September found us basking in glorious autumnal sunshine before the rains set in. As the wheel of the year turned, we moved into the forestry season. We now have a contract with the Forestry Commission under the Woodland Grant Scheme providing us with a felling licence and an agreement to replant in felled areas with 60% oak, 20% ash and 10% hazel. We began to clear an area round our benders of sycamore, brambles and larch in preparation for planting oak saplings in late winter. We found a charity willing to supply us with lots of oaks, tree guards and mulch mats. Unfortunately, acorns were very sparce this year and we were unable to find a local source of oaks, but we intend to grow and plant trees of local provenance in the future.

We hosted one of our Visitor Work Weekends in October to get help with the forestry work, gardening, firewooding etc and introduce people to the community. Tony, a long term visitor, continued to help out, doing much digging and mulching in the Growing Area. We finished off the last of the runner beans and lettuces, harvested brussel sprouts, kale, squash and jerusalem artichokes as well as preparing the beds for winter.

While the DNPA got their appeal underway in the High Court trying to overturn the planning inspector's decision, the project was featured in some depth on BBC Spotlight after a day spent filming here.

Rowan began eating solid foods and putting on weight. Dan spent 3 days on Dartmoor on a Vision Quest under the auspices of Chagford-based ReGenCo. Pete & Cheryll attended a woodland management course near Okehampton and came back with two rustic ash gates to replace the pallet gates at the entrance to the Growing Area.