Last week a small group of us had a truly amazing experience in the park. Led by local expert Hilary Smith and very kindly funded and organised by the Wildlife Trusts, we went out in search of some of the park's most overlooked residents: bats.

I must admit that, prior to the walk, bats didn't cross my mind very often. They were, at most, something on the edge of my consciousness. I was sometimes aware of their fleeting presence - half seen, half felt - in that curious transitory period between sunset and nightfall, but only ever briefly. A passing shadow on the edge of my peripheral vision or sudden sense of movement near the eaves of the roof, but that was it - I'd turn to look at them directly and they'd be gone in a second, leaving me with the impression that, while there had definitely been some sort of encounter, it never actually felt as if I'd properly 'seen' a bat...

So when Hilary and Jane, of the Wildlife Trusts, offered to make a bat walk in SQP a reality, I jumped at the chance. We met just before sunset on a night that we learnt was pretty much perfect for bats and, while Hilary was going through some brief theory with us, the first bat made it's appearance. With bat detectors at the ready we made a slow circuit of the park - walking down the steps into the woodland before traversing the boundary by the play area and coming back to the raised beds. For me, the experience was magical. I realised that it is quite rare for me to be outside just experiencing and enjoying the dusk (usually, I am trying to put the bins out, get the washing in and generally packing up for the day. The bats, on the other hand, are just starting theirs.) and this, added to the excitement of sharing the space with a creature that we don't often get to sense or see, was incredible. The bat detectors also really helped in this regard since, even on a bat walk, bats are hard to see clearly as darkness arrives. And yet, with the detectors, which translates their sounds into ones that the human ear can hear, their presence becomes even more vivid and special. As we stood in a group and a bat came across, it would create a fascinating wave of sounds across the detectors and it really felt as if we were sharing the beauty of the dusk with these amazing animals in an entirely new way.

The whole experience definitely gave me a new respect for bats and also reminded me of how partial the human perspective on everything is. I tried to imagine what the park might be like for a bat and what impression, if any, they have of us as our worlds cross briefly at dusk and dawn.

The good news is that we now have some funding for further training with Hilary, which will enable us to learn more about bats and how to help create a better habitat for them in the park. This will take place on Sunday 1st October from 1pm. If you're from a local green space group and would like to come along, so that you can learn these skills and take them back to your own project, you'd be very welcome. However, places are limited so please contact me to book: r.whittle@lancaster.ac.uk or 07840 157771

The British summer might be up to it's usual tricks (a very wet Sunday afternoon has given me the opportunity to update this blog!), but we have some very good news from SQP...

With some invaluable help and advice from Lune Valley Community Beekeepers (www.lunevalleybeekeepers.co.uk) and the approval of the City Council, we're going to be working to turn the steep triangle of grass which runs towards the woodland into a wildflower meadow, which will look beautiful and help a range of pollinating insects, including the lovely bee in the photo above that I saw enjoying our Hebes this morning.

The new area will be home to a range of species including yarrow, oxeye daisy, yellow rattle and red clover and will feature a couple of paths through it for walkers and, eventually, a bench for you to sit, enjoy the view and listen to the gentle hum of happy insects at work.

When will all this happen? Hopefully we'll begin the work in March 2018 - both because this is a good time to let the wildflower seed establish and also because we need to try and find some funding for the project to happen. We'll keep you updated as our plans become more concrete but, for now, we just wanted to share the good news with you!

In the meantime, please get in touch via our email or Facebook page if you'd like to be involved in the meadow or the community garden - we're always very happy to see new faces!

At this time of year:
During May the growing season well and truly starts. It is the season of blossom and we hope you enjoy the display in the community garden this year. There are also bluebells in the woodland! Some of the first things in the garden that are the first to be enjoyed again in the new season are the herbs that died back for winter but are now sprouting such as mint, fennel, French tarragon and lovage. Mint goes beautifully with lamb, fennel and French tarragon partner fish delightfully and lovage has a taste similar to celery and is great for adding flavour to stock.

Next month’s activities:
We have joined forces with the some local residents to do a quick litter pick throughout the park for the first half of the next Sunday morning gardening session. Next month’s activities will also include spreading compost from our compost heap onto the beds, adding chicken manure pellets to the beds, making plant signs and starting off a new area for growing comfrey and New Zealand flax.

