November in The Buzz Community Garden
Hello from your Buzz Community Garden.
Even with adverse weather we seemed to get a lot done at the Buzz Community Garden this November. We thought this was a good time of year to think about our local wild life residents, and so thanks to materials donations from Kellaway Builders and Snugg Homes, we were able to assemble bird box kits.
None of us had done that before! But local resident Matt was fantastically helpful, and before you could say tweet tweet, we had seven boxes. Some of us got creative with them too and painted them, with paints donated from locals. We followed RSPB guidelines and we hope small birds such as blue tits will love them.
Eric from Really Wild Lockleaze, came down and showed us how to choose the right location to hang them and also how to hang them with wire rather than hammering nails in to a tree. The birds now have 2 warm and safe places to nest and raise their young.
The birds weren’t the only ones to get some housing. We learnt hedgehogs like leaf litter to snuggle down in for hibernation from November through to Spring, so using the donated cage thing, we have filled it with leaves and ensured it’s accessible by leaving a little gap for our spikey friends. It’s a double YES too, as eventually we should have some nice leaf mulch.
Talking of which I was excited to attend a training day with Incredible Edible Bristol and learn all about Soil. Pretty essential in a garden! I can’t wait to share in December the things I learnt. The kids have been really helpful too, and managed to shuck a whole bag of runner beans. Or ‘magic beans’ as they called them. We’ll dry them for planting or swapping or giving away. In other planting news, we realised we were still in time to plant some garlic. In just 2 weeks they have grown about 2 inches! We are over the moon to see something actually growing. And the radishes we sowed from seed, are now doing better since Andy has been putting a ring of eggshells around them to defend them against the slugs.
On the last session in November, we could just see one little red radish ‘shouldering’ so poking just above the soil level. Should be ready for harvest imminently. Hooray. It’s a learning curve, and we’re having fun in the process.
I look forward to seeing you there. Sessions run Wednesdays and Saturdays 10-12, but it’s your garden, so if you ever want some fresh air, you can visit any time.
Here’s what you said in November
‘Enjoyed it, fab!!’
‘I learnt a useful recycling tip, using bike inner tubes to make a bird box hinge’
‘Others were really helpful which was really nice and I felt included.’
All welcome
See you soon
Love Anne-Louise xx
Please note our last session before Xmas will be Saturday 16 th December. Please follow The Hub on
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- Anne-Louise, Lockleaze Growing Spaces Project Lead
