Back in the allotments at the school, the Thursday lunch time allotment group celebrated with a special cake. The vegetables are coming on well with the radishes looking especially tempting - they are now glowing red orbs peeping above the soil, and they will be harvested during class time next week.
Mega-congratulations to Liberton High School who scooped a gold medal and second prize in the Schools Catergory at Gardening Scotland 2013 last weekend with their pallet garden. They also got a 5 second mention on the Beechgrove Garden.
Back in the allotments at the school, the Thursday lunch time allotment group celebrated with a special cake. The vegetables are coming on well with the radishes looking especially tempting - they are now glowing red orbs peeping above the soil, and they will be harvested during class time next week.
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By Caro Wilkinson
Some of us have finally made a start actually planting stuff in 2 of the raised beds. On Wed. Patrick (Sheena's husband), Maureen (my local historian friend) and I planted some onion sets in the 4th bed (furthest from the gate), and since Patrick had invested in and brought along a new garden fork, we also prepared the bed which Nick had made a start on (well, Patrick did the hard work!). Today Patrick and I turned up to meet Hugo who'd promised us some tatties and more onion sets (sprouting). 4 rows of potatoes are now in the 3rd bed, and the sprouting onions with the others in the 4th. See how long they last! Intriguingly, there was a burn hole in the cardboard on the 3rd bed. This week's Thursday lunch time session in the Liberton High School Allotments saw us finding that some of our seeds were finally sprouting! At the same time, with the help and guidance of the staff and pupils we planted out some edible flowers, strawberry plants, a rhubarb plant and some of the pupils planted out some young leeks. All going well the garden will be quite productive later in the year.
Planting Rhododendrons Last Saturday a couple of us (though not exactly the same two as last time I hasten to add) returned to Ferniehill Park to do some more work there. This time the task was planting rhododendrons and pruning some of the trees now that Spring finally seems to be arriving. Pruning in Ferniehill Park (without injury!) In the mean time we've also been building links with one of our local schools. While sadly we don't have pictures, Liberton High School have been developing some allotments in their grounds where we are working with the staff and pupils as they start their own fruit and vegetable patches. A couple of us ventured out on a very cold Saturday morning to meet the ever cheery Mike Shields (Council Parks Officer) and plant two plum trees (one "Opal" and one "Victoria"). Mike gave us a masterclass in staking, supporting and fencing in young trees. We'll look forward to enjoy the fruit of our labours (literally) in a couple of years. On Thursday 21 March we visited Liberton High School allotments and planted onions and sown lettuce, radish, carrots, parsnips, rampion, rocket and other leaf and root crops. We'll be keeping an eye on our sowings through the school holidays and post the date of the next official visit soon. (Watch the events page!)
A few of us visited the Walled Garden by the Mansion House today. We are planning to take on a few vegetable beds, and develop an area of perennial edibles. It's exciting to see the plans to bring this abandoned space back into the life of the community and to be working alongside so many other groups.
Saturday saw the second of our Energy Fairs, run in conjunction with Liberton Kirk (aspiring eco-congregation) who provided us with the venue and insurance for the event. I'm glad to say it had an encouraging buzz from the start, with a good turn out to hear Sheila Gilmore, MP for Edinburgh East open it (thanks to Sheila for doing so and to Ian Murray for arranging that she do so, when he found himself called away to Westminster at the last minute). Once again we are very grateful to the Grassmarket Community Project for providing delicious food, and to our wonderful speakers: Sitar Ramsay (on Energy Saving in the Home), Pat Abel (on Transition itself) and Dr Richard Milne (on Climate Change and the difference between scepticism and denial – if you missed his talk it's on youtube and I can heartily recommend it). A big thank you also to our other stallholders: Gener8power (who also donated a voucher for our prize draw), Transition Edinburgh Pentlands, the Energy Saving Scotland Advice Centre, the British Heart Foundation and Changeworks (promoting the “Scots Together” scheme), Friends of St Katherine’s Park, the Friends of Burdiehouse Valley Burn and Wordpower Books. It was great to have you all there. And of course the biggest thank you goes to everyone who came along and helped make the day such a success – especially worth mentioning is that the British Heart Foundation ended up with a significant pile of old electrical goods for recycling and the way everyone gathered in to the Greenhouseholders workshop gave a real sense of community to the end of the event. By Caro Wilkinson
I have just spent a happy few hours leafletting all the Alnwickhills, delivering information about a local green energy fair. I would recommend leafletting to anyone as a healthy and fascinating activity, so long as sturdy shoes are worn, and gloves to protect against icy winds and the occasionally vicious springs and brushes of letterboxes, or snapping canine jaws. Leaflets made with card, not paper, are easier to push through the box, and even then 3 hands would help. My solution to this problem is to grip the leaflets between my knees, use one hand to hold open all the obstacles and the other to push a leaflet through. I now have a huge respect for posties! I also admire the architects and planners of these streets: there are dwellings to suit many tastes and pockets, well laid-out with large gardens for gardeners and smaller ones for the less keen, and pleasant maturing communal areas. For neighbours who would prefer not to have to greet each other first thing in the morning, many front doors face in different directions. From brief glimpses into living rooms, it is clear that people cherish their houses, and every front garden emphasises individual styles and tastes. I noticed a great many signs saying “We do not buy at the door”, and while of course there is a limit to the number of dusters one needs, I did feel a bit sorry for the young lads desperately trying to make a few pennies selling from door to door. Judging by the number of ceramic plant pots everywhere, I would suggest they do a course in pottery. Everywhere there is careful provision for the motor-car. Lothian Buses take note: as fuel becomes too expensive for the average family, new bus routes (maybe using mini-buses and a dial-a-bus system?) around all the bus-deprived estates would greatly be welcomed. On Saturday we gathered again in Ferniehill Park for the first time this year. Thankfully (following the wild and stormy week that had preceded it) the sun shone on us. Under the guidance of Mike, our favourite Edinburgh Parks Officer, we mulched the trees (putting bark round their bases), and planted lots of raspberry canes in the shelter of the wall at one side of the park, meaning that the park will soon have it's own natural, free and scrummy snack vending facilities! |
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March 2015
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