Writing project at Hurstbourne Tarrant

The CB project have been working in a rural village on a family writing project. This was the 2nd session of what is proving to be a very popular and enjoyable project. Storyteller Claudia friend and CB outreach worker Stuart, have teamed up to help the school produce a book of creative writing about life in the village.

This week the group produced imaginative maps of their surroundings, pointed out their favourite places and landmarks.

Awbridge Wildgrounds group planning for the spring

Several members of the group along with myself and a new member Colin a local resident and a enthusiastic gardener all came together last Friday to decide on the next step for the community garden.

After some discussion about the direction and focus for the future taking into consideration the time that people are able to contribute to growing this project ( excuse the pun)
The plan of action was agreed to be the following :

• To concentrate on getting the new raised beds ready for the spring and to get a composter on the go
• To look at ways of involving the children for example  asking them to explore what ingredients need to go into making good compost, for each class to plan for what vegetables could go in their plot thinking about slow growing and fast growing fruit and veg, maybe link this to other themes e.g historical periods etc , also maybe to help by planting seeds etc.
• To look at ways of involving families for example holding sessions to learn more about growing vegetables and sharing skills and to consider what plants are needed in the wild grounds area to help attract creatures that will keep the slugs and nasty beasts at bay
• Maybe to start  a gardening club or arrange a number of activities

With all of these plans in mind we decided that we needed to focus on the things that need to happen before the Christmas break,  namely organising a composter which Colin  kindly offered to donate to the project and to set a date to prepare the soil in the raised beds ready for the spring.

The other things to consider was how we were we going to find the organic materials we needed to prepare the soil.

The provisional date for digging (subject to good weather) has been set for this Sunday morning, a tight schedule indeed,  however its amazing what a group of enthusiastic people can organise in a short time.

As to the  donations of well rotted manure, personal approaches combined with a leaflet out to the parents has brought in lots of offers of help which is great because they are going to need at least 25 bags of the stuff.

Mr Barnes the headteacher has also offered to write a article for the village newsletter asking people for donations of tools and useful implements.

Aviary Community Garden Planting Afternoon

The rain held off just long enough for the members of the Aviary Community garden group to start planting some winter vegetables!

Tony and Anne from the Allotment society joined us to offer valuable advice as well as bulbs to plant. As it was a cold afternoon, we brewed hot chocolate for everyone using a couple of storm kettles which don't require electricity or gas - they boil by burning

dry twigs and paper underneath!

Bird and butterfly feeder activities with families at Timsbury Pre School

This week I spent a morning with parents and children at Timsbury Pre School near Romsey.
The Pre School are part of a bigger project at the community hall to develop a community garden they were really keen to take part in a activity where they could learn how to make feeders to attract wildlife into the garden.
Everybody had lots of fun learning how to make two different types of butterfly feeders  ready for next spring as well as a  bird feeder to put out now ,  local birds are now benefiting in the area by getting a little more help when they most need .
The adults and children were really pleased to learn how to  make feeders from materials that they could easily collect and also do their bit when it came to recycling .

Bishops Sutton Family Art Workshops

October and November saw two more workshops run by Scrapstores, Stuart Jebbitt and local artist Melissa Simm.

Free taster sessions in making ‘art’ with scrap have been held at Bishops Sutton’s village hall for children and parents.

Where dragons roared in September ghoulish ghosts materialized in October, just in time for Halloween! November’s workshop saw many a strange creature and they all had blue fur!

Fun were had by all, kids and the adults! and to the delight to those who have already been to the last three, one more taster session will be going ahead on 6 December, a Christmas special, where an opportunity to make decorations to hang on your tree (or wherever else you may choose to hang them!)

The sessions are from 3 til 4.30 at Bishop’s Sutton village hall, so bring your imaginations and come on down!

A new project in Timsbury

Back in September I was contacted by parents from Timsbury Pre School  who had heard about the Awbridge project to ask me if I could assist them.
They are working on a collective  long term project with other groups who meet in their local village hall with the focus of  creating a multi use community garden, which needs to meet the various  needs of the hall users as well as be accessible to the local community.
 I agreed to meet with them to explore how I might be able to best help giving the time constraints of the CB project.
Thankfully there pans are well under way and they are now seeking permission from the local Parish Council to go ahead with the project. , so where could I help?
After meeting with two members of the group and after much discussion as to how the CB project could be of most help we agreed that funding and some training for some of  groups in the hall would be most beneficial.
So with this  in mind I am currently looking into what we can offer and will let you know how we progress.

Awbridge wildgrounds group autumn update

A quick update as to where we are now . Because the group meets in the school and involves local parents this has meant that we have not met over the summer holidays, however that does not mean that things haven't been happening behind the scenes.
Over the summer  holidays meetings took place between several members of the group and a local wildlife / gardening enthusiast who is really keen to help out and help to involve the local community , we have now arranged another meeting to take place in a couple of weeks with the intention of planning  for the future and to set out a plan of action to develop a vegetable garden alongside the wildlife area.
Meanwhile I have have been spending some time with a couple of enthusiastic members  assisting  them with looking at funding applications . We are also hoping to put on a training workshop to look at making feeding boxes etc to attract even more  wildlife into the garden .