Posts By Andy

Further to the frog spawn, we put some cut willow along the edge of the pond (to keep it pliable for willow weaving) on Thursday 15th March and by the open day just two days later the willow was laced with lots of toad spawn... as well as lots of toads in the pond getting jiggy! lol

Just over a week later I noticed our first toad tadpole (toadpole?) had hatched, which was quick! Hoping to find a lot more wee toadpoles tomorrow! :)

Posted: Friday, 30 March 2012 - 18:31:27

Woohoo! After our Planet Pond day last November; where we installed new beach areas in the pond to allow frogs and toads access; the sight of frog spawn in the pond today proves the project a success! :)

I thought I caught a glimpse of a great diving beetle the other week too, which really would be amazing as they are quite rare. The pond seems to be teaming with life so it would certainly have plenty to feed on.

We are hoping to construct a pond viewing platform and purchase pond dipping kits to create activities for school groups visiting the garden.

Also, we hope to continue the work to create a more natural edge to the pond, using sand bags and backfilling with soil, to increase biodiversity and improve the appearance too.

Fingers crossed we get more funding!

Posted: Sunday, 04 March 2012 - 22:37:28

To encourage members to leave their cars at home and lower their carbon footprint we're creating a bike park at the side of the tool shed.

Good progress has been made with the clearing of the designated area and now the task of digging down a few inches (to provide depth for a layer of bark chippings) is under way.

As always, help is appreciated, the ground is stony and bramble roots have to be removed which hampers progress.

Once we have done this it's just a matter of getting the weedproof membrane down and laying the chips. Then all that is required is fitting the brackets to the side of the cabin.

If anyone has a serviceable bike they don't use and would like to donate, that would be appreciated. The aim is to have a few bikes we can loan to members who are on low income or have difficulty reaching the garden.

Posted: Sunday, 04 March 2012 - 00:39:53

Guest speaker Ian Parker from Zero Waste Scotland joined us and gave a very interesting (and rather concerning) presentation on how much food is wasted in Scotland each year. There were some really shocking statistics such as 23,000 tonnes of fresh fruit thrown away each year, along with 25,000 tonnes of bread, 31,000 tonnes of milk and 32,000 tonnes of... cake! Who woulda thought there'd be more cake thrown away than fruit! hehe!

Seriously though, really bad news. But the good news is, with better management of our food - better planning for meals and using leftovers, freezing etc - we can make a big difference to these statistics and save on average of £430 a year by making some simple changes.

Thanks to Ian for the talk and for the handy packs, which included some nifty recipes to use up leftovers.... need to try the haggis pakora recipe - nom!

Posted: Monday, 27 February 2012 - 09:03:31

Yesterday was a very productive day at the garden, a few of us managed to do an amazing amount of work in just a few hours... teamwork is awesome!

Among the work we achieved... we cleared the area to the side of the cabin in preparation for a new bike parking area, collected and bagged rubbish from around the garden, made a trip to the tip, started removing the weed proof membrane and old carpet from around the base of fruit trees, gathered materials from around the garden and stored them to the side of rear cabin... and even managed to rustle up a couple of rustic benches for under the willow tree, which has now been christened our Celtic memories and wishes tree.

Good work troops! :)

Always plenty to do though, and still more rubbish to dispose of, so any volunteers willing to make a trip to the tip with a boot load would be appreciated.

Posted: Monday, 27 February 2012 - 08:49:26

Sad news... we discovered today that our bees didn't survive the winter, not a single one :( The queen had deserted when we last checked back in late Autumn but the colony was still hanging in there. It's likely that the cold got to them as there was still plenty of honey in the cells.

So, it's off to the buzzy bee shop to get more bees!

Posted: Monday, 27 February 2012 - 08:41:05

Anne Fairlie popped along in October to check on the bees and put them to bed for the winter. It was a great opportunity to for myself, Jan and William to see inside the hive - and the sun even made an appearance for the occasion!

The hive seemed relatively healthy and the bees were given another treatment for varroa mite, which seems to be under control. The presence of a large number of drones (male bees) indicated that the queen may have left the hive and, given that we were unable to see a queen, it seems that this is likely.

Boards containing the most honey were moved to the centre of the hive; as this will be their food supply for over the winter and the centre of the hive stays warmer. By concentrating the bees at the centre of the hive this reduces the amount of bees lost to the cold weather.

So, that's them all sorted for the winter and they won't require checking until February now.

Posted: Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 18:10:24

Planet Pond was a great success today! We now have a less square pond with two beach areas and some water plants. It should look great next summer when the plants are established and will hopefully encourage more wildlife to the pond.

Many thanks to the team from BTCV Scotland and local volunteers for all their hard work!

Posted: Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 17:41:42

Everything is in place for the CSV Action Fund sponsored 'Planet Pond' this Thursday... plans are drawn up, materials delivered, volunteers recruited, soup made... all we need is the weather gods to be kind to us!

Posted: Wednesday, 16 November 2011 - 01:55:13