that promise of summer, just aroung the corner.

How could I nearly forget 'Pirates on Penzance Prom'

Not sure how I had neglected to compute the significance of the Pirates on the Prom event with regard to the campsite, within those little grey cells of my brain, but I nearly had. So, huge thankyou to Paula for bringing it to my attention. For all those, who like me, have not been paying enough attention......... here is the link http://www.piratesontheprom.co.uk
The good news for would-be pirates who are also would-be campers, is that Ash Farm Campsite will now be open from 23rd May.

Having had a pirate style panto this year with our amateur dramatic group at Rosudgeon, we kept hold of some swords and headscarves to use with our own pirate costumes in May.

In 2011, pirates were the theme not only for the world record attempt on the Prom, but also for Marazion Carnival.

The carnival weather was hot and sunny. Perhaps this is a good omen for 2014. Hot and sunny, I'll vote for that!
Indeed, I might have to bring out the 2011 costume - not so very different from what I wear on a daily basis really!

Looking forward to meeting all our pirating campers this whitsun.

Half way up a hill

I am just so grateful that our little campsite is half way up a hill! For although the wind has bent the newly transplanted phormiums and the camping paddock is not exactly dry, it is also not waterlogged. The rabbits have eaten the young shoots on the hebe I transplanted though...grrrrr!

The horses field I have to say is a different story, it's like a mud bath, but we are not flooded like so many places, so again I am eternally grateful. Am also glad we have an open barn for the horses to take some 'time-out' away from the mud, the rain and the wind and munch some hay. The wind and the storms have taken a toll on the coastline however, walking back along the beach last week at the end of the school day we wondered where all the sand had gone?!

February has seen the purchase of some new hens to keep our single chicken-licken company and they seem to be getting along and have not blown away as yet. Bit of a rude awakening for them though, ten weeks living in a barn and then out into the elements in the orchard, with a henhouse to snuggle in at night.....sublime to the ridiculous...  Also snuggling in, are the cats, in a sheltered spot in the hay bales, keeping warm and getting out in the sun 'hunting' when they can.

The geese on the other hand, seem to be loving the weather, completely at ease in the rain and the wind and they have just started laying their large white eggs -which need two pieces of toast to provide for their size - they have also started wandering from the barn to the campsite paddock and reservoir garden, not quite sure why they are venturing so far, but they have a good splash in any puddles they can find.

January - first month of the gregorian calender

At last a fine day. Beautiful in fact. Blue skies and sunshine. Had intended swimming some lengths at St Ives Leisure Centre, only 15 minutes away, a lovely pool, with the most fantastic view of the town and harbour and the ocean beyond, but I had other priorities. Gardening. Tried hard to garden yesterday, but it was hard going in the wet. Today would be different. So onward with the transplanting of some shrubs, hypericum, hebe and hydrangea, phormiums, yucca and a cortaderia richardii.

For all those horrified by my resolve at this time of year, I would say in my defence that, so far this winter, we have had no frost in our perfect piece of cornwall, the gorse is already in flower, daffodils are already showing, so I figured that transplanting now might actually work. Time will tell whether my judgement is misplaced.

Last year I tried hard to turn our campsite boundary fence with the the waterboard into a feature, by utilising it for washing lines with ditsy pegs for campers and pretty solar lights along the top edge. I resisted the urge to plant along its margin, because at the end of the day, when it is not a campsite, the paddock is grazing for the horses and knowing how my horses love to investigate alternatives in their herbaceous diet, I figured ornamental planting may not last long. However, I have reneged and decided to try some to compliment the washing-lines and lights. And, when the horses are in the paddock, try some electric fencing to keep them off the plants! 

Hard to believe we are already almost halfway through the first month of the year. January, first month of the gregorian calender, derived from the roman god Ianuarius, who presided over the gate to the new year. Often symbolized by an image of a face that looks forwards and backwards at the same time, time to reflect on the previous year and perhaps redress or make improvements or new resolves for the year to come. How perfect a month for Ashfarm campsite, time to review last year, reflect on what worked and what could be improved or developed for the ensuing year.  

Our second improvement for this year then, is to move the campfire, which, through trial and error I have decided was too near the entry gate into the campsite paddock. Naturally this meant that it was necessary to have a small but inaugural 2014 campfire to try out the new placement!. Beautiful night for it, stars were out in splendour.