Making Space for Nature – From Rubble to Richness.
Back in July last year (2023) Ali Walters was inspired by a bank of meadow flowers she saw in Firle; she approached the Parish Council to see if a similar project to support pollinators could be organised for the village. Lindy Smart, then chair of the Parish Council, was keen to take the project forward and Wetterns gave permission to for a patch of land next to the wall of the playground to be used. Lindy also got Northease school involved, and Nicki Myers negotiated for some funds because of works carried out by a private contractor on the C7. Northease School was very excited to be involved and Lindy organised them to prepare and sow the smaller patch nearest the churchyard. Ali, Georgina Littlejohn and Ali Ghanimi moved a large amount of rubble from the bigger patch and sowed that a week later at the beginning of May.
We all waited anxiously until seedlings and then flowers started to appear. The fences were taken down a while ago and the patches are looking delightful, filled with a variety of meadow flowers* and attracting a variety of pollinators. It is a varying display which changes through the summer months. A big thank you to everyone that has helped with this it has been a joy to bring this project to life.
We hope that this will be a good starting point for other projects aimed at supporting wildlife and the environment in and around the village as well as linking in with the wider Weald to Waves work (www.wealdtowaves.co.uk) making corridors for wildlife, from the High Weald to the Coast. If you are interested in getting involved in this or similar projects, please contact Ali on 07779 634710 email: porpoisepal@yahoo.co.uk
*The seed mix we sowed includes common poppy, phacelia, larkspur, shirley poppy, coreopsis, cornflower, bishops flower, californian poppy, crimson flaxseed, gypsophila elegans, linaria (Northern Lights) and rudbeckia hirta ‘My Joy’ and was bought from Pictorial Meadows. (https://www.pictorialmeadows.co.uk/)
