Up to date

With a bit of spare time on my hands, I have finally got my blog up to date.

Back to the Garden

Finally having some free time to myself, I have been waiting all week for the winds to die down or the rain to stop so I could get out to the garden.  Today looked like my best bet so I donned my new wellies and wandered up the canal.

I had a really nice couple of hours in the garden.  E, the garden owner popped out to say hello and give me access to the basement for the tools.  She seemed happy for me to be there and pleased that it was getting tidied up and organised.  Got more grass pulled out of the border and dug out about half of the overgrown plants.  It was really nice to see some progress.  The brambles proved very difficult, I think I'll be battling them for a while as I ended up having to get the secatuers out and snip the roots as no matter how deep I dug, how much I wiggled or how hard I pulled, I couldn't get them out.

This time I remembered to take a plastic bag out with me and collect some soil to test for pH and nutrients.  It seems that my soil that initially I thought was really good, is actually quite poor.  It's neutral to slightly acid pH (7-6.5) but there is almost no nitrogen, potassium or phosphorus in the soil.  I think my first attempt to increase these will be to source some well rotted manure and dig this in before the winter.  Feeling the soil damp I also now think it may be quite clay based as it feels very sticky and clumps very easily.  Not sure how to improve this though.

Next good weather day I hope to get the rest of the plants dug out.  I'll then need to arrange for any of the cuttings that won't fit in the recycling to be uplifted.  Hopefully before the ground freezes for winter I'll get chance to properly dig the plot, hopefully work in some manure and then cover it all over with card to help suppress weeds until the Spring.

Health and Safety

Unfortunately my busy uni schedule has delayed me doing much of my voluntary work.

I had to head to Gilmerton for a Health and Safety meeting today with Edinburgh Garden Partners. I'd decided that given my impending weight loss deadline , I should probably have a final push at loosing the last few pounds needed to reach my target. As such, I decided to cycle to my meeting. 5 miles, shouldn't be too hard. Little did I know that it's almost completely uphill to Gilmerton.

I nearly died (or at least came off my bike in a wheezing, quivering heep)! The gear cables have slackened off since they were fitted and so I only have the option of 3 gears. This is hard enough without dragging the extra weight of a downhill frame.


The meeting was interesting and I got to meet the new coordinator who will be covering our area from now on.

The ride home was lots of fun, especially when I realised that if I upped the gear to the highest I could get, I could still pedal and go even faster downhill!

I know, I know, I created this blog and then didn't add to it.  Shortly after its creation life got really creative.  I'll try and fill in some blanks soon and then within a month things should quieten down and I'll be able to keep it more up to date.

Meadow Maintenance

Today I went along to a work day with the Water of Leith Conservation Trust.  At Bell's Mill Weir there is an area that they have been maintaining as a wildflower meadow for the last couple of years.  The thistles, docks and those riverside plants that look like rhubarb prevail but they are getting less each year.

First task was to hack back all the vegetation. My weapon of choice was the Slasher - a big blade on a heavy pole that was swung from over the shoulder down across the base of the vegetation. The weight of it does the hard work but equally, its weight gives a good work out too!

Then we needed to rake up so the strimmer could be taken across the area. More hard work for the arms and back but that's what I love. Following strimming it was another rake to get it as close to bare ground as possible. All the cuttings needed to be removed as well so that they wouldn't rot down feeding the nettles and thistles and other non-meadow plants.

After a break for lunch we moved on to the planting. I've realised that a "bulb planter" is a very useful tool, especially on firm ground that is full of plant roots!

On the very rare chance you live in Edinburgh... If you're past Bell's Mill Weir next summer, be sure to have a look and admire the flowers.

Study Break

As a way of relaxation in my study breaks and evening times I've been begining to think about my garden and what I might plant. I'm still a little scared by the vegetable side of it what with crop rotation and all the different varieties available so I decided to start with the flower bed.

My drawings aren't as lovely as those perfect coloured in garden sketches that you see but at least it gives me an idea. I've also found a use for one of my spare geology feild notebooks. It has become my garden book, containing details of plants I want to grow, conditions they need and aftercare etc.

First day in the garden.

I've been very busy with uni projects recently and by 3pm after a long day studying I was starting to get cabin fever. I knew I had a long meeting to sit through this evening so I decided to escape in to the sunshine and visit my garden. I began by pulling out grass that was growing at the start of the border, as I wasn't sure what the owner wanted me to try and save by way of plants. She popped out later and confirmed that the whole lot could go and be planted with new things.


