Scoop July 2011
From NorwichScoop
(Difference between revisions)
(→Sat 16 Jul Green Community Challenge UEA Norwich) |
(→Grapes Hill Community Garden - garden party, sunday 10th July, 6pm - 9pm, Grapes Hill Community Garden) |
||
barbecue and bar provided by the Green Grocers, music, information stall Note the garden is open daily to the public from 2nd July and looks stunning! | barbecue and bar provided by the Green Grocers, music, information stall Note the garden is open daily to the public from 2nd July and looks stunning! | ||
Contact: 07729 540 482 / contact@grapeshillcommunitygarden.org | Contact: 07729 540 482 / contact@grapeshillcommunitygarden.org | ||
| - | Venue Grapes Hill Community Garden situated at bottom of Grapes Hill backing on St benedicts View business units on one side and valentine Street on the other side. | + | Venue Grapes Hill Community Garden situated at bottom of Grapes Hill backing on St benedicts View business units on one side and valentine Street on the other side. |
| + | |||
| + | Grapes Hill Community Garden will be open to the public from 9am – 6pm daily from Saturday 2nd July and we hope that many local residents will begin to use, enjoy and share this space. Entry is free! | ||
| + | |||
| + | An over-riding aim of the group has been to increase awareness of environmental issues by showing what can be done in a small public space to address issues such as biodiversity, local food growing, carbon reduction, air quality, water and energy sustainability, at the same time as creating a lovely space to enjoy in the heart of the City. Biodiversity is already increasing as a result of the mixture of permaculture and agro forestry principles that have underpinned the planning of the garden. We also aim to enhance social cohesion with more opportunities for people to interact. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The garden can be found just off Grapes Hill, tucked between Dereham Road, Valentine Street and Golding Place. It will be open every day, but locked at night. Less than a year ago the garden was an area of tarmac with four mature ash trees along one side and some Cotoneaster bushes. But behind the scenes local residents had been working since 2008 to turn the space into a garden. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The Grapes Hill Community Garden Group was given a lottery grant last summer and hard landscaping work started in September 2010, finishing in January this year. We started planting the garden as soon as we could, starting with daffodils and fruit trees, followed by hardy perennials, shrubs. By late May the garden was full of over two hundred species of plants. The soft landscaping has been funded with the help of the GNDP (Greater Norwich Development Partnership) | ||
| + | |||
| + | On entering the garden there is a pergola with vines and wisteria trained up it. Behind this are five small deep beds. A path leads past four larger deep beds and through a miniature orchard with apple trees and a wildflower meadow beneath the trees. Then there is an area of paving with seats and ornamental borders fringed with lavender, leading to a circular lawn surrounded by flowers and herbs. There is a log feature at the end of the lawn, which can be used as seating or a place for children to play.We have included a large number of edible plants in the garden - fruit trees and bushes, herbs, vegetables and plants with edible flowers, such as French marigolds (Calendula) and day lilies (Hemerocallis). | ||
| + | |||
| + | As well as the apples in the mini orchard there are fan-trained cherries, a fig, a plum, an apricot, raspberries and blackberries. More unusual fruit includes quince and medlar trees, honeyberries, Japanese wineberries and alpine strawberries. | ||
| + | |||
| + | We have retained the ash trees and these provide welcome shade in summer. In the shadier areas we have planted woodland wildflowers such as primroses, snowdrops, dog violets and bluebells. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The garden is already attracting wildlife, with bumblebees and butterflies on the flowers and birds on the lawn and in the trees.The Grapes Hill Community Garden Group planted up the garden and now look after it, with gardening tasks every fortnight during the summer, on Thursday evenings (6 - 8pm). The next evening task is on Thursday 7th July and all are welcome regardless of gardening experience. Jeremy Bartlett, a Norfolk Master Gardener, who has overseen the planting plan can advise people on how to get going and help identify weeds and wildlife. The Group currently looks after the deep beds but from next year we will lease them out to local people and groups to grow their own vegetables. | ||
| + | |||
==Thu 7 Jul,6pm Plugging the Leaks - A Conversation Norwich Transition Norwich event== | ==Thu 7 Jul,6pm Plugging the Leaks - A Conversation Norwich Transition Norwich event== | ||
The financial collapse has been quite a shock to the economy, but the big question is why should it affect me? Why have local workers lost their jobs because of a crisis created by the US mortgage market and international bankers? The Transition Norwich Economy & Livelihoods group want to explore how we can all help. All Welcome. Please join us.Price: A cup of tea or coffee. House Cafe, 52 St. Benedict’s Street, Norwich NR2 4AR.info@transitionnorwich.org, www.transitionnorwich.org | The financial collapse has been quite a shock to the economy, but the big question is why should it affect me? Why have local workers lost their jobs because of a crisis created by the US mortgage market and international bankers? The Transition Norwich Economy & Livelihoods group want to explore how we can all help. All Welcome. Please join us.Price: A cup of tea or coffee. House Cafe, 52 St. Benedict’s Street, Norwich NR2 4AR.info@transitionnorwich.org, www.transitionnorwich.org | ||
