Here we are, finally in spring, although going by the majority of the country, including the Bristol area; you would have hardly known it! Fortunately in our area we have managed to avoid the worst of the snow. So it’s a very warm hello from everyone here at the Tree Life Centre and a quick update about our recent goings on during the previous month.
Our Tuesday guys trying to keep warm round the fire!
Kicking off the month we had a couple of visits from our friend Bob Seddon, from the Friends of Cock Road Ridge, who led two days of activities on apple grafting for volunteers who wanted to learn, which then led to grafting being an ongoing activity for the rest of the month. It is a key part to our project as we aim to grow and cultivate all our own stocks so we try and bring on our own rootstocks and select the grafting stock from various local apple trees, providing we know the variety! A big thank you to Bob and we look forward to continuing this partnership in the future.
A group of volunteers carrying out some apple grafting.
On the Diploma front we have seen more people complete their qualifications, so congratulations to them. There are also a handful that are very close to finishing in the next few weeks too, keep up the good work guys! We are always running Work-based Horticulture Diplomas; if you are interested contact Ben, our Project Officer.
As the bare rooted tree planting season is now technically over, as of the end of March, to continue the trend from last month we have been completeing the rush of orders including finishing off the mammoth order from Goblin Combe, Forest of Avon Trust and Redland Green Community Group. A group of volunteers again made the trip to Worle Community School near Weston-Super-Mare to plant more trees due to our partnership with Weston Power Distribution. Despite the bare rooted tree planting season being over we have many potted tree species for sale, or for rent if you need potted trees for an event to add a little bit of natural colour!
Finally, we are pleased to announce a new group starting next month. We have received funding to create a herb garden on site with a group for people in the community with mental health issues. Although the group will be held on a specific day, Wednesday’s (at the time of writing), we are a very inclusive project and would welcome anyone who has experienced mental health issues to get involved with our project in what ever capacity, including working on the herb garden on other days if you can’t make it on the group days.
The area where the herb garden will be.
We hope all our followers have had a good and relaxing Easter, being able to keep warm in the process! I think we can excuse anyone eating too much chocolate this year due to needing the extra energy to keep warm!
Parish notices:
Alongside our new group starting up in April, mentioned above, don’t forget we also run an edible plant group for people with learning difficulties on a Monday afternoon which will be waking from its hibernation now the growing season is upon us.
We are closed Easter Monday (April 1st…no joke!) but are back open as usual on Tuesday 2nd April.
Don’t forget you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up-to-date news on our project.