The Benefits of communal Endeavour

A while ago, a friend of mine was complaining about having to attend 10 p.m. conference calls from home and how disruptive this was to family life. I commiserated. This kind of commitment is tiresome and intrusive, blurring the boundaries between work and home. He asked what I would be doing the next day (since my work is quite varied these days). I replied that I was teaching a group of volunteers to make houses for solitary bees. I think I saw a twinge of envy flash momentarily across his face.

It was, I suppose, an unexpected response. It seems somehow unreasonable for "work" to consist of such activities. I am not sure why. perhaps the idea just seems too much fun to fit in with out protestant work ethic.

This is a project I was asked to lead for a local not-for-profit organisation. An allotment site needed some development in order to make a more inclusive community space to be enjoyed by local residents. The intention was to provide a focus for communal working-together and increase accessibility to gardening and the Great Outdoors for those who might otherwise find it a challenge.

The site was partly already developed into traditional allotment plots but other areas were extremely overgrown and in need of taking in hand. So, for over a year now I have been turning up with my tools and enthusiasm every Wednesday morning to greet my slowly growing band of volunteers. In that time, we have built raised beds to enable those with mobility issues to garden without having to perform the arduous tasks of ground clearance and digging. We have installed a large communal shed and best of all, cleared a large patch about the size of two tennis courts which was under two metres of brambles where we built a beautiful wildlife pond. 

March 2020

September 2020: We built this!

I confess to having a soft spot for ponds. I have installed several this year for various clients. each one soon becomes a world in its own right. Wildlife discovers a new and unoccupied place to live and moves in very quickly. It becomes a habitat within days with all the attendant life-and-death struggles an aquatic life entails. A pond brings an irreplaceable dimension to an outdoor space where birds and small mammals can drink, snakes can hunt and insects can spend important periods of their lifecycle. I have had one in each of my gardens over the years. But more on ponds another time. I could write on pond for hours and this is but one aspect of this wonderful project.

Indeed, we did make bee hotels the next morning. I had some lengths of seasoned cherry branches which I tasked a couple of volunteers to cut into short logs. Into each log I had others drill 8mm holes about 80mm deep. Then we attached hooks to hang them on south facing walls and tree trunks. We were all very pleased with ourselves, especially when only a day later two holes had residents as could be seen by the plugs of cut-up beech leaf stuffed into their entrances.

It was an incredibly satisfying session. Several people learned to use power tools for the first time. Initially they were cautious and a little intimidated. But the look of delight and empowerment when it was discovered that one could, at the press of a trigger, drill a hole in a piece of wood was a joy to behold. Suddenly a single tool opens up a world of possibilities and opportunities for construction and creativity!

It is difficult to to realise that something one does almost every day and takes for granted as a standard technique of household maintenance is unknown to others who you consider lead a similar life to yourself. Indeed, perhaps I need to be open to the idea that there are tools I myself have yet to discover which may bring equally profound revelations for me. The thought is pleasing and not a little exciting actually.

And so, that day, my morning's work, "playing" as it seemed, provided leaf-cutter and mason bees with a home in which to lay their eggs and raise their offspring. It provided new experiences and education in tool use to those who had never encountered it before. And it provided, in of course a socially distanced way, somewhere for people who might otherwise see few other individuals over the course of the week to meet and spend time in this beautiful place, enjoying the presence of nature, the  joy of making things and the companionship of shared endeavour.

And perhaps now I understand that flash of envy: Whilst it might not seem economically or professionally significant, none of these things is something you get on a 10 p.m. conference call.