Author: greenerSudbury

Dan Wheals at the Quay

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

Greener Sudbury is delighted to invite you to the Quay Theatre on Tuesday 19th July 7-9pm for a talk by Dan Wheals, a fully qualified and practicing medical herbalist.

This will take place on the evening of Tuesday 19th July (7pm to 9pm) at the Geoff Kisby room on the top floor of the Quay Theatre.  Some of us have been to a previous talk by Dan and found it very engaging.  We’ll have a chance to try some herb teas and possibly venture out for half an hour to look at nearby herbs and gardening developments in the Quay grounds.

Admission is £4 from the Quay Theatre box office or on line.

image002

Dan Wheals is a Member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists and keen herb grower. Involved with local community gardens, green groups and transition town groups, Dan loves bringing community into his work as a herbalist. Community Herbal Medicine is about bringing the healing of herbs to people through medicine but also the power of shared experiences such as community gardening. Using Permaculture design and his experience with groups Dan will give a short talk about herbal medicine’s role in healthcare today and then take a herb walk to survey the areas intended for a community garden. Finally we will taste some freshly picked herb teas and there will be a chance for your questions.

Sudbury Open Gardens

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

Sudbury Open Gardens

approx 17 gardens open Sudbury, Suffolk
Sunday 3rd July 2016
10.30am to 5.30pm

Gardens are open this year in and around Sudbury town centre. Refreshments will be available at the Cafe Continental in Gainsborough Street.

All proceeds to St Nicholas Hospice Care.

Cost:
£5.00 adults, accompanied under 10s free.

How to get event passports:
Tickets from Tourist Information Centre, St. Nicholas Hospice Shop, Cafe Continental, Gainsborough Street, and participating gardens.

Further information:
Phone: 01787 882 529
Email: kathyart99@gmail.com
Web: http://www.stnicholashospicecare.org.uk

Directions:
Head for St Peter’s Church, center of market hill.

Coppins Farm Walk Update.

/ greenerSudbury / 1 Comment

20160625_102442A sunny morning on 25 June attracted nine visitors to Coppins Farm for a nature walk led by John McGlashan.

20160625_110225

20160625_110751

20160625_112343There were rare specimens as well as an abundance of wildflowers to be found, including yellow rattle, red pimpernel, oxeye daisy, pyramid orchids and bee orchids. Thanks, John – and thanks to everyone who came along!

20160625_11152720160625_11023820160625_11263820160625_112629

A bit of a sit down…

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

The tubs which we planted up behind Roy’s store in town are mostly doing very well – the only exception being the tub which is hidden towards the back wall. Too much shade and not enough water? We shall try to come up with a new solution to that problem.

Roys tubs.

Roys tubs

Roys tubs

Meanwhile, the plants we introduced into the beds behind the seats – including a small white lilac – appear to have survived and rewarded us with flowers. We hope that they make a difference to anyone who stops for a little bit of a sit down en route to and from Roys and Waitrose!

Coppins Farm

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

Next week we have planned a stroll through Coppins Farm in Alphamstone, CO8 5HE, led by John MacGlashan – click on the link to read about one of our visits in 2015.

DSCF4651John runs his meadows under the Higher Stewardship scheme, so he’s always interested to identify what is growing, flying and creeping about – we’ll bring the Complete British Wildlife photo-guide!  It’s happening next Saturday 25th June, meeting at the farm at 10am or sharing cars at 9.30am at the Kingfisher Leisure Centre car park.

Quay Update…

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

A great work party at the Quay on 2 June. A few new faces (and a couple of old familiar faces) to add to the mix, and a lot of good work accomplished – one corner cleared, with space made for a composting bin to use on site.

20160602_124056

DSCF7445

20160602_125254The area at the far end of the car park is quite over-grown, and it will take a bit of hard graft to get it ready for planting up, but what an amazing start – so much done in just a few hours!

20160602_125232

DSCF7444Meanwhile, weeds and grass growing in the seating area also got a bit of a sort out. With all the rain we’ve just had, I expect we’ll be back again soon!

DSCF7448

Weeding party at the Quay…

/ greenerSudbury / 2 Comments

As mentioned previously, the Quay needs a little bit of help removing some of the weeds growing in their outdoor sitting area. The larger prickly ones have been taken out, but there are still some smaller weeds, and grasses, that  need to go!

DSCF7203

We’ll be there at 11:45 am on Thursday, 2nd June.

So, bring a trowel, gloves, a kneeler (if needed) to get up close and personal with the weeds, plus a keen eye to identify them, and come along! If there is time afterwards, and weather permits, we might also take a stroll along the railway path to visit the Kingfisher Leisure Centre beds.

Kingfisher clear up…

/ greenerSudbury / 4 Comments

A couple of us did a very quick tidy up at the Kingfisher beds on Sunday morning – but there’s more to be done! The edible bed (the one closest to the Kingfisher entrance) is looking very healthy – in fact, we may have to do some cutting back soon before we are over-run with lavender, rosemary and sage. If you are passing, please feel free to dead-head the marigold flowers to encourage more blooms, as we could do with a bit more orange in the mix!

DSCF7400

The bees, butterflies, ladybirds and moths kept us company as we worked.

DSCF7397

This looks like a Mint Moth.

DSCF7404

This, however, looks as if it might be a Harlequin ladybird (above) – an invasive ladybird which is not good news for our native ladybirds.

DSCF7402

The wildflower bed is slightly over-run with various grasses, but there is colour to be had there as well – it needs a little bit of a sort out. Watch this space!

May we suggest…?

/ greenerSudbury / 2 Comments

One of our activities in the last year was a visit to the Quay Theatre to do some weeding to spruce up the seating area at the back of the theatre. We returned to the Quay at the end of last week for an update, and to make plans for what to do next.

DSCF7204

Clearly, our first priority is to do some more weeding (see above) to take out any spiky or prickly weeds and those which threaten to swamp the area, and to do a little more planting – our additions to the area have ‘taken’, which is lovely to see. We will let you know a time and date for this very soon.

After that, we will be looking at transforming the patch of ground to the rear of the Quay car park into an area of permaculture, with layered fruit trees, shrubs and ground plants, good for bees and butterflies, and foraging.

DSCF7205

While birds are nesting, we will take a gentle approach initially, but hope to prepare the area for planting, and for the inclusion of a composting bin. Please keep a look out for information as to dates and times for this new venture.

DSCF7210

We are a friendly bunch, so we do hope you’ll be able to join us!

Our friend, Jane Carter.

/ greenerSudbury / Leave a comment

Our recent AGM gave us an opportunity to take some quiet moments to remember our valued member Jane Carter, who died at the beginning of this year.

20150801_135734_2

Jane was a founding member of our group, and was a joy to have with us – she was held in considerable affection by all of us. Jane could not abide injustice in any shape or form, and we will miss hearing her wonderful husky voice and precise diction as she railed against the ‘bad guys’ and their wrongdoing. She was quite a force for such a small woman, and made a positive difference in the world. We will miss her.