Transition Greenspaces

Breathing Spaces at CREW – 12th April

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Our next Bread & Roses evening at CREW, 8/9 South St, Worthing BN11 3AL on April 12th, 7-9pm is going to be about Permaculture. We’ll have at least one guest, Pauline from TTW, and we’ll try to introduce you to this fascinating subject (in 2 hours!).

Permaculture is about designing resilience, so it’s not just about gardens and growing, and really it will change the way you think about everything! We’ll have our usual mindful beginning and a look at pattern in nature, there’ll be local examples and interaction, and even a cuppa.

Book a place via CREW’s Eventbrite booking system: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bread-for-all-and-roses-too-monthly-garden-club-with-breathing-spaces-tickets-519575713947

Breathing Spaces at CREW – 8th March

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“Once you develop a relationship with a little patch of earth, it becomes a seed itself.”

This quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, was one of the inspiring quotes we considered at the Garden Club we run at CREW once a month to explore gardening in a climate and nature crisis. Our theme in February was seeds and how growing your own seed for next year will eventually result in plants better adapted to local soil and climate, as well as being free! We looked at seasonal foliage and flowers, mindfully sowed some beans, and had a chat over tea about restoring relationship between land and people. One of our attendees said afterwards:

“I felt more confident about how I could use seeds in the garden… and I was particularly struck with the chat we had about awe and wonder and felt that for me, gardening brings a lot of this into my life in various ways.”

Another said “I came away feeling peaceful and relaxed. With our observations of the changing of the seasons and your basket of plants I felt more appreciative of the beauty around us at this time of year.”

Our theme on March 8th is wildflowers and we will look at identifying them as they come into growth (but before flowering), and we will sow some, whilst talking about what we can learn from them for gardening in changing climate conditions. We will be joined by Emma from Worthing Climate Action Network and Debbie from Worthing Wildflower Trail to discuss how we can encourage more wildflowers in our gardens, urban streets and public spaces and why we need to do that. The sessions are free and you don’t need to commit to coming every month, it’s not a course as such. Please join us by booking here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bread-for-all-and-roses-too-monthly-garden-club-with-breathing-spaces-tickets-519575713947?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

And if you want to get your hands dirty, we are back every Thursday morning at the Flower Farm (10.30-12.30) and once a month at Dankton Barnyard (March 12th, 11am-1pm and then every first Sunday of the month). Get in touch: [email protected]

Seed Swap Event Sunday 5th March

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TTW will have a couple of stalls for Seed and Plant Swapping (you can also buy them) at the Sustainable Market on Sat 5th March in the usual place – Freedom Works Covered Car Park, Stoke Abbott Road, Worthing, BN11 1HJ (opposite the Assembly Hall) from 9.30am – 1.30pm. Do bring your plants and seeds to swap if you have any. There will be the usual traders as well as some local community stalls.

Locally Grown and Dried Flowers

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We are delighted to let you know that Breathing Spaces got ahead of the ‘trendy’ curve this year and dried lots of our locally and sustainably-grown flowers.

Even better news is that you can buy a bunch from HISBE Supermarket, Portland Street (until stocks run out), or cute little posies from the TTW stall at the Sustainability Market on December 4 when, if we are lucky, there will be the last of the fresh Chrysanthemums too.

It’s our first year of drying flowers and we are really pleased with the way many kept their colour. Of course we did it naturally with no extra heat, no dyes or chemicals, it just takes up a lot of cupboard space under the stairs!

It will be our last volunteer session of the year at Dankton Lane Barnyard, Sompting, from 11am to 1pm Sunday 4 December, weather permitting. Bring thick gloves and a drink/snack and dress for the weather. And we are still tending the flower farm on Thursday mornings at Maybridge Keystone Centre, Worthing BN12 6JD 10.30am-12.30pm, last session of the year on Thursday December 15.

Many thanks to all our fabulous volunteers, we have so enjoyed growing and being in nature this year with you, and to everyone who has bought flowers from us, covering our running costs and contributing to TTW overheads. Wishing everyone a peaceful and loving winter break and see you next year.

[email protected]

Breathing Spaces in November

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You can join us at Dankton Lane Barnyard, Sompting, from 11am to 1pm Sunday 6 November for a volunteers work-morning.

Keeping on top of the overly-dominant plants like brambles and such like (bring thick gloves and a drink/snack and dress for the weather) and checking to see how the pond and the wild bees are getting on.

Or if you would like some of these autumnal beauties, we should have dropped off chrysanthemums for sale on the TTW stall at the Sustainability Market, Stoke Abbott Road, also on 6 November. Generous bunches for £5 each (you could even split them and share with someone else). Get there early before they’re all gone!

And don’t forget you can volunteer with us on Thursday mornings at Maybridge Keystone Centre, Worthing BN12 6JD 10.30am-12.30pm and learn how we grow them (and other flowers), without chemicals or heat.

