Bloomin' lovely

Spring is here. Hooray!

Seed sowing day! Saturday March 19th!

Save the date! Because on Saturday 19th February, we'll be giving spring a kick up the pants by sowing the next batch of meadow seeds.

On the day, we'll be:
- digging over the ground next to the path to make it nice and wildflower-friendly.
- sowing colourful annual seeds (and a few perennials for good measure).
- putting up our temporary fencing again using coppiced logs provided by Hackney Council.

But wait, there's more!

We'll also be making a start on a spectacular new addition to the meadow: A BLUEBELL WOOD! We planted some test bulbs in autumn, and they seem to be doing just fine. So now we'll expand our efforts, and start creating a these beautiful sea native of flowers below the trees.


The details:
When: Saturday 19th March, 11am-4pm.
Where: Mabley Meadow - between the A12 flyover and Eastway, on Lee Conservancy Road. Click here for a map.
What to bring: sturdy shoes, a packed lunch, and all your friends and neighbours.

Seeing you there!

We've been seed bombed!

Last week, Hackney Wick and Fish Island's very own cultural archive, The Wick Curiosity Shop popped up on Felstead Street. As well as a place to collect and share The Wick's fascinating stories, it was also the launching point for a series of walks around the area. And one of them, The Sunflower Avenue Walk, took in our very own Mabley Meadow.

The walkers were loaded up with seed bombs made in a special press, and filled with red sunflower seeds. AND, the group saved the last one to put at the base of the sign on the meadow. So keep your eyes peeled for some spectacular blooms in a few months.

A new wing for Beetle Mansions

Despite the cold and rain, a valiant group of Stag Beetle lovers turned up over the weekend to add a huge extension to the beetles' home in the meadow.

Stag Beetles start life underground as a larvae, and munch their way through rotting logs for seven years or so before emerging as an adult beetle. So when you make a loggery, the first step is to dig a hole...

Then tip your logs in and fill in the gaps with soil...

Then stand back and feel smug and accomplished for a while...

Then go get a cup of tea.

Thanks again to Skanska and the London 2012 Biodiversity Team for the logs. And an extra-special thanks to Helen, Stuart, Gareth, Suzanna and Russell for the mammoth digging effort!

Our first flowers of the year!

This just in: our crocuses are flowering! These beautiful purple blooms opened up over the weekend, and there are new shoots coming up all over the meadow too. Watch this space for more pics soon...

Beetle habitat building - Saturday 19th February

Thanks to Richard Hirst and his team from Skanska (who've been working on the Olympic Park), we now have a fresh pile of logs on the meadow. So on Saturday 19th February, we'll be using them to add a new wing onto the Stag Beetle mansion we built last autumn.

If you'd like to give these rare beetles a bigger and better home, come to the meadow from 11am - 2.30pm and get digging! Tools and gloves will be provided, and it'd be a good idea to wear sturdy shoes.

In the meantime, here's a pic of industrious log-stackers Chloe and Danny who helped get the pile ready for the big event on the 19th.

Spring is springing!

It's been a long and cold winter this year. But while we were all rugged up inside, eating roasts and drinking hot toddies, the bulbs we planted in autumn were quietly getting ready for their first spring in Mabley Green.

And with the weather warming up, some of them have started sending up new shoots, and adding a little green to the meadow. Which is a welcome sight for our winter-weary eyes. Better still, pretty soon those green shoots will will turn into bright yellows, vivid purples and deep blues as our bulbs burst into flower. Bring on March!