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  • GARDEN PARTY

Life Beyond My Garden

16/4/2022

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Since I started my blog  4 years ago, with rare exeptions, I have kept my posts to my garden. But 
in March 2022 I joined a group of environmental activists in my village - the climate and ecology action group, which is engaging in activities to encourage a greener, healthier village. One of the reasons for joining the group was to force myself to broaden my horizons so I have decided to expand my blog to take in the natural environment of which my garden is a part.

My practical contribution to the community action plan is concerned with biodiversity and the creation of maps of habitat-types in the area around the village. I had to create a new website to support the project and this will contibue to be developed throughout my involvement with the group https://rebetchworth.weebly.com/

Spring is in full swing. Its my favourite time of the year and I wanted to immerse myself in it so I decided to make a movie to celebrate ithe signs of spring in some of the woodland areas near my home. Over three days I visited three different woodland (including our own) and photographed the plants – mainly wild flowers and trees and shrubs that were in blossom or coming into leaf. On two of my explorations I was accompanied by my youngest daughter who also loves nature and it was a delight to have her company and her knowledge – she is very interested in plants. We used the PlantNet App to help me identify the plants. I then spent another day assembling my photos using windows moviemaker and adding music and then overlaying text to name the plants. When finished I uploaded it to my biodiversity website  https://rebetchworth.weebly.com/education.html
 
By immersing myself in nature through my woodland walks – it did something to me and I tried to celebrate some of its wonder and splendour in my movie. The intention to make a movie forced me to learn as I had to identify the plants I was photographing using PlantNet and I watched several YouTube clips that explained the natural signs of ancient woodlands including the indicator plants. In this way I improved my understanding of the significance and meaning of what I was observing and my enjoyment of it.

I shared my movie with my planning group. It was great to receive their positive feedback and the leader of the group shared it with the village Whats App forum with an invitation to share their photos of plants and animals that they had spotted while out walking. I felt I had made a useful contribution to our collective project.
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    PATHWAYS DIARY
    In March 2023 I began an experiential inquiry called Pathways to a Sustainable Future and many of my posts between March-September were written for this project.
    ​Diary Starts Here

    Garden Notes
    My garden is much more than a garden. Its playground, a studio for my artistic efforts, a natural laboratory for experiments and learning and a place for contemplation. It keeps me busy and gives me the exercise I need to keep fit, although it does damage me from time to time. But more than anything else it gives me pleasure, happiness and a sense of belonging and of doing something useful and worthwhile when I am immersed in it. It enables me to express myself creatively and draws my attention to the beauty and ecology of life. In this blog  I am telling the story of my garden and my involvement and experiences in it through my writing and the photos, movies, music, paintings and other artefacts - it inspires me to create. I have become more conscious of the UNs Sustainable Development Goals and our important role in enabling their achievement my experiments and projects in the natural world show how I respect and try to understand nature and try to enable life to flourish. I know that one day I will not be the custodian of this beautiful landscape we call our home. I must make the most of it now and preserve its presence in my memory knowing that it will carry on long after I am gone and that someone else will care for it and call it their home.
    In March 2022 I joined a group of environmental activists in my village and so I have decided to expand my blog to take in the natural world around me.  

    Picture
    Useful Links
    RE Betchworth
    Wildlife Garden Forum
    Surrey Wildlife Trust 
    Habitat Network
    Plant Identification UK
    ​GAIA
    ​
    GOOGLE EARTH
    ​




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