Help rebuild the meadow - Saturday May 10 seed-sowing day

At the end of last year, Mabley Meadow was buried under a 49-tonne pile of flytipped rubbish. But then something amazing happened - the daffodils bloomed anyway, and the bluebells are peeping out of the grass. So the meadow won't be beaten - and neither will we!

Join us on Saturday 10 May, from 11am-1pm for a meadow seed-sowing extravaganza, and show those flytippers they can't keep us down.

On the day we'll pick up the small amount of rubbish that was missed in the clean up (so if you have a pair of gardening gloves, bring them along). Then when the meadow's spic and span again, we'll sow a new batch of wildflower seeds then get ready for incredible summer. See you there!

Our FREE gardening club is back!

We left the meadow to do its thing over summer. But with autumn on the way, Mabley Meadow's free gardening club is back - and better than ever!

So if you want to learn some new skills, try your hand at gardening or just hang out and eat the free snacks provided, come and join in.

What: Mabley Meadow's FREE gardening club
When: Wednesdays, 4pm-6pm
Where: Mabley Meadow, E9 - just by the A12 flyover, between the main Mabley Green park and Eastway.
Anything else?: FREE drinks and snacks will be provided.
 
The sessions will be lead by local gardening expert Helen Wilson, and Homerton artist Penny Sadubin. Here's what'll we'll be getting up to:

Wednesday 12 September, 4pm-6pm
Planting wild herbs and learning about gardening for wildlife.

Wednesday 19 September, 4pm-6pm
Sowing wildflower seeds and learning gardening basics.

Wednesday 26 September, 4pm-6pm
Planting fruit bushes, so we can all enjoy fresh fruit next autumn. Yum!
 Wednesday 3 October, 4pm-6pm
Planting native bluebells to help save this rare species from extinction (and create Hackney's first bluebell wood!)

Wednesday 10 October, 4pm-6pm 
Planting fruit trees to make our very own community orchard.

Wednesday 17 October, 4pm-6pm 
Making jewellery and handicrafts from natural materials growing in Hackney with local artist Penny Sadubin.

The gardening club has been made possible by the London Legacy Development Corporation. So a big thanks to them!

Any questions? Just leave a comment below, or send an email to mableymeadow@gmail.com

See you on the meadow!

Get ready for the new gardening club!

We left the meadow to do its thing over summer, but now that autumn is on its way, our free gardening club is starting up again.

The club will be completely free (thanks to the the London Legacy Development Corporation), and it'll run every Wednesday from 4pm-6pm, with the first session on September 12 and the last one on October 17.

More details will be posted soon, so stay tuned!

Willow weaving on the meadow

We had an extra-special gardening club on Saturday with artists Penny Sadubin and Elsa Godfrey teaching us how to weave with willow. As it turns out, we had some natural-born weavers who created some incredible willow sculptures for the meadow. The creations are still there if you want to take a look!

The gardening club will be taking a break over the summer, but will be back and better than ever in autumn, so stay tuned...

If you need some willow woven, ask these two. They'd never woven before but their creation was AMAZING!

A willow butterfly with wildflower decorations.

A wavey willow screen in progress.

The finishing touches.

Willow weavers are go!

Penny Sadubin (our resident willow expert) adds some extra support to a willow fence.

Our pals from Friends of Homerton Station dropped by for lunch!

Free willow weaving workshop with Penny Sadubin - Saturday 9 June

After the Jubilee break, the gardening club is back for an extra-special session: willow weaving with amazing local artists Penny Sadubin and Elsa Godfrey.

Penny and Elsa are expert at working with natural materials, so come to the meadow on Saturday 9 June from 12pm-2pm when they'll be teaching us how to make a design on paper, then weave it in freshly-cut willow. After that, we'll all make a large willow sculpture to leave in the meadow so everyone can enjoy it.

The workshop will be loads of fun for kids, and great for anyone keen to learn a new skill and get creative - so everyone's welcome. All materials will be provided and there'll be free drinks and snacks too. See you then!

Sunshine + spring = a great gardening club session!

Saturday's gardening club was a really good day out! Our expert Helen Wilson was on hand teaching everyone how to plant stuff that will make the meadow more beautiful - and that bees, birds and butterflies will love. And there were free snacks and drinks too!

With the Queen's Jubilee coming up, the club will be taking a break this weekend. But we'll be more than making up for it on Saturday June 9 when artist Penny Sadubin will be teaching us how to weave with willow - and we'll make a giant willow structure together on the meadow.