It’s August already! We have had extreme heat and torrential downpours, but hopefully our newly planted pollinator bed at the Kingfisher has survived all that nature has thrown at it in the last couple of weeks.
This Friday we will visit the Kingfisher to check on the pollinator bed and to tackle the edible bed just around the corner – a bit of weeding, a bit of cutting back, and some planting.
Join us if you can – we’ll be there 10:00-12:00.
Whenever we are weeding or watering at the Kingfisher beds, we invariably find quite a bit of litter hidden among the plants – parking tickets, broken bottles, empty cans and, most noticeably, a lot of cigarette butts.
There is an interesting article on the BBC news site today about a study, “led by Anglia Ruskin University, [which] found the presence of butts in soil reduced the germination success and shoot length of clover by 27% and 28% respectively.
Lead author Dr Dannielle Green said while dropping butts seemed to be “socially acceptable”, they had the ability to “cause serious damage to the environment”.
“Ryegrass and white clover, the two species we tested, are important forage crops for livestock as well as being commonly found in urban green spaces.
“These plants support a wealth of biodiversity, even in city parks, and white clover is ecologically important for pollinators and nitrogen fixation.”
She said that the filters can take years, if not decades, to break down.”
Read the full article here on the BBC website.
We only share job opportunities that are relevant to what we do here at greenerSudbury – this one might be right up your street/green space.
Please contact ActivLives directly for further information!
Job Description
Post: ‘Grow Your Community’ Project Co-ordinator – freelance
Rate: £90 per day (7.5 hours)
Hours: Total 7.5 hours per week. These can split into two half days – one of which should be Thursday morning.
Additional hours may be offered, including occasional evenings or weekends
Duration: 26 weeks September 2019 to March 2020
Base: Sudbury and Great Cornard parks and green spaces with hot desk/ home working for administration (to be agreed)
Office: ActivLives, Brightspace, 160 Hadleigh Road, Ipswich IP2 0HH
Reporting to: ActivGardens Development Manager
Job Summary
The post holder will co-ordinate an existing community horticulture project to provide opportunities for local people to get involved in volunteering and improving their environment in Sudbury and Great Cornard’s parks and green spaces.
A key role will be to facilitate volunteering in Sudbury’s main park, where an established group meets every Thursday morning.
The post holder will also work with disadvantaged adults in building their skills towards employment through horticultural work experience both in Sudbury and further afield, for example, in Ipswich.
The project may involve work in schools with young people.
Aims and objectives
To bring local people together and foster a sense of community through volunteering and activities.
To enhance the health and well-being of local people, especially those experiencing disadvantage through ill health, disability, mental health issue, social isolation, or older people.
To build skills and help “hard to reach” move towards employment.
To build skills, confidence and local pride in young people.
To improve the environment of Sudbury and Great Cornard and surrounding areas and make it a healthier, greener place.
Main Duties of the post holder:
To provide opportunities for people to volunteer in parks and community green spaces in order to gain social and health benefits and improve their environment.
Main session is currently Thursday mornings 10am to 12.30pm in Belle Vue Park
Three posts in one day? Only because we wanted to share the pictures taken today by another of our team when she was down at the Quay doing her own Friday Tidy there.
Apparently there are very few sunflowers this year, but lots of poppies and alpine strawberries, as well as the fruit trees and bushes. All of the rain we’ve had has not stopped the soil turning to dust now that the sun is out, but it’s all still looking good.
Well, if we do say so ourselves, even a last minute Friday Tidy can achieve a lot. Our new ‘pollinator’ bed (previously a wildflower bed) had been cleared ready for planting – but all the rain, and now the sunshine, meant that when we went along today we had to clear it all again!
Once cleared we added in some fresh compost, and started planting up. First one in…!
So far, we have planted sedums, marigolds, pasque flowers, verbena bonariensus, wallflowers, cerinthe, nicotiana and more. We will add more plants later to fill the space and try to ensure colour, interest (and nectar) year round.
Even as we were planting, the pollinators were buzzing around.
A particular thank you to John, who came along at such short notice – we’d have struggled to get quite as much done without you!
Apologies for the last minute reminder – the sunshine has clearly frazzled my brain!
Today’s Friday Tidy, at the Kingfisher, is all about weeding the pollinator bed, and then doing some planting. If you can come along, please do – we’ll be there 10:00 – 12:00.
greenersudbury 