Hambrook Marshes have had a very exciting month of progress and change, and have been able to utilise the natural materials found at the site to create structures and useful tools.
April has seen the arrival of a minibus, which was funded by Natural England (NE), who .provide practical advice, grounded in science, on how best to safeguard England’s natural wealth for the benefit of everyone.
Their remit is “to ensure sustainable stewardship of the land and sea so that people and nature can thrive. It is our responsibility to see that England’s rich natural environment can adapt and survive intact for future generations to enjoy.”
NE gave Hambrook Marshes £1,000 under their Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSEF), an incentive .to provide funds to tackle a wide range of problems in areas affected by the extraction of aggregates. The minibus will improve community use of the site by involving specialists who may have previously been unable to reach the site.
Work with Kent Council for Addiction and Kent Refugee Action Network continued, with aspirations of re-establishing work ethics, outdoor skills and team work. Activities to support these skills on site have included wood crafts, dam building and creating a structure out of locally grown willows.
The wood crafts included the creating of a chair made from wood collected on site. The process includes creating rough planks using a froe, which is a tool that splits wood down the end grain to create planks.
The creation of a willow structure will be a useful resource for the volunteers on site, as it will provide a shelter for them during rain and somewhere for them to congregate on much needed tea breaks in wet weather.
One issue which is plaguing Hambrook Marshes is ongoing acts of vandalism. It seems that the work being done there is not respected by a certain element of society. Fences have been uprooted, and litter strewn in the rivers. The enthusiasm of the volunteers and employed staff at Hambrook Marshes has not faded, however, and they are taking this in their stride.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Appleseed Landscaping - Tips for your garden
Appleseed Landscapes is a social enterprise, providing a community based professional gardening service, also giving training, work experience and personal development opportunities to enable people to overcome individual challenges in the work place through a range of horticultural projects. Appleseed landscapes were very happy to be invited to offer All Season’s service users their expertise.
This season’s gardening tip is very important-
When buying plants for your garden, many vegetable, shrub, and tree seedlings come grown in peat pots, also called peat moss pots.
This is very handy, because these pots can go straight into the soil, which makes it easy to plant large numbers of peat pot plants quickly.
But there is one catch
When planting out a seedling grown in a peat pot, you need to do one very important thing:
Tear off the top edge before planting!
This should be done because you don't want any part of the pot protruding higher than the soil surface.
If you leave the pot exposed to the air, it will dry out and act as wick, pulling moisture up and away from the plant's roots.
In fact, many gardeners, just to make sure the seedling's roots can transition easily into the garden soil, will also break off parts of the sides and bottom of the pots.
This season’s gardening tip is very important-
When buying plants for your garden, many vegetable, shrub, and tree seedlings come grown in peat pots, also called peat moss pots.
This is very handy, because these pots can go straight into the soil, which makes it easy to plant large numbers of peat pot plants quickly.
But there is one catch
When planting out a seedling grown in a peat pot, you need to do one very important thing:
Tear off the top edge before planting!
This should be done because you don't want any part of the pot protruding higher than the soil surface.
If you leave the pot exposed to the air, it will dry out and act as wick, pulling moisture up and away from the plant's roots.
In fact, many gardeners, just to make sure the seedling's roots can transition easily into the garden soil, will also break off parts of the sides and bottom of the pots.
Monday, 3 May 2010
Appleseed Landscaping - one of our volunteers
Nikki Sharp is a 17 year old volunteer working with Appleseed Landscapes to develop his job prospects, hoping to develop skills in horticulture to progress into employment.
Nikki is Autistic, a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. Nikki has been working with Appleseed since November after hearing about the prospects Appleseed had to offer through his Social Worker/Employment Advisor. Nikki is unique in England as he is the first and only volunteer to be offered this pilot contract, which is ongoing until Nikki is placed in employment.
Nikki has developed practical skills in weeding, flower planting, strimming, tree planting, and also building compost bins from previously used timber. Nikki’s helper Lisa Stock claims that the placement has done wonders for Nikki’s confidence, and has helped him build this to the extent of being able to apply for jobs he would never have considered before the placement, as well as producing a CV.
Nikki, the self proclaimed biggest “Only Fools and Horses” fan in the world, and model plane building enthusiast, has managed to involve himself in many other charity projects including work with Disabled Equipment Sent Overseas working within Ghana, who believe that “together we can make a change in the lives of all people with disabilities, children and adults, by providing special equipment, support, education, and training for everyday life and sports, and to help disabled people in developing countries to fulfil their full potential in life.” Not only does Nikki’s work with Disabled Equipment Sent Overseas involve him donating toys and clothes, but also loading lorries with the donated items and helping transport them and unload them into warehouses before shipment. His training at Appleseed has also helped him become a part of a team designing garden projects within Ghana.
When Nikki was asked if he had any advice for people similar to him wanting to get involved in volunteer projects he replied, “Don’t be scared, give it a try.” Nikki’s helper can clearly see the benefits for Nikki and also the benefits the scheme could have for others like him, explaining “Nikki enjoys being out of the house; he loves driving to the different projects” and her description of the change in Nikki’s confidence and the skills he has learnt whilst working with Appleseed Landscaping clearly state the benefits of Appleseed Landscapes' remit to help people developing employment prospects.
Nikki would like to thank everybody at Appleseed but especially Steve, Jamie, Rob and Trevor Scandrett for their help and support.
Nikki is Autistic, a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. Nikki has been working with Appleseed since November after hearing about the prospects Appleseed had to offer through his Social Worker/Employment Advisor. Nikki is unique in England as he is the first and only volunteer to be offered this pilot contract, which is ongoing until Nikki is placed in employment.
Nikki has developed practical skills in weeding, flower planting, strimming, tree planting, and also building compost bins from previously used timber. Nikki’s helper Lisa Stock claims that the placement has done wonders for Nikki’s confidence, and has helped him build this to the extent of being able to apply for jobs he would never have considered before the placement, as well as producing a CV.
Nikki, the self proclaimed biggest “Only Fools and Horses” fan in the world, and model plane building enthusiast, has managed to involve himself in many other charity projects including work with Disabled Equipment Sent Overseas working within Ghana, who believe that “together we can make a change in the lives of all people with disabilities, children and adults, by providing special equipment, support, education, and training for everyday life and sports, and to help disabled people in developing countries to fulfil their full potential in life.” Not only does Nikki’s work with Disabled Equipment Sent Overseas involve him donating toys and clothes, but also loading lorries with the donated items and helping transport them and unload them into warehouses before shipment. His training at Appleseed has also helped him become a part of a team designing garden projects within Ghana.
When Nikki was asked if he had any advice for people similar to him wanting to get involved in volunteer projects he replied, “Don’t be scared, give it a try.” Nikki’s helper can clearly see the benefits for Nikki and also the benefits the scheme could have for others like him, explaining “Nikki enjoys being out of the house; he loves driving to the different projects” and her description of the change in Nikki’s confidence and the skills he has learnt whilst working with Appleseed Landscaping clearly state the benefits of Appleseed Landscapes' remit to help people developing employment prospects.
Nikki would like to thank everybody at Appleseed but especially Steve, Jamie, Rob and Trevor Scandrett for their help and support.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)