Visit to the Sensory Centre
Our friends at Forth Valley Sensory Centre kindly invited the group out for a tour of their Kitchen and Sensory Gardens this week.
We met with Gene, who runs the garden and coordinates their volunteers. She told us about their focus to be organic and accessible. This hot composter bin creates compost within three months using food scraps from the cafe kitchen, garden waste and wood chips provided by a local woodworker. No pesticides or harmful chemicals are allowed and every work space and pathway has been made accessible for their users. Food grown in the kitchen garden supplies the centre cafe (well worth a visit) and the sensory garden in packed with beautiful plants and artwork.
Thank you for having us and for so many great ideas.
Friends of the Mayfield May Meet-up
Some much needed weeding, pruning and placing of our new plants from Braehead Community Gardens. We also planted out the sunflowers and poppies we grew with The Conservation Volunteers.
Braehead Community Garden Plant Sale
This morning the library hosted another plant sale from our friends down at Braehead Community Gardens.
Friends of the Mayfield purchased some pollinators with money donated by customers who came along to the Kate McLelland Art Workshop which will be planted out tonight during the monthly meet-up.
Bookbug goes to the Garden
As part of Bookbug week, the library visited our local community hospital gardens to take part in The Scottish Childminders Association Teddy Bear’s Picnic.
The Green Space at Stirling Health Care Village has been hugely influential in the planning of the Mayfield Secret Garden with support and ideas from Elaine Cochrane, who initiated and oversaw the development there. With thanks to Elaine, the Secret Garden has benefited from collaborations with The Conservation Volunteers and the Forth Valley Men’s Shed.
The Green Space is available to all and there you will find a nature trail, fairy garden, percussion instruments and play equipment. Located just behind the Health Care Village at the foot of the car park.
Kate McLelland Illustrator Workshop
As part of Stirling Libraries Off the Page festival, the library hosted an art workshop with the wonderful Author and Illustrator Kate McLelland. The sold-out workshop was aimed at children aged 6-9 with ticket sales going to the Mayfield Secret Garden. The theme of the event was Scottish Wildlife and the children contributed to a collaborative mural. Participants took home some of Kate’s artwork as well as their new drawings and a Friends of the Mayfield pin badge.
Writers in the Garden
The library is proud to host Write Club, a friendly weekly meeting for people interested in writing and sharing their work. The group meets on a Thursday between 5.30 pm-7 pm.
Recently the group were joined by author Tom Newlands who is originally from the area and took inspiration from his upbringing in St Ninians for his debut novel Only Here, Only Now. Tom spoke to the group about his experience of getting published and gave feedback on their writing.
The Write Club and Tom Newlands in the Mayfield Secret Garden
The group are working towards publishing a collection of their work. Watch this space!
Friends Get to Work
The group got together for a much needed prune and weed session. We cut back a lot of the briars to give some space to the beautiful Acer trees.
The next gardening session will take place on Tuesday 20th May during the next Friends of the Mayfield meeting.
Sunflowers with The Conservation Volunteers
During the Easter holidays, we were lucky enough to be joined by Krissy from The Conservation Volunteers who held a family indoor planting session. We got some top tips for planting Sunflowers, Nasturtiums and Poppies. The children planted some to take home and some for the Mayfield Secret Garden.
Leftover compost and seeds from the event were used by a class visit from St Ninians Primary. The class decorated the pots and took them away to look after them for their school fete plant stall.
Digging It
The Friends decided that the priority for the garden should be to focus on making the space accessible with the funding from Cilips. We approached several local businesses and decided to work with Gilchrists.
Within a day, the team at Gilchrists removed the deep rooted bramble bush roots, levelled the ground and laid a patio and pathway. We are so delighted with the results.
