… Is the name of our next event at the Green Gym Charity shop, this saturday – timed to coincide with Gig n’ the Bann, the annual traditional music festival. We’re inviting kids (and parents!) to come and get creative, and help us make a big mural depicting the wonderful wildlife of the Bann. I just have to draw up a few more animal templates, as we can’t go ahead without otter, kingfisher and swan.
It’s also a good way toget to talk to people about the Green Gym – we’ve had more people coming forward recently to volunteer in the shop, and a good few new volunteers for the practical sessions. We’ve also started doing a bit of door-to-door leafleting around the town.
The big problem now is funding, and funding applications are really consuming all my time just at the moment, we’re hoping to get some money to create a new accessible vegetable garden in Portglenone, and involve the people who we currently just can’t accommodate. NI needs more Green Gyms, it seems. Anybody wants to send me design tips for creating accessible gardens, please go on ahead!
All our existing gardens are looking good right now, and we’ve had great carrots, peas, potatoes, scallions, french beans, blackcurrants…. and basil, armfuls of it. I made a load of homemade pesto and now wish I hadn’t given so much of it away!
We’ve also grown a 3 metre tall sunflower, and a pumpkin plant that seems intent on claiming the entire vegetable garden at one of our sites.
We’re hoping to plan something for the Big Green weekend once I get this funding application off my desk, and maybe link up with another local group, Envision, who are doing loads of great stuff at An Carn in the Irish-speaking area. Was really cool to hear Irish being spoken on one of their volunteer days that I attended. They are planning to do some major scrub clearance from an archaeological site, which could be a lot of fun. I’ve also been helping them survey “The Darragh”, an area of possible ancient oak woodland. Amazing how long it can take to count the plants in 10 metres of hedgerow! And the last two Sundays I’ve been up at the Giant’s Causeway helping the National Trust with their survey of the Grayling Butterfly (and generally getting strange looks from the masses of tourists on the coast path…).
Have to get back to the funding application, hopefully a more coherent post next time!
