Despite the mist and drizzle that descended on Dartmoor on Saturday, 28th October 2006, volunteers from Barclays and the BBC in Plymouth went seed gathering and acorn planting. As part of CSV Make a Difference Day, the woodland charity Moor Trees organised a day where volunteers collected acorns, hazel and rowan in the morning and planted the seeds in the afternoon.
 | | All are welcome at Moor Trees |
The teams of volunteers met at the Old Station in South Brent and walked to Penstave Copse where the gathering began. The copse is home to some ancient woodland and a great source of the abundant acorns that Moor Trees are harvesting this year. After an hour or so in the copse - and armed with buckets of ripe, juicy acorns - the teams headed for the Community Tree Nursery at Broadley Farm in Diptford, where tea and cake revived the volunteers for an afternoon of digging and planting. | "We aim to educate, inform and create enjoyable experiences for all our volunteers" | | Tean Mitchell. Moor Trees Nurseries Manager |
Broadley Farm is the most picturesque and the quietest of Moor Trees nurseries. With 360 degree views across farmland and moors, it's a glorious location to help produce the trees and woodland that will cover parts of Devon and Cornwall for the next 1,000 years! So with spirits raised, the teams began digging the beds for the acorn seeds to be planted. Moor Trees Nurseries Manager, Tean Mitchell, said: "What we are doing is giving nature a helping hand by growing the trees in nurseries where we can really look after them and get them off to a good start."
 | | Seed beds prepared for sewing acorns |
And as the mist started to roll in across the moors and the light was starting to wane, the last of the acorns was dropped in its hole, raked over and covered with compost. By the end of the day a magnificent 1,750 acorns had been planted in five freshly dug beds.
There will be more seed gathering, seed sowing and tree planting days as well as a tree planting weekend with Moor Trees and BTCV at Lemon Wood near Haytor. For further information, visit the Moor Trees website which is linked from this page. | 
