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Reality Bites

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It was soon obvious that the vision of beautifully woven sweeping beds were somewhat beyond our ability. Rectangular it is then. Rather than try to batter posts into the concrete ground, I thought a freestanding bed might work. Building one however required some skill with a hammer. Enter Hubby. The man of my dreams is very useful to have around. He knocked together a basic frame using Ash logs and willow posts. I spent the next few weeks trying to find enough willow to weave through the frame. Where had all the willow gone? It had been coppiced  ! At about the same time, Dee expressed an interest in helping. As a “local”she has lots of contacts so getting manure to fill the bed should be OK. Also, I had somehow got myself involved in a raised vegetable bed project, for the local community. A side effect of this was that a JCB was brought in to clear the site. This made life a lot easier. Also while my willow weaving was nice and rustic, it was purely ornamental and would in no w
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How hard can it be to make a raised bed?

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A short while later I met Paul with Fee who had also said she was interested in the project. I was expecting to see two ready built beds and was excited to think about the planting. Instead we were taken to see this: I think the word is gobsmacked. Anyone who knows me will tell you, physical activity and Debra are not friends. Neither, to be honest do I know anything about gardening. I love my garden at home, but to say it thrives on neglect would be an understatement. One thing I do have in spades is stubbornness. After a cup of tea or three, Fee and I got excited about building a garden. Rather than one or two small beds, we could have slightly bigger ones artistically arranged, with a sitting area for everyone to enjoy the beautiful flowers and buzzing wildlife. We could build woven wicker beds with curving sides and interesting shapes. I wonder what was in that tea! So we started.  Park in the Past is a reclaimed quarry. It has been going back to the wild for a number of
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Location: Fagl Lane Turn, Caergwrle, Wrexham LL12 9 HB, UK
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A mad idea

In about September 2018, I went to watch the start of the fort build at  Park in the Past . I had recently become interested in hand spinning wool, and natural dyes. It was all rather theoretical at that point, but I was managing to hold the spindle and not drop it all the time. ( bad drop spindle joke ).  I had been thinking about planting some native dye plants at home with grand ideas of dyeing my beautiful hand spun. As you do, I got chatting to Paul Harston, the brains behind Park in the Past and he told me about his plans to have a native roundhouse and farm attached to the fort. I mentioned that this would be great for trying to grow flax for linen production and maybe some dye plans as well. He suggested I start a raised bed at the front entrance to the park. I had a vision of two beautiful raised beds either side of the gate, and said that would be wonderful. If I had known what I was getting myself into, I might have had second thoughts.
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