Every garden should have some kind of water feature, for the insects, birds and small creatures to drink at, and just because it’s nice. I pondered for some time how to shoehorn in a pond or something in the Rumwoldstow monastery garden, and finally came up with a plan. And that plan is being actioned by the great energy and skill of Brother Julian – with the stonemasonry of Chris to follow in due course.
The plan is to build a fake Roman well, purportedly part of the old fort within which the monastery is sited. Like the rest of Rumwoldstow, this will be ‘authentish’. The water table is about 1.5 m down and an actual well would be hazardous, and not of benefit to wildlife. So the plan is to set a round pond liner into the ground with a low wall built around it – and a couple of little tunnels to allow the frogs and so on to creep in and out.
In addition, the brothers have begun demolishing the shonky old end wall (once the north wall of a breeze block barn) and reopening the full width of the gate. Watch this space!
I planted an apple seed which had started to germinate inside the apple (a Cripps Red). It’s currently about 10mm high. I’ve always wanted to grow an apple tree from seed and have a unique apple tree. Will this be the one? Or will it die / produce nothing worth eating? Again, watch this space…