The New Year began with the coldest night of the winter, with temperatures dipping to minus 7'C. But mild weather soon returned. There was lots of rain in the second half of the month which thankfully lifted the water-table and brought all our springs and streams fully back to life after many months with little rain. We were happy to have hydro power once again.

We had a day long meeting to review of the previous year or so which we found to be a useful process to go through. Ben finished writing his account of the year 2001 and uploaded it to the website.

We finished clearing the laurel back in the area we call the glade, thus fully revealing the dry stone walls that surround it. Another transformation took place in the growing area when we cut back a large area of brambles and rosebay willow herb. This will more than double the area we have available to grow food.

We spent time formulating and discussing our permaculture design for the growing area, laying out the paths, beds, ponds, polytunnel location and so on. We've decided to establish our first forest garden at the top end of the growing area. We'll be planting fruit trees there in March.

A few of us enjoyed dancing in the Moreton Parish Hall to local Celtic rock band Jiggery Pipery. And the hot tub was fired up for another party in the woods, this time to celebrate several birthdays clustered together in Capricorn and Aquarius.

Our van received quite an overhaul when we spent a day cleaning it inside and out, replacing the starter motor, making panels for the interior to store items behind, and doing other maintenance work.

On the last night of January, a vast zone of low pressure moved in over the country and things started to get a little wet and windy...