A sunny morning on 25 June attracted nine visitors to Coppins Farm for a nature walk led by John McGlashan.
There 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!
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.
John 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.
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!
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.
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!
The bees, butterflies, ladybirds and moths kept us company as we worked.
This looks like a Mint Moth.
This, however, looks as if it might be a Harlequin ladybird (above) – an invasive ladybird which is not good news for our native ladybirds.
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!
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.
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.
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.
We are a friendly bunch, so we do hope you’ll be able to join us!
Greener Sudbury have teamed up with the Sudbury Community Hub in an initiative to brighten up the edges of our town while making it more nature-friendly.
The green group at the Community Hub on Northern Road grew wild flowers from seed donated by Sudbury in Bloom, carefully tending them in polytunnels until they were ready to be planted out.
Members of Greener Sudbury then stepped in to plant foxglove, verbascum and nectar-rich species, favoured by bees and other insects, near the Homebase roundabout, First Avenue and Acton Lane.
We must now wait patiently until next summer to see if these efforts have paid off. If so, we’ll continue to plant up Sudbury!
Get in touch if you would like to join in!
Greener Sudbury held a stand promoting its activities at the Green Fair, at St Peter’s Church, Sudbury, on Saturday 1 August.
We held fun competitions to identify a selection of herbs and wildflowers, with our botanical experts Jill Fisher and Janet Smith on hand to let participants know if they were on the right track.
‘Guess the weight of the marrow’ had two contestants close to the mark of 6lb 5oz.
A teacher took advantage of our schools resources – info sheets on how to build “toad abodes” and nectar bars for butterflies and other insects.
Meanwhile, Janet’s hedgerow jam and a selection of herbaceous perennials and herbs dug from her garden proved popular, and raised a few funds towards the greening of our town!
A lovely write-up from the Kingfisher Leisure folk on the aboutmyarea site, which you can read here. Thank you to everyone at Kingfisher!
What a lovely way to enjoy the 1st of May. Thirteen of us (not to mention the dog) came together for a visit to Coppins Farm for a walk amongst the bluebells, and a very fine afternoon it was too. As well as its bluebells, the farm enjoys grassland, wildflower meadows, and most of its original hedgerows, making it a haven for wildlife, including butterflies and insects.
The weather was dry and mild, but we worked up a tiny bit of a sweat clambering over the occasional fallen tree trunk. The bluebells were stunning, just as we’d hoped, and between us we probably took several hundred photographs!
It’s difficult to do justice to the colour – waves of hazy purple and blue, washing down the hill.
We finished our walk with a quick look at the Showman’s wagons, and the Victorian railway carriage, available as holiday accommodation at the farm – ideal as a base for exploring and walking in the area!
We are planning another visit to the farm to see the wildflowers some time in June, so watch this space for details. Thanks to everyone who came along!
greenersudbury 