Wellies on

Another great week for discovering new things in and around Hastings.  On Friday Rob, Flo and I went to the nearby St Helen's Woods. They are lovely woods full of squirrels and birds with great walking trails, bbq spots and ponds. What amazed us was that they are relatively close to the centre of Hastings but because they are ringed by residential roads, you would never know they were there and you feel as if you are in the country. After a temporary refusal to proceed by Flo - it was hot and she was tired - we progressed passed fields of horses, along a lovely lane next to a huge pond with ducks and other birdlife and by a field with a pair of Shetland ponies. After our walk we went back to the seafront so Rob could see the pier. Walking along the prom I spotted this lovely old weather station that's been cared for and used to record Hastings weather for over 100 years. I love the symbols to denote the weather for the day and the records of weather highs and lows over the years, many of which sharply contrast with weather events we have experienced in Australia.

This morning we all went to Crowhurst, a village right on the edge of Hastings to have a try out at a community agriculture project I read about. Basically, you pay less than a quid a week and in return for 4 hours work a month, you receive a big box of produce every time you go. We helped clear a patch of  old sweetcorn plants, dug up swedes and parnips, collected potatoes and helped divide it all up between the 10 or so helpers there. It's all done on a piece of land, donated by the local farmer, and the range of produce they are growing is huge. The people we met were friendly, hard-working and enthusiastic, but there was a lovely informality to it. You turn up when you can and check a white board in the greenhouse to see what needs doing, then you just muck in. My new wellies got a fantastic christening and the girls loved seeing the chickens, being chased by the geese (you should have heard us scream) and fighting over who was going to push the wheelbarrow. As we were only there to see if it's what we would like to be involved in (we would), and only helped for an hour or so, (during which time Rob managed to hurt his back again)  we were amazed to be included in the share of the harvest and came home with a huge pumpkin and a bag of baby carrots, potatoes, garlic, onions, a swede, parnips, beans and apples.