The Agroforestry Open Weekend at Wakelyns was, once again, a standout event with people from all walks of life arriving to learn more about this special site. Colin Tosh and Christian Gossel manned the ORC stand showcasing our agroforestry research, alongside the other enterprises at Wakelyns including Wakelyns Nature and Natural Habitat. Despite the sporadic funding for agroforestry from Defra, there was still a large amount of interest in the lessons learned from 30+ years of tree planting. Amongst many others we spoke to a representative from Natural England, a British farmer now working in Denmark to promote agroforestry research, and even the original owner of the farm before Martin and Ann Wolfe purchased it.
Even with the threat of rain the farm walks delivered by Paul Jackson (arborist) and Harry Read (Wakelyns Nature) were well attended, giving visitors an in-depth look at how Wakelyns has developed and the resulting impacts on the biodiversity and bird life across the farm. To accompany these talks, the updated Wakelyns Agroforestry: Resilience Through Diversity booklet well received with copies being consumed almost as fast as the delicious food from the onsite Silva Bakery.
We look forward to next year’s open weekend which promises to have even more interest given the planned return of SFI agroforestry funding this summer. We’ll see you there!