[email protected]

Don’t Forget To Breathe

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If you need an opportunity and a place to breathe (who doesn’t!), getting involved with nature is one of the best ways to do it, and it can be even better in the company of friendly people. There are two ways to volunteer with TTW project Breathing Spaces:

Help us look after the small community flower farm and woodland garden at the Maybridge Keystone Centre, Raleigh Way, Worthing. There’s still plenty of autumn jobs to do and we will be gardening right up til the beginning of December. You will learn what’s seasonal, how to grow in a nature-led and sustainable way, and you can help us prepare bunches of gorgeous blooms for our wonderful subscribers. The flowers are still abundant and volunteers usually get a few to take home. We are there on Thursday mornings, 10.30am-12.30pm, but if Thursdays are not a good a day for you, it is possible that you could help us on other days. For example, Shared Lives garden on Tuesdays when we are not there, and some of our volunteers go to water or do jobs on other days. Let us know what works for you.

For some wilder ‘gardening’, join us at Dankton Lane Barnyard, Sompting, usually on the first Sunday of every month, 11am-1pm, between March and December. It’s a site for wildlife and wildflowers where (with kind permission of Sompting Estate) we are improving the pond and keeping the most dominant vegetation at bay so that there is more biodiversity (we’re a bit like grazing animals in a re-wilding project!). So, for example, we pull out some of the brambles, hogweed and thistles whilst leaving plenty for the wild creatures, including the bees in the log hive installed there as part of the Bees And Seas project. It’s a peaceful, hidden gem on the Downs, and you can walk or cycle there from Worthing or Lancing (no parking on site). Again, there is a possibility to volunteer there on other days if you have got to know the site and the work.

Keep breathing deep through the autumn and winter. Contact Claire or Lisa:
[email protected]

Breathing Spaces & the Big Butterfly Count

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Please note we have changed the date of the next volunteer morning at Dankton Lane Barnyard (usually 1st Sunday of the month 11am-1pm). There will not be a session on 7th August.

We will be there instead on Sunday 31st July at the earlier time of 10am – 12 noon (so we get the work done before the hottest part of the day). It’s a lovely site that should be standing tall in wildflowers this month, with areas of shade from the trees, a newly improved pond (if it’s still holding water) and a busy wild bee hive. We’ll be clearing out some of the brambles and hogweed that otherwise threaten to take over. But it’s also the Big Butterfly Count, a citizen science project to monitor the health of the UK’s butterflies. So we’re going to spend some time recording what we see and someone could add the data to the Butterfly Conservation’s interactive map. Let Claire and Lisa know if you would like to join in. You will need to bring your own drink/refreshments, gardening gloves, and dress appropriately for the conditions (lots of stingers and scratchers around) and, of course, the weather.

[email protected]

Cortis Avenue Wildlife Garden Open Day 30th July

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Great News! The Cortis Avenue Wildlife Garden Open Day is back this year. So come along on Saturday 30th July between 12 noon and 4pm to see how the garden has blossomed since Covid lockdown.

Find out:

All About Bees, Bug and Insect Life, Butterfly Identification for Big Butterfly Count, Hedgehog Corner, Plants for Pollinators, Pond Life.

We’re at Cortis Avenue, off Carnegie Road, Broadwater, Worthing BN14 7BG. Buses to Broadwater Church or Bohunt School. Street parking in Cortis Avenue or Carnegie Road (via South Farm Road).

Free entry. Children very welcome, including pushchairs. Unfortunately our uneven grass paths are not wheelchair accessible. We ask No Dogs except Assistance Dogs. Composting toilet facilities available.

If you can’t make 30th July, and would like to join us at another time, our usual opening times are:
Wednesdays 10am to 12 noon,
Fridays 10am to 12 noon
2nd & 4th Saturday of the month 10am to 12 noon

Check out the Facebook Page or email [email protected]

Potential New Friends of Rosedene Group

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Richard and Merry, who have been TTW members since we began, have a delightful, tranquil little urban wood in the heart of Broadwater.

They would very much like others to benefit from its peace and beauty, so we wondered whether anyone would be interested in forming a little Friends Group to enjoy this lovely space and help with maintenance – which is pretty minimal, as it’s a rewilded space so just needs a bit of tweaking when things get a bit rampant!

If anyone is interested in visiting to take a look before committing to anything, please do get in touch and we will supply contact details and further information: [email protected]

Would You Like To Volunteer With Breathing Spaces?

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Breathing Spaces are having a little get-together for TTW volunteers, just to say thank you for all their hard work. It’s at Maybridge Keystone Centre on Sunday June 26th from 5pm for a couple of hours and we thought that, if you are interested in volunteering for TTW, you might like to join us so you can find out how you can get involved?

For example, Breathing Spaces would love to involve more volunteers at both our tiny sustainable flower farm at Maybridge and also at the downland barnyard in Sompting. We currently have practical sessions on Thursday mornings and the first Sunday of every month, but if those times don’t suit you, we also need help, especially with watering (best done in the morning or late afternoon/early evening) on a Saturday, and there could be a small group on other days. Why not come and see how our garden grows?

There will be volunteers there from other TTW projects to talk to and find out more. If you want to join us, please email [email protected] for more information, and to help us with numbers for catering.