October is a month of rich harvests, autumnal colours, cosy suppers, conkers, pumpkins and first frosts. A time to gather in, celebrate your successes in the garden and start to plan for next year, equally the perfect time to tidy up and cut back in the garden and put down some serious roots. The end of the growing season also means a busy time composting crop remains, saving seeds and preparing the soil for winter. Flower/veg beds, greenhouses, ponds, gutters and water butts may all need attention and those compost heaps will benefit greatly from all the excess leaves and cuttings.
October is also the beginning of hibernation for some wildlife and though the restoring effects of hiding away are somewhat appealing to some of us humans too (!) here at Nature’s Haven, we are busy as ever…planting up Spring blooming bulbs plus a variety of fruit & veg including blueberry bushes, raspberry canes, wild strawberries, white cabbage, rainbow chard and garlic.
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Talking of wildlife, we are delighted to announce that we have achieved a Silver award in the Wildlife Gardens Awards 2023 – our outdoor space is recognised ‘as a great example of an environment that supports wildlife very well’. A great achievement considering we only started creating the garden in April 2023, many thanks to our volunteers & supporters.
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More exciting news…Nature’s Haven has been invited to take part in the National Trust’s Cliveden Scarecrow Festival 2023 (21st-29th October). This year the theme is ‘Nature in Autumn’, and our scarecrow display will be part of Cliveden’s October Half-Term trail along with scarecrows from other local community groups.
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Here's our amazing team making our Scarecrow
He's almost finished and looking very dapper!
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Lastly, pumpkins are synonymous with Halloween, so how about turning your leftover carved pumpkin into an eco-friendly birdfeeder…
1. Take your pumpkin and cut off the top half so you have a shallow bowl
2. Loop some wire through the flesh if hanging or simply place your pumpkin bird feeder on a table
3. Gently pour mixed bird feed including pumpkin seeds into the hollowed out pumpkin
4. Find a spot in your garden to place/hang your pumpkin…the birds will love you for it!
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