Another busy week of keeping on top of all things wild in the micro-meadow. We have already harvested some lovely poppy seeds with the intention of spreading the colour for next year's display.
The remains of the already savaged wooden palette, on which our paving slabs arrived, is currently being re-purposed into a niffty little planter and we've even upcycled an old teapot into a beautiful centre piece for the picnic bench.
The squirrels are nesting so it won't be long before we see their offspring skipping through the meadow and the birds now have 3 new nesting boxes securely in place. We are, of course, really looking forward to be welcoming the Britain in Bloom judges on July 24th so the garden is simply buzzing with excitement, which is echoed by our increasing bee population.
We haven't yet received the funding for the Green Wall project and will probably be pressed for time to install it before judgement day. We are however really looking forward to see this eco-friendly system self-water and support a variety of new plants adding further to the bio-diversity of the meadow project.
It's really rewarding to see local people taking such an interest and actually exploring their environment via books and the internet. Some have litter picked for us and others have made small, but very welcome donations of plants, soil and even bird seed. Several of the group members have spent time researching the many varied species of both bees and wildflowers (whenever the weather has put a stop to actual gardening procedures), and we are continually amazed at just what we have going on out there!
The revitalisation of this overlooked little plot of land is now very much paying dividends, by not only looking stunningly beautiful but also by improving everyone's mental health and feelings of wellbeing - we are all feeling great and absolutely loving it!
There is some really interesting stuff to read about nature and mental health on the MIND website: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/nature-and-mental-health/ideas-to-try-in-nature/#.XSwp_VB7mQ7