Tuesday 8 October 2013

Work done!

What a fantastic work day we had a few weeks ago! 
Our thanks go to the great team of Co-operative store managers who came & helped, to the six LDS missionaries who also lent a hand enthusiastically, and to East Lothian Council who willingly & cheerfully supplied bark & soil.

To begin with it looked like this: 

We managed to strim & then lay ground cover fabric (again - the previous lot having mysteriously disappeared...) 



The container was painted. (Thank you sister missionaries :) )
(& Gerry :) )


The council were super-helpful, delivering soil & bark, which kept some of us busy.

Bark was laid on the paths & around the edges. 

Raised vegetable beds were built ...





... And the filling of them was begun.


And much weeding was accomplished.

Gerry, our very own Co-op manager :)


All in sunshine & warmth! 
Thank you to everyone who came & helped - it is looking fabulous!

And we have a CCTV camera in place now too :)


Saturday 20 July 2013

Heat wave!



We had another work day today, with more weeding, planting & painting, & some building of raised beds. We have realised we really need to get a water source organised, as keeping our seedlings alive in this hot weather is rather too labour intensive at the moment! And also a power source would be useful while building the raised beds, so that we can use power tools & take a tenth of the time hand tools are ... 
The Community Police have been contacted a number of times recently after youths starting a fire & causing some damage by the garden & lots of litter being left around. If anyone has free time to wander over & just be a visible presence there at any time, please do so, as the more visible we are the more we will deter this kind of behaviour.
Melted tent. Thank you to East Lothian council for clearing this up.

Josie painting & glowing :) and Jen, our newest volunteer, painting more boards. 

Local Mormon missionaries lending a hand.

Carole trying to plant bulbs before baby Eve eats them :/

Lots of work going on. (Matthew, in the foreground, wishing there was an electric socket somewhere, instead of just a screwdriver.)

Not getting very far with raised bed building, in spite of willing assistants.

Thank you to Celia for the photos :)

Tuesday 25 June 2013

A Shed Load of Timber.

More work was achieved at the weekend, with lots of weeds cleared from the area and the ground which was cleared by the digger being raked and covered.


The painting of the boards was begun by eager young volunteers;


and today the final load of timber was delivered;





so now we really do have a shed load of timber!

So, who knows how to build raised beds?

Tuesday 18 June 2013

An update!

So much has happened since we last reported on our progress - here's a brief account of all that has been achieved:


The stone wall separating the park from Prestongrange Road has been lowered and the new (and beautiful!) railings are in place, allowing passers-by to see into the park.

A metal storage container has been purchased and is now installed in the community garden.

Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust have provided funds and contacts to assist in planning & landscaping the community garden. A plan has been drawn up, and the first stages of development are under way.


Weather adversely affected all our plans for work days until very recently - consequently there has been (& continues to be) a battle with nettles, dock leaves etc. The fruit trees around the perimeter are now in desperate need of attention - hopefully we will be able to take care of them this weekend.




We have hired a man with a digger to clear the area that will become the raised beds, & now we just need to remove vast quantities of nettle roots, & put membrane down before starting on our raised beds.   


All set for Saturday's work day :)
Let's pray for good weather so we can get lots done!

Friday 1 March 2013

We're having a wee rest...

After almost three years, this blog (along with @cuthillpark Twitter) is going to take a wee rest until someone else can take over it.

That's not to say there isn't anything happening with the Friends of Cuthill Park though!

  • The gorgeous railings made by Ratho Forge have been installed in the newly-lowered boundary wall on Prestongrange Road.
  •  Neighouring Prestongrange and Cuthill Tenants and Residents Group have been successful in securing £80,000 of funding for a play park (well done!) so we should liaise with them to ensure there is no duplication in equipment in Cuthill Park.
  •  Don't worry if there doesn't seem to be much happening - as a designated QEII Field, the site is protected from unwanted developments.
  • We've had a very positive meeting with Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust who have been incredibly helpful (Thanks Rob, Liz and Liz!) in helping us solve some our trickier problems (storage, security, water, shelter) and to draw up a plan for the Community Garden along with a zoning plan for the entire park.

Next step: sourcing a shipping container or site hut!