The gardening has started in earnest for Edwinstowe in Bloom (EiB), getting ready for the judging on 3rd July.
The Edwinstowe village signs have all been spruced up and replanted. The Church Rooms beds have been cleared and planted with poppies by the Illuminate children’s group. The Dukeries Community Workshop made and donated six bird boxes which have been installed at St Mary’s Church, Edwinstowe by one of the amazing volunteers.
The Rainbows and Brownies have created a red and yellow flower bed to reflect their organisations’ colours. Volunteers have been working on the BT site to clear most of the thistles and couch grass to make space for other wildflowers to be planted. This is proving to be a much larger project than anticipated! A large tyre has been set in place at the front of this area and planted with wildflowers to make a feature.
EiB volunteers have enrolled with Academy Transformation Trust Further Education College (ATTFE) and are currently working towards an Entry 3 Qualification in Horticulture.
On Saturday 3rd June volunteers attended Edwinstowe Book Festival to raise funds with a stall selling second hand books and bookmarks and other creations made by one of the volunteers.
The group has applied for a grant to cover the cost of equipment to help water the flower beds and plantings through the summer months. They aim to become self-sustaining, so are looking for a second grant to fund things like a polytunnel, shed, hire of heavier seasonal equipment, and consumables like seed trays, pots compost etc.
The group also wants to raise funds for tutors and room hire so that they can run more courses and workshops for volunteers and residents. They would like to thank Solutions for Accounting who have agreed to become a sponsor. They are very grateful for their generous donation which will go towards the costs incurred at the BT site and prizes for the Photography competition.
There have been some wonderful entries for the Photography competition. The winning photograph for December 2022 is ‘Frosty Oak’ by Tammy Herd. They are now looking for entries for July. If you are an amateur photographer and over 18 please consider taking part and send your entries in jpg format to eib@btinternet.com.
For more information, find Edwinstowe in Bloom on Facebook or email eib@btinternet.com.