Bonfire

A lot of work has been carried out in the woodland at North Hall over the last two to three weeks.  We have now coppiced a large area providing bean poles and pea sticks for everybody who has requested them in the village.  The traditional hedge laying is going very well and we expect to finish the length of hedge that we had planned for this year in the next couple of weeks or so.  The whole woodland area has become overgrown with brambles, we are in the process of tackling this as they have taken over the paths and smothered many of the shrubs and trees.  This will be an ongoing issue that we will have to deal with on a regular basis.

On Saturday 25th January our very dedicated volunteers turned out for the highlight of their year, which is a bonfire.  Over a couple of hours we managed to burn all the residue rubbish from the hedge laying and from previous clearance work.  As well as burning some of the rubbish we ensure that we help the wildlife by making dead hedges in various areas that provide protection for birds and insects.

Do take a look at a few pictures on Flickr of the workers.

Our next work party will be Sunday 23rd February when we will probably be having another bonfire.

Happy New Year.

We would like to wish all of our members a happy and prosperous  New Year.  Over the next few weeks we will be continuing the laying of the traditional hedge along our boundary at North Hall.  This will result in something most of our members look forward to, our clearing up bonfires.  This will happen at our next work party that will take place on Saturday 25th January at North Hall starting at 9.30 am.  Please bring saws and clippers and wear very old clothes as we all know what normally happens with all the sparks.

The other very important event will be the coppicing of the hazel to produce bean poles and pea sticks. As in previous years we will be supplying bean poles in bundles of 12 and pea sticks in bundles of approx 25, completely free to our LCGI members.  These will be available sometime in the next few weeks, if you would like some of these please let me know how many bundles of each you would like and I will organise this.

Graham Moore

 

Update on 2020 Diary

Do take a look at our 2020 Diary page.  You will find a list of all our Work Party Dates and the venues, however, we will always confirm venues a few days before the actual event as these are subject to change depending on our requirements.

We have also noted our two village litter picking mornings when we will encourage as many people as possible to join us to ensure the village is looking neat and tidy.

The other two important events are also noted, the Village Fete on 6 June and our annual Bbq, Friday 3 July.

Once Christmas is over we will be starting work at North Hall with hedge laying to carry on the good work that Keith started a couple of years ago, as well as our traditional coppicing to provide Bean poles and Pea sticks for the village.  We will be sending out an email sometime in January to give you the opportunity to put  your order in for the number you require.

We would like to wish all our members and supporters a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Litter Picking Morning

On Sunday 13th October The Loxwood Community Garden Initiative in conjunction with The Loxwood Society will be holding another litter picking morning to ensure that our village is looking at it’s best for the winter.  We will meet in The Diamond Jubilee Community Garden at 9.30 am, we will supply the litter pickers, hi-viz jackets and rubbish bags. Please come armed with your own gloves.

We will allocate everybody to a certain area of the village, working in pairs or trios depending on the number of people who turn out to support us.  This litter picking event replaces our normal work party.  Our next work party will take place on Saturday 16th November when we will be raking up leaves and giving the Jubilee Garden a good tidy before winter sets in.

Hopefully see many of you on Sunday 13th.

 

 

New Sign for the Diamond Jubilee Garden

If you had walked passed the Diamond Jubilee Garden sometime today, you might have noticed that we have replaced the old, rotten sign with a brand new aluminium sign that should last much longer than the previous one.

Many thanks to everybody who attended our Annual Members BBQ on 24th July and contributed to the watering can.  We covered our costs and made a very small profit which is what we aim to do every year.  We had a glorious evening weather wise and everybody enjoyed themselves.  We like to think this is a very good community event where everybody can get together in a very informal manner.

Our next work party is on Sunday 18th August at North Hall starting at 9.30am where we will be undertaking one of the most important jobs of the year, which is the raking up of all of the grass from the wildflower meadow at North Hall, which weather permitting, will have been cut sometime this week.  This gap between cutting and raking will allow the seed heads of all the wildflowers to disperse into the ground to produce flowers for next year.  We are looking for as many people as possible as many hands make light work.  If you own a wheelbarrow, please bring this along as well as a rake and a fork.

Annual Members’ BBQ and Work Party

Our next work party will take place on Saturday 13th July starting at 9.30 am when we will be working on the Diamond Jubilee Garden to prepare it for our annual BBQ.  There will be lots of weeding to be done as, due to the awful weather last weekend, we had to cancel our planned work party.

Some of you might have noticed that we have decided to plant our second raised bed as it appears our Preschool children have not looked after the raised bed this year.

To enable us to manage the beds more productively we have positioned a water butt up against our boundary fence and supplied a watering can that anybody can use if they feel the raised beds need some water.

Our annual members’ BBQ will take place on Friday 19 July in the Diamond Jubilee Garden starting at 6.30  pm.  The format will be the same as usual, i.e. you bring your own drinks, we will cook sausages and provide rolls for which we will ask for a very small donation in our now famous blue watering can.

All members will receive an email with the details of the BBQ and we would ask all members to please respond as requested to help with the catering.

Village Litter Picking

The Loxwood Community Gardens Initiative have joined forces with the Loxwood Society to purchase some litter picking equipment.  The thinking being that we could jointly at any time we like organise a litter picking morning to ensure that the village is kept looking tidy and welcoming.

On Saturday 11 May we will be holding a litter picking morning combined with a LCGI work party in the Diamond Jubilee Garden.  We will all meet at 9.30am in the garden, please come equipped with gloves and hi-vis jackets if you have one, if not we can provide the jackets.

On the day we will split people into pairs and designate a certain area to be picked.  Once completed, all rubbish will be brought back to the Diamond Jubilee Garden from where we will take it away.

Graham