It’s been so busy with study, training and hard work this May. All go!

We started the month with a good walk around the land at Three Hares, with a forestry mentor, Sandy Davidson. We have been linked up via Community Woodlands Association and Sandy has been helping us begin our work to draw up a Woodland Management Plan for the next 10 years. We realised we need an update as we have fulfilled all the tasks on the original Woodland Management plan we devised as a Permaculture learning opportunity with James Chapman at the beginning of our lease back in 2014 (Go Team!). We discovered with Sandy more old alder coppice spots (we have more than we realised), and wonderful open patches of ground that we had earmarked for Tree Planting, but which would be better suited to supporting and increasing the wildflowers in these areas.

Some volunteers from Three Hares attended a Biodiversity Literacy Training Course, run by Edinburgh University as a pilot scheme. We enjoyed being together with so many like minded folk, doing great Community projects to benefit people and planet. Thanks to Edinburgh Uni for the opportunity. If you’re interested, find out more here: https://sustainability.ed.ac.uk/take-action/training/biodiversity-literacy

More training in May, this time at Three Hares, when Venture Trust Scotland returned to do their Outdoor Therapy training for Outdoor Practitioners working therapeutically, and trained psychotherapists wishing to bring their practice outdoors. We love the work that Venture Trust Scotland do, and were happy to welcome them back. What a joy to have time to be still in nature, observe, feel its comfort and be able to use it as metaphor within therapy or for a therapeutic journey. One of the participants was lucky to find a Cinnabar Moth and share with the group. What a beautiful creature!

Our May Volunteer Day was very productive. Care4Calais group absolutely get stuck in and achieve so much when they are here, we always love to see them arrive! Along with our other volunteers and a group from Wild Kidz, we stripped some willow, widened the very narrow corner of the river walk path by removing a couple of big gorse bushes, and created steps into the land at the main gate. We had the steps on the ‘to do’ list for a while, the new gate was our incentive to finally make access a little easier, rather than everyone having to navigate the slippy, steep slope! The Volunteers worked so hard!! Thank you!

June has begun just as productive, with a group of 6 who work within Edinburgh University at the close by Easter Bush coming to volunteer as part of their ‘Day To Make A Difference’ initiative. The group undertook the first scything session of the season, working in the Orchard and on some paths. Thanks to them and to our super scything Sima for facilitating.

Thanks also to The Green Team who were cutting back overgrowth on some of the paths and making a difference at Three Hares too, even in the VERY wet weather they experienced that day. We look forward to welcoming them back again too.

What’s next? Our Volunteer Day on the 28th June will be a special ‘Meet And Mow’ scything session. This is part of a wider programme of events running across the country. More info here about the wider programme: https://scytheassociation.org/events/ We will be removing more bracken on the land, to enhance the biodiversity. Come along and give it a go! 11am-3pm.