Want to get involved?
During the summer months we normally meet up here at 10am upon the first Sunday of each month and every third Wednesday of the month at 6pm. Next month we will be meeting upon
Sunday May 7th from 10am to 1pm and Wednesday May 17th from 6pm to 9pm.

Nothing is better for the soul than gardening and nurturing your environment. Add in the fact we are a community volunteer garden and you get a very potent shot of feeling good when you come to one of our gardening sessions. We always welcome new volunteers for the gardening (no gardening experience required) so come along to lift your soul and feel good next month.

At this time of year:
Spring is here. More and more flowers are appearing everywhere. Trees are blossoming and every gardener is filled with great hopes and optimism for the new growing season. Look out for the wild garlic we planted in the woodland alongside the path by the Wyresdale Road entrance. Wild garlic is a great ingredient in the kitchen. Add it at the last minute to many dishes (omelettes, pasta sauces, liven up other vegetables, etc.) to get a great garlic flavour. Or you can make pesto with wild garlic, parmesan cheese, pine nuts and olive oil.

Next month’s activities:
Next month’s activities will include turning over the existing compost heaps and then mulching some of the beds with the compost at the bottom of the heaps, adding chicken manure pellets to the beds, making plant signs and starting off a new area for growing comfrey and New Zealand flax.

Want to get involved?
We normally meet up here at 10am upon the first Sunday of each month. Next month we will be meeting upon
Sunday April 2nd from 10am to 1pm.

We always welcome new volunteers for the gardening. However, if you aren't sure whether gardening is for you there are other ways that you could contribute to Scotch Quarry. You may want an outlet for your artistic side such as painting plant signs, making mosaics, making sculptures, writing poetry or making any other art installation you can think of for displaying in the garden? You may be a budding photographer and want to photograph the park through the seasons for a public show? You may have ideas for how the community garden, play area or the park can be improved? You may have ideas for events that could be put on? We always want ideas. You may want to bring cakes, biscuits or other refreshments along to keep our volunteers going on a Sunday morning gardening session? You may be a social media nut and would love to get Scotch Quarry a higher profile online? Maybe there is another way that makes use of your talents that I haven't listed to make Scotch Quarry even more beautiful? Let us know.

This Saturday, March 18th 1-2.30pm we're very pleased to be hosting a community fruit bush exchange in Scotch Quarry Park.
One of the joys of a community garden is that you discover how, with a minimum of effort and skill, it is really easy to make new plants for free. And that's exactly what we've been doing in Scotch Quarry over the past few years. As a result, our nursery bed is jam packed with plants - some of which we can use in the garden and some of which we just don't have space for. The good news is that, even if we can't use all the plants that we grow, other local gardens can make use of them. This Saturday, we're going to be teaming up with two other local community gardens, Christ Church Lancaster and the EcoHub up at the University, so that they can take all the fruit bushes that we no longer have room for in the garden. So it's an exciting time as our plant babies go on to loving new homes!
If you'd like to join us to help out in the great plant swap, you'll be very welcome. Here's to a fruitful summer in every sense of the word!

We had our first gardening session of the spring today. The weather wasn't quite as lovely as yesterday but, compared to the deluge that the forecast had been predicting only the other day, it was perfectly fit for purpose - no rain to speak of at all, which was a definite bonus! We made good use of the time, finishing off the winter pruning (currants, jostaberries and gooseberries got their annual tidy up) and creating some hardwood cuttings in the process. Having discovered the art of taking cuttings just a few years ago, it has now become a compulsive habit with me and I can't imagine not making use of those bits of the plant that would otherwise be thrown away. It might be hard to believe that, in just a couple of years, these will be fully formed new plants, but a quick look at last year's 'babies' created by Alice using this very same process showed that the magical transformation is already underway - new buds bursting and they are raring to go. It is always lovely to be able to share the ease and speed of this with a new generation of helpers in the garden and this morning was no exception to that so huge thanks to all who came along and helped!

Other jobs successfully completed this morning include the mulching of the raised beds with our very own compost and the clearing away of last year's seed heads to the compost heap, with the exception of the sedum stems which we thought might make quite a nice 'bug hotel' thanks to their hollow stems. We might make this a fun activity for next year's March session, so watch this space!