Strangely I am not talking about the precipitation cycle, I am in fact speaking of the past months activities. As you can probably guess it has been a bedlam month getting to meet new groups, attending loads of meetings in the community and starting to build up an events list for the Cumbernauld Living Landscape. It has been brilliant, there are many people out there who are very passionate about their greenspaces and there are plenty of ideas flying around.
Rivers
Luggiebank Wood Reserve
So back to the title…. I was out with the Developing Ecological Surveying Skills (DESS) team and we were surveying possible sites for a Citizen Science project. Our Cumbernauld Living Landscape volunteer has been organising this survey for the past few months and I will be working with him to engage the community in participating in a…… wait for it…… otter survey! We have found some fantastic sites and there is evidence that we have otters here thriving in Cumbernauld, look out on our Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/CumbernauldLivingLandscape?ref=hl for more details and how you can help.
Earth
Swiss meadow
One of the dearest projects closest to my heart is those of wildflower meadow creation. I had mentioned previously that I had taken a field course in Switzerland on wildflower and insect identification, well what can I say I fell in love with the place and the habitat, if you have ever experienced a true wildflower meadow then you will know what I am speaking of. Remember the old flake adverts? Well the real thing is even more amazing. A lot of our projects in the coming months are dealing with wildflower meadow creation and fabulous seed bombs for a bit of guerrilla gardening – great for getting kids involved. I will be out with the Scottish Spina Bifida Association later this month getting my hands very dirty, I’m not sure who will enjoy it more! me or the kids 🙂
Sky
Buchanan Sky Garden
This link might be a wee bit tenuous but here goes, we had a visit out to the city centre of Glasgow a few weeks ago, to have a look at a Sky Garden incorporated on the top of shop premises and surrounded with apartments. Now when I say busy I mean busy! If you know of the new shopping area adjacent to Buchanan Galleries then you will know what I am talking about. These flats have access to a beautiful and cleverly sheltered communal garden which contains Apple trees, Strawberry plants, other berry plants and bird boxes (the latter have cameras and each flat can view these on their televisions – how amazing is that!) When you are standing there you really don’t hear the hustle and bustle of the town. It is a fantastic example of green infrastructure thriving in a concrete jungle. With greenspaces in short supply our gardens whether they are at ground level or even 6 stories up are easily the best form of habitat creation and enhancement available, and if you don’t have access to a garden try a window box or some seed bombs, make a positive change you’ll feel so much better for it. 🙂