The meadow is still thriving, not least because of all the lovely rich soil we are now producing from our composting bin. As the weather is now seasonally autumninal we are busy tidying things up ready for a harsh winter.
We have been given a Hedgehog Feeding Station and both a Bird Nesting and a Bat Nesting Box, courtesy of our friends at Oldham Council. We and the Barker Street critters are most grateful for this lovely contribution to our project and have already installed the beautifully made Hedge Hog Box down by the Bug Hotel.
We are now eagerly awaiting visitors to our wildlife safari park!
OL1y, our squirrel regularly visits for his handouts and forages amongst the disgarded fruit and veg in the compost bin as if it's his very own supermarket!
We are also delighted to have noticed a couple of robins who now join the blue tits who come and make daily use of our bird feeders.
This small urban project is proving to be a really valuable contribution to the community centre's usage and visitors always ask how things are going and if they can "have a look"... even on the rainiest of days.
The volunteers who manage the garden are perhaps the most rewarded of all, as their hard work and dedication keeps them in the thick of things and they comment on how much they now enjoy this little piece of paradise situated in the middle of a busy town centre housing estate.
We have carefully removed lots of Himalayan Balsom, which appeared behind the centre's fencing, and will continue to monitor the area for any resurgence of this highly invasive plant. You can find out more about this species here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tBj9rs2Dqc&feature=ytmp4
For now we are continuing our battle to clear fallen leaves and seasonal debris but
are all very much looking forward to spring, not least because our meadow should start to bloom and give both us and it's inhabitants a beautiful carpet of colour.