Adding colour to the park

We did a spot of gardening in the park this week. All going well, by late Spring next year we will have a brilliant splash of colour just inside the park railings at the town end. The flowers and herbs we have chosen - largely perennial - should ensure that there are beautiful colours and scents here from Spring right though to late Autumn. There is Helenium, Lupinus ('gallery Rose Shades', Chamomile, Salvia nemorosa Ostfriesland, Digitalis purpurea Dalmation F1 Purple, Anemone x hybrida (Japanese Anemone). We are assured that these will attract loads of bees and butterflies. Thanks to our green-fingered colleague Marie of Wexford Tidy Towns for all her expertise and hard work. Thanks also to the Council for their ongoing support.
I think we are now ready to pledge our support to the "Let's Bee Friendly" campaign at http://www.wexfordtidytowns.com/biodiversity/bees.

See the pix at https://www.facebook.com/loveredmondpark/media_set?set=a.706271079462020.1073741847.100002374025464&type=3

Another Successful Picnic!

Well I am happy to report that both Picnics went off wonderfully well last weekend: the plugged-in shindig above in Stradbally and our own very much unplugged affair in Redmond Park! There was sunshine and laughter, slush puppies and ice cream, candy floss and ... wasps! And the only reason the wasps were buzzing about was because some young lads decided to stone their nest!!
Overall this was a hugely enjoyable day with loads going on. You could go from the swings to the BIG BENCH, back down to the puppet show; then get active with obstacle races, turbo-javelin throwing and ball skills; get creative at the pot decorating table before moving on to get your hands dirty at the potting and sowing table. The afternoon was soundtracked by DJ Cullie with a special guest appearance by award-winning local band The Ocelots. And all the while the sun smiled down on this fun-filled, end-of-Summer party.

Loads more pix at: https://www.facebook.com/172732832863453/photos/a.501347813335285.1073741826.172732832863453/501371573332909/?type=1&theater

End of Summer means it's Picnic in the Park time!

Family Fun Day at Redmond Park

While our Picnic in the Park goes ahead as normal at the end of August here is an event you should also have in your diary. It is been organised by a local company to raise funds for a very special cause (see the poster). I can tell you that they have been pulling out all the stops to make this a truly action-packed day. Don't miss it!

Castlebridge Community Garden

The industrious and green-fingered folk behind Castlebridge Community Garden held an open day and garden party yesterday. If you have not yet seen it I strongly recommend a visit. The garden is situated in the walled garden of Nunn's house, just opposite the church.

The garden party itself was a very pleasant and sociable affair with lashings of strong hot tea, homemade buns and cakes, and heavenly singing by the Castlebridge Gospel Choir. And with the sun shining down all afternoon there was no hurry on anyone to be heading off.

Wild Meadow - no OFF button!

The Wild Meadow at the top of Redmond Park really has taken on a life of its own. As it will not be getting cut until the Autumn we decided to wade in and manually pull out as many thistles and ragwort as we could. While the former would have gone on to have lovely bee-friendly blossoms we figured that man-sized thistles was probably pushing the wild side just a little too far.

A reminder to Bee Active!

Do you love bees? Of course you do! Our little buzzy friends are at their busiest right now going from flower to flower picking up valuable nectar and, at the same time, pollinating. While there is nothing better than wildflower-scented honey, the end result of all that nectar gathering, the job of pollination is the one big reason we should respect and nurture our bee population. If the bees did not do this job we would have do go do it ourselves, going from blossom to blossom with a little brush. Try putting a price on that! Which is why you should pledge your support to Wexford Tidy Towns' 'Let's Bee Friendly' campaign.

Do it now at http://www.wexfordtidytowns.com/biodiversity/bee-campaign. While there you can check out a list of bee-friendly plants which are sure to keep the bees in your garden happy.

Neighbours' Day

  Wexford's citizens came together on the last Friday of May in a show of solidarity with fellow Europeans across the EU. The occasion was the annual EU Neighbours Day and the rendezvous point was Redmond Park.
  In ones and twos they arrived and immediately fell into animated conversation over tea, coffee and delectable confections from D'Lush Café. The boules players kept a disdainful distance between themselves and these interlopers - they usually have the place to themselves. Guest speaker was former government Minster Trevor Sargent who admits to being at his happiest when up to his elbows in dirt! The author of Trevor's Kitchen Garden (also the name of his blog) spoke passionately, yet cogently, about the challenges we face growing to feed ourselves, and the World, on a resource-finite planet. His thought-provoking lecture went on to take in the concept of Transition Towns - how towns can gear up to deal with the challenges which lie ahead (peak oil, climate change, etc).
  The idea behind this annual event is that we can all benefit from increased community cohesion. Or, to put it more bluntly, it makes sense to get on with your neighbours. It may mean another pair of eyes to watch out for dodgy goings-on around your house, someone to take in your bulky post when you are out, resource-sharing (milk for the cornflakes), even bartering (I'll clean your windows if you bake me a cake!). On a more serious level, there are some elderly people living alone who, if they did not have you to check in on them, might go days without meeting another human.
  We were delighted with how the day went. Thanks to our guest speaker Trevor Sargent and to Wexford Borough Council for supporting the event.

"Let's Bee Friendly"!

Wexford Tidy Towns launched its “Let’s Bee Friendly” project on April 10th in Wexford Town Library. "Let's Bee Friendly" is an exciting biodiversity project, developed in association with Wexford County Council, the aim of which is to generate greater awareness of the importance of bees as pollinators and what we can do to make their job easier. Find out all you need to know about this project at www.wexfordtidytowns.com/biodiversity/bees.

Spring time

The park really comes alive in Spring.

February Storms

It's February 15th and the park is looking a little more open following the storms of the past week. There are trees down all over the island along with terrible flooding. The BBC weather forecast last night says we can look forward to calmer conditions for the weeks ahead. A welcome respite.

 

Look at that light!

Jan 16th and the days are noticeably longer. We need all the sunlight we can get, even if it brings no warmth.