High Living Touch Me Not Balsam.

St. Catherine's has become a stronghold for the nationally scarce touch me not balsam plants which are the only food source for the rare netted carpet moth caterpillars.

As they are annuals and sensitive ones at that, the numbers of touch me not plants may vary greatly from year to year depending on the prevailing conditions; this correspondingly affects the annual moth populations.

Netted Carpet Moth on Balsam leaf.

At St. Catherine's a great deal of work has been done over the years in an attempt to maintain or increase the numbers of plants each year; the aim is to ensure there are plenty of plants, on which the moths lay their eggs, and plenty of plants for the caterpillars to feed on.

An image of a Touch Me Not seedling (March 20th) about the size of a little finger nail...

..but what is unusual is that this seedling was spotted growing at a height of six feet on the west side of the wall at St. Catherine's.

 Up to now 30 seedlings have been seen on the wall ...

... amongst the moss and the ferns.

An image of the fully grown plant in late July showing caterpillar, flower and seed pod; when it is ready, the plant material inside the pod suddenly forms into a twisted coil and this propels the seeds far and wide.

However it was still a surprise to find seedlings on the wall...especially so high up; to my knowledge they have never taken root on this wall before.

More posts on The Netted Carpet Moth, and the Touch Me Not Balsam plant may be found on this Blog.

Wooden Raised Beds at the Footprint. Warning to Arachnophobes: Image of spider in this post.

Recently we have constructed six raised beds near the Footprint, mainly for visiting children to plant up and care for in the years to come.

The raised beds were constructed from (heavyweight!) oak 'sleepers,'

   cut to size with a chain saw, and then transported to the site by 'power barrow.'

The ground has been levelled and construction can now begin!

We disturbed what we think is a cave spider (Meta menardi?) at the base of the wall. It looks intimidating but is believed to be harmless; even so, it was carefully relocated!

The timber was given the 'distressed look!"

Broken slate and stone was tipped in for drainage prior to adding...

...the top soil.

A gravelled pathway was put in around the beds, being raked by Ray.

A raised bed was also put in place along the top of the bund that borders the St. Catherine's/Footprint car park.

Stepover fruit trees will be planted about 4 feet apart...marked out by the wooden pegs. Holes have been dug and filled with compost prior to planting the trees.

Step-over trees are single tier espaliers trained to grow between 18" to 2' high.

In this instance wood that could be 'trained' to follow the
 curvature of the bund was used to good effect.

The top soil.

The raised bed is ready and awaiting the trees arrival.

This post will be updated, with a progress report, once the trees
 and the plants are established.

'Spirit of Place' Sculpture.

Recently, James Mitchell (Woodland Craft) was requested to create a wood sculpture to evoke the special and much cherished aspects of the St. Catherine's estate and the Footprint.

James saw a windblown oak in the woods at St.Catherine's and decided
 that this would be ideal wood from which to carve a sculpture.

Skilful use of a chain saw.
© Christian Shaw. 

James uses a wood chisel for the more intricate and detailed work.

© Christian Shaw.

Working in the wood at St. Catherine's close to the site of the
fallen oak that provided the wood for the sculpture.
© Christian Shaw.

The sculpture about to be put in place at the entrance to St Catherine's.

A close up view...

...of some of the fine detail work.

St.Catherine's is a stronghold of the rare netted carpet moth...occupying
 pride of place at the base of the sculpture.

We are grateful to James who, through his unique sculpture, has encapsulated the distinctive ambience or "Sense of Place"  that permeates this property and reflects our 'Deepening Connections to Nature' initiative.

Please click on link below.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ambleside-and-windermere/things-to-see-and-do/footprint/

 Finally, these two images were taken from the sculpture's
location on Monday, Jan 19th, after a recent snowfall.

Above... The Langdale Pikes, and below...Wetherlam
with a glimpse of England's largest lake...Windermere.

What an outlook!