Have map, will walk

We finally got our first duty rosta (if that’s the right word for it) – we chose one duty for August, and one for September. I figured it’s best to start small and work up rather than book myself up fully and have to cancel some.

August – Dig and plant a wildflower meadow, Whitefield Park, Bury

We got there all psyched for our first ranger contribution and it was a glorious day, with the sun cracking the flags; I got my first tan since Poland! Aga and I were the only volunteers to sign up to this duty, Whitefield Park not being the most well-known or cared about park in the area. It’s a shame because it’s lovely, with a nice playground, some professional bowling greens and a load of well-looked-after plants, trees and flowers. Plus it’s local and so should be important for the residents.

There’s a south-east facing slope that gets a lot of sun, and we dug a small test bed of about 4m x 2m (there was only us two and the park ranger!) – then we sowed it with some very expensive wildflower seeds and raked them in. Hopefully we’ll see them next spring.