Despite lockdown Boosting Nature has continued to be busy , in particular , encouraging and helping 39 individuals to grow beanstalks and sunflowers at home. Our participants got to watch a video explaining how to grow these seeds and also were each sent seeds and a how to guide . As a result every 39 who requested the seeds have now potted their seeds and some have even started re potting in larger pots.
We hope to attract butterflies and bees into the gardens and after they have flowered we hope that everybody will have nice beans to eat and that the birds will also be able to feast for months to come on the sunflower seeds .
We have also ran a nature photography competition . Fourteen entered the competition The task was to take a photograph of a bird , butterfly or an animal that they had seen in their garden or out on their trips. A great variety of photographs were entered. The eventual winner was chosen by our tenants and by McCann and Partners who have chosen Innovate Trust as their charity of the year.
The winner was Joe Byrne and the joint runners up Oliver Johnson , Martin Charles and Simon Richards with the following photographs.
All competitors will be sent further “Did you know ” factsheets about horses, magpies , squirrels and sheep concentrating , for example , horses have been used to help create environmentally friendly mini- meadows in London and have helped the Woodland Trust in Wales extract logs from difficult to access areas causing very little damage to the ground and to flora . Without sheep our grasslands and uplands would become overgrown with scrub and coarse vegetation becoming less valuable to many types of plants, small mammals and ground nesting birds.
This week our participants have been encouraged to find as many butterflies as possible and to learn about these wonderful and colourful pollinators.
Our shared love of nature and the environment continues. Without doubt having the chance to listen to the birds in the trees , the bees collecting nectar from the flowers and feeling the sun on our skin makes us grateful of what we have around us and what we can continue to enjoy even during these difficult days.
Boosting Nature 