Thanks to funding from Volunteering Matters Action Earth we now have heritage variety Apple Trees to plant, creating our new Community Orchard. Happy days! All welcome to help plant and mulch.
We will also be stacking wood, Holz Hausen style, for our groups to use, so will be pleased to have all hands on deck!
As usual, our Volunteer Sundays run from 11am-3pm. Bring your own snacks/lunch/drinking water. We do have some work gloves, but bring your own if you have some.
Due to the ongoing storrrrmy conditions, to err on the side of caution, we are postponing the Volunteer Day this coming Sunday, 28th Jan. Stay cosy!
We will most definitely be back in action on Sunday 25th Feb, when we will be wood-chopping and stacking Holz Hausen style, to stock pile our fire wood supplies for groups using the land.
In March, now that our deer fence has been completed (thanks to the Volunteers who got stuck in!), the long awaited planting of the new Orchard will take place on Sunday 31st March. Come along!
The Forest and Peatland team at Edinburgh University are holding a Public Consultation for a 26 hectare woodland, Rullion Green Wood, near Flotterstone, in the Pentland Hills Regional Park. Previously used for grazing they plan to establish woodland and restore habitats. The Public Consultation will be held on the 25th January 2024, 2-7pm at Penicuik Town Hall. All are welcome. For more info please see the poster below.
A huge thank you to all who came to help for the final two days of the build for the deer proof fence which surrounds our Orchard area. We had good feedback from those involved that it was very enjoyable and you learned lots. Great! Next step – heritage variety apple tree planting! Watch this space for planting dates and come and get stuck in. Photo Credit: Katie Lonsdale
A reminder that this weekend (Sat 25th & Sun 26th Nov) we’ll be finishing off the deer fence for the Orchard-to-be. We’ll be there from 10am-4pm each day. Come and join us, drop in is fine, no previous experience necessary, all welcome!
We are super pleased to announce our new partnership with the very worthy, awesome group Midlothian Wildflowers. Midlothian Wildflowers are ‘a grassroots community group working to create, care for and protect greenspaces throughout Midlothian while supporting the health and wellbeing of the communities (they) work with.’
The group spent some time last week at Three Hares with teenagers from Lasswade High School, continuing their work experience journey. We look forward to welcoming them back soon for the creation and installation of some bat boxes.
This is what Midlothian Wildflowers say:
‘Midlothian Wildflowers are delighted to join in partnership with the Three Hares Community Woodland, providing a unique conservation & wellbeing experience for fourth year students attending Lasswade High School. The session lasted for 3.5 hours, as a group we were fortunate to visit the Three Hares Woodland on a stunning beautiful Autumn day. Together we enjoyed the walk from Auchendinny exploring the tunnel, enjoying the colours of the leaves and the magnificent views over the Auchendinny Viaduct and South River Esk. The students had never visited Three Hares Woodland before, so were provided new exciting learning opportunities in: exploring new landscapes, habitats and woodland, learning skills in fire pit building, fire lighting and safety, tree identification, citizen science recording and identification using Inaturalist, nature photography, discovering local mushrooms and seeing the buzzard soaring high above on the clear blue sky. Over the course of our session we got down to rebuilding the fire pit. We took a nature riverwalk together learning how to navigate the pathways safely, before the students were sent off on their own to gather suitable rocks for the fire pit build. The students worked exceptionally hard as a team to complete the difficult challenge of gathering rocks from the river navigating at times challenging terrain while barrowing a heavy load. We then set a challenge of building a fire safely. We gathered the driest materials from the orchard clearing, learning to use loppers to cut up longer pieces of wood, gathering kindling,arranging wood to size and lighting the fire safely. We worked together as a team to ensure the fire pit was built safely for future use, gathering dry kindling materials, cutting wood,storing, then finally enjoying a brew together around our cosy fire. We enjoyed the freedom of the Three Hares together where we relaxed, reflected and enjoyed the much need fresh air. Midlothian Wildflowers would like to thank Lasswade High School, their wonderful students, Mrs Mconiville and the Three Hares for enabling a wonderful learning experience. We can’t wait to do it all again.‘
“Mahoosive appreciation for all the generous help and work so far. Please come hang out and tipp tapp tipp those finishing touches.”
Orchard Fence Build Finishing Off Sessions: 10am-4pm Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th November. All welcome, no previous experience necessary!
We are moving October’s Volunteer Sunday to November, so as it can coincide with finishing off the Orchard fence. Watch this space for the date to be confirmed. Sorry if you were planning to come down this Sunday (29th), but on the plus side we will hopefully avoid the heavy rain! Look out for two Volunteering days in November instead.
It’s coming along nicely, but still a wee way to go so we are adding an extra date onto the Community Build of the deer proof fence for our Orchard. Monday 9th October, 10am-4pm…want to help us and learn some skills along the way? We have also opened more places for this Sunday (8th), same time, so it’s not too late to get involved. The fence is completely wooden (no wire or mesh that may be a hazard to wildlife), and will enclose a small area of Three Hares to grow a fruitful Orchard (fingers crossed), where usually there is bracken. The Orchard will add to the biodiversity of the site, creating new habitats for wildlife, flora, fungi and lichen. We have not disrupted any wildlife corridor on the land by building a fence and there will be a gate for community access to the Orchard. Traditional Orchards have been in steep decline since the 1960’s, so more and more community orchards are being planted, thankfully! We will be planting heritage variety apple trees which originated quite locally. We’ll keep you posted as to our progress, but for now, if you can, come this Sunday and/or Monday. Thanks to everyone who has been involved so far!
Preparation began today (Tues 3rd Oct) for the Community Workshop Build of a Deer Proof fence for the soon to be planted Three Hares Orchard. FREE places left on Wed 4th, Thurs 5th and Sun 8th. Workshop days take place at Three Hares from 10am-4pm (come for when you can). Drop us an email at threehareswoodland@gmail.com to let us know you are coming. No previous experience necessary.
three hares woodland 