I found this little guy amongst one of the plants. At the time I thought he was a toad as I'd never seen frogs that big. I hope he'll find somewhere nice and safe to shelter whilst I dig up the beds. I'll maybe leave him a little pile of sticks and leaves to shelter under.

After hacking it all to about waist height it was starting to look good so I got out the fork to see if I could start to dig some stuff out. It was a lot easier than I imagined as the soil is really good. By really good I mean it's somewhere between loam and peat. Really soft and moist and full of organic goodness. It was so soft that with a bit of fork wiggling and then a bit of Kat wiggling, I was quite easily able to start lifting some of the plants. I was sad to drag myself away to the meeting but it will still be there another day.

My little slice of happiness

Today, I met with the owner of a garden down the canal. There is already a volunteer in the garden (whom I met with a couple of weeks ago) but it was a bit too much for her to manage on her own. Everything went well and I was so excited by the garden. L, the other volunteer has a patch further up the garden and I have offered to tackle this overgrown stretch. It currently has saplings, old raspberry canes, brambles, grass, St John's Wort(?) ferns and various other miscellany running wild.

It will take a fair bit of work to clear out the bed. I'm planning on initially hacking it all down to about knee high to make it more managable and then starting at the end nearest the house and working my way along, digging everything out. Normally garden shares work by the grower giving some of the produce to the owner but as she's not taken anything from L, I've offered to plant flowers in the section nearest the house for her enjoyment. I can then use further along for fruit and veg. The owner, E, mentioned she likes hydrangeas so I'll probably stick in one of them, a clematis to cover some of the wall and then some general flowering plants. I'm going to leave planning my veggies until I see how long it takes me to clear the ground.

Yaaaaarrrrrrr!

Avast me hearties, I be making ye walk the plank... and all that pirate nonesense. Today was the Water of Leith Conservation Trust's Children's Treasure Hunt in the Dells. It was Peter Pan themed and I was helping H make children walk a plank into/over the river. The kids with wellies on went in, those without turned around and went back. It was so much fun. We only soaked one child's feet (kid's wellies are shorter than grown up wellies) and only made one kid cry (child of the volunteer coordinator!). It was a fantastic day and about 57 families came along. Tried to get a shot of my outfit when I got back in but it's always so difficult when it's on timer and there's no one to check you're fully in shot.

River Clean Up!

I went out on a river clean up today and loved it! I got to wear waders and go out in the river to attempt to remove rubbish and traffic cones from a pile of trees that are caught across the river. Unfortunately we couldn't get all the rubbish as the small channel that the river can still flow through had got very deep. It's been on the council's list since Christmas. If it's still there in the spring I'd love to get a group of people out there to at least clear some of the branches and trees that are caught up against the original fallen tree. It'll only take another bad winter and it'll be completely blocked! The clean up effort was to get the area ready for an event this Saturday.

Garden Sharing

After my last possible garden share fell through, today I went to meet with the coordinater and a volunteer who needs some help with the garden she's currently in. It was a good meeting, L seems lovely and if the garden owner sees no problems with it, I should hopefully get to share a garden share. *Fingers crossed*

Gardening possibilities

Today I went to try and get in touch with a lady who had a garden that I might have been able to use for growing vegetables.  It was part of a garden share scheme where someone who could no longer tend their garden is matched with someone who would like use of a garden.  We were matched back in March but lack of funding for the project meant that at the time I wasn't able to begin gardening.  The coordinator has been attempting to ring the lady but got no answer.  There's no response at her door either, even at times when her carer should have been there.  Slightly concerned that something may have happened to her and she is no longer living at home.  I hope this isn't the case but I've left contact details so if she is still there, she should be able to get in touch.

In other gardening news:

There's a local community garden down the road from me, I've been meaning to go along for a while now but for one reason or another I haven't been able to make it.  I might have also secured myself a voluntary position there but I need to wait until the organiser is back from holiday to hear when inductions will be taking place.

Rambling on the River

Today was another fairly short notice volunteering opportunity.  There was an organised river ramble to raise funds for the Trust.  There was the option of getting sponsored or paying a £10 donation.  The Boy changed his shifts at work so he could join me and we pursuaded a couple of friends that they wanted to join us.

I had a very insomnic night last night and after attempting to sleep for 5 hours I gave up and got on with the day.  This at least meant I could bake some banana bread to take along with me.  Needless to say by 8am, I wasn't looking forward to the prospect of waking nearly 13 miles!

