Chief Executive of the Sherwood Forest Trust charity, Patrick Candler, is a happy man. While 2020 was an awful year in many ways, it was a bumper one for Sherwood Forest acorns, and the Trust is putting them to good use as they create their Sherwood Seed Store.
Every few years, oak trees produce a bumper crop of acorns – a natural phenomenon known as a ‘Mast Year’. During the autumn, the Trust – an independent charity based in Edwinstowe – made the most of nature’s bounty. Their staff collected 5,000 acorns, with permission of landowners, from sites ranging from Newstead Abbey to Sherwood Heath. They then teamed up with not-for-profit community project ‘Feel Good Gardens’, who are now helping to grow on hundreds of planted acorns – hopefully to provide a new generation of baby oaks.
Each year the Trust carries out a planting programme with local schools, landowners and community groups, helping to increase the number of native trees in the Sherwood Forest area. Their partnership with Feel Good Gardens was a fantastic boost to their work in 2020.
Clare, of Feel Good Gardens, explained: “Our rented site at Forestry Holdings near Clipstone helps local people in need of therapeutic horticulture and relaxation, growing fruit, vegetables, flowers – and now trees. We’re delighted to be working with the Sherwood Forest Trust, doing our bit to tackle global warming by raising Sherwood Forest Oaks. Fingers crossed for some future funding to help us expand and develop this valuable project.”
Who knows, in a few hundred years, one or two might even grow to rival the mighty Major Oak. For more information see www.sherwoodforest.org.uk or www.feelgoodgardens.org.
