Hi, this is Jane from the Wild Bunch.
I have noticed that the days are getting longer, the birds are delighting us with their songs, frogs are spawning and flowers are appearing. Despite the days growing longer, the temperatures are still cold, especially at night: we still need to support our wildlife. If you can provide energy-rich food like fat balls for birds, keep ponds from freezing, leave piles of leaves, logs and compost as shelter, this will help nature survive.
What signs have you noticed that spring is coming? What are the things in nature that make you smile and agree that spring is springing? One of the events that starts me thinking about gardening and planting is our very own Potato Day and Seed Swap event that took place at the Cheese and Grain in February. This year it was buzzing: Frome Wild Bunch had a stand there and I met some lovely folk talking about hedgehogs visiting their gardens and we talked about what we can all do to encourage nature in our patches. The Wild Bunch has many ideas and this year we are planning events to support our neighbourhoods to do that.
Our collective actions and aims in the Wild Bunch are to work together to increase biodiversity in all its forms, flora and fauna, plants, insects, animals, reptiles etc to create a much wider range of habitats, improve the ones we have and work with nature.
The Wild Bunch made pollinators the theme in the windows of the town hall for Window Wonderland, highlighting all the different pollinators in the different windows. We decided that this theme was very important to allow us to see some of the pollinators.
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male part of the flower to the female part of the flower, bringing about fertilisation. Insects are the major pollinators: bees, wasps, ants, flies, butterflies and moths are some of the pollinators that carry out this vital work. Bees are one of the most important pollinators, taking the nectar and transporting pollen to other flowers. This process is vital for our food crops and for the survival of wild plants that support so much wildlife.
The Wild Bunch are planning to offer a session to build bee habitats in the near future; these are habitats for solitary bees who are important pollinators. Most bees do not make colonies; they are solitary and need nesting sites that you could provide. Come along to one of our sessions to build one and put it in your garden or wildlife area. Not only are you helping pollinators, but you will be able to see them in action. Making a wildlife garden could mean building a pond, making a log pile, building a hedgehog house, or making a hole in your fence for hedgehogs. It could be growing a wild patch or a container garden for wildlife, attracting butterflies and bees into your garden area. All these things and more will help support nature.
Our next gathering is on Thursday 20th March, 1.30pm to 3pm at Rodden Meadow and will focus on garden connectivity and how to take part in Frome’s Community Wildlife Mapping Project. As it falls within the Kindness Festival, we will be giving away packets of pollinator-friendly seeds kindly donated by Meadow in My Garden.
If you are interested in signing up for the Frome Wild Bunch newsletter and finding out more about events, or becoming a member, drop us a message to fromewildbunch@gmail.com.
Book free tickets for the March meetings at https://bit.ly/wild-bunch-march25.
Jane, the Wild Bunch