We headed out for a bus at 10am, our friends weren't on it so we just continued on assuming that they had slept in.  Reaching Balerno we reigstered and set off on the walk.  There were around 30 people and we'd been blessed with a glorious day, clear blue skies and burning sun.

A few miles along the route we realised that our friends had caught the next bus and were on their way.  At mile 5 we reached the visitor's centre where lunch had been laid on.  We sat in the sun, ate lunch and waited for them to catch up.  By now I'd perked up and was really enjoying myself.  It was nice to see some of the other volunteers and chat to people.

When the guys had caught up (albeit rather later than expected due to being behind the last walkers and the signs having been gathered in) we continued on the route.  It was a really nice walk, wildlife sightings were lacking but in that heat, I don't blame them.  I think we walked a bit quickly for the guys but knowing that The Boy needed to be at work for 4:30pm I was hesitant to walk much slower.  Also they didn't speak up about the speed until we were at the pub afterwards so really it's their own fault.

By about 9 miles I was starting to tire and there were some aches but surprisingly it was my knee that was bothering me, rather than the tendonitis in my feet.  It's always a beautiful walk along the river and I think everyone enjoyed it.

The Boy had to head to work but our two friends joined me at the pub for a well deserved drink.

Getting caught up

I figure if this blog is going to chart my volunteering I should probably include what I've done so far.


I got an email last Thursday from the Trust which included details of a River Clean Up happening the next day.  Short notice but I had nothing planned so I decided to go along.   It was great.  Nice bunch of people. Did an hour of litter picking on and around the river. Quick tea break then it was upriver to pull invasive plants. It was a bit of a scramble to get to the site on the river bank where the Himalayan Basalm was growing. Never having been to a clean up before I wasn't sure what to expect so had chucked my Crocs in my bag just in case I needed to go in the water. Didn't take me long to volunteer to put them on and pull the basalm that was unreachable from the bank.  Wading knee deep (thankfully I'd worn shorts) I was in my element.  The water was cold at first but I soon aclimatised and my feet were toasty warm.

Absolutely loved it and can't wait until the next session. Really enjoyed the 2 mile stroll there and then back again but I think The Boy will need to get his bike fixed up for me so that I can get to the further away sessions.


On Monday evening I attended my first River Patrol meeting.  River Patrol Volunteers adopt a stretch of river and once a week, patrol it to check for any problems (fallen trees, litter, dog poo, pollution, vandalism, overgrown vegetation etc), note position of invasive species (Himalayan Basalm, Giant Hogweed, Japanese Knotweed, Mink) and monitor walkway usage, wildlife and protected species (otters and bats).  They then meet up every couple of months to report on what has been happening along the river and look at any areas that need work or more patrols in future.  At the meeting I learnt the position of the elusive kingfishers which I have heard so much about but never seen for myself. I also learnt about the stocking of fish in the river and the flood defense works that are currently being carried out. I got a new map of the river and am now looking forward to getting out on my first patrol. My main zones will be 7 and 8 as they're either side of the canal but once my feet improve (or The Boy fixes the bike up) I'll be able to do some other zones too.

I plan to get myself a log book to save constantly printing out the patrol sheets and accumulated photos or pictures of the plants and wildlife I should be looking out for. After all, I have no idea what river lamprey look like or the difference between a water vole and water shrew.

Hopefully soon I'll get a call about volunteering in the visitor's centre.

So what's this all about?

Hello,

Welcome to my blog, it's so nice of you to stop by.  I've been keeping a blog of my marathon training and really enjoyed it.  Unfortunately my training has been temporarily stopped due to tendonitis and shin splints and I began to miss blogging.  I found myself wanting to write about other things so I've started this blog to do just that.

Within the last week I have taken my first tiny steps back towards employment after many years of ill health by signing up to volunteer with my local river Conservation Trust.  I'm still studying part time so I'm easing myself in to the responsibilities of working life slowly whilst I finish my degree.  I'll be attending clean up sessions, adopting a stretch of river to keep an eye on and hopefully (when they get back to me) I'll get some shifts in the visitor centre too.

I've also just heard today that the funding has finally been sorted for a garden share scheme which will allow me to tend and grow vegetables in the garden of a lovely elderly lady who can no longer tend the garden herself. 

I plan to use this blog to chart my progress in these two areas and will be updating a couple of times a week. I may sometimes stray off the path, you might get treated to a nice recipe or an anecdote about something else but the main purpose is volunteering.  I hope you'll come back and visit me again soon.