Slowly but surely leaves are unfurling above the lush new growth of nettle, grasses and dock. I am walking the yellow route today, I want to start observing the trees that live here at Foxburrow as they awaken from winter.

The catkins on the oaks are beginning to glow golden in the spring sun. Looking up into the canopy of Crag Pit wood they sway in the breeze amongst sycamore, beech and the evergreen needles of the fir trees. Hawthorn leaves shine ‘lime’ green along the hedge lines, their tight flower buds awaiting warmer days in which to sprinkle these plants with petaled confetti. The hazel too is unfolding in its usual crimped fashion, soaking up any sunlight and changing colour to a darker green as chlorophyll is produced. Pear blossom is taking over from the fading blackthorn in the orchard and the apples will soon be joining in.

Inspired by this abundance of greens I have begun harvesting some nettle, dock and grass to produce natural dyes and inks. Alongside alder cone, two types of oak gall, cherry and oak bark and clay scooped up from the new pond in the ‘rewilding’ fields. I have since been using these pigments to ‘sketch’ out some views of the trees here at the reserve, trying to capture that touch of lime green that appears at this time of year.

I have also been making charcoal from the old, dead stems from the goat willows in the orchard. These willow also grow alongside the meadow pond where a song thrush has been singing throughout the month from his perch. His song is so powerful it reaches across the fields and over hedges as the sun lowers itself in the sky above, welcoming in the evening light across the awakening landscapes of Foxburrow.

April 2023, Nicola Coe, Artist in Residence at Foxburrow