Encourage awareness of our environment.
To foster enjoyment of outdoor activities.
To develop a caring attitude of town and countryside.
To help encourage our Beavers to look after their world.
1. Plant a tree, preferably a native species.
2. Plant an insect/wildlife garden near your meeting place.
3. Make a bird feeder; hang on a suitable place near the den. Keep a record of which birds visit.
4. Plant up a window box for an elderly or disabled person, and help to look after it.
5. Make a collage from autumn leaves.
6. Make a collage from pictures cut from magazines of things that improve our environment.
7. Take part in a recycling project.
8. Have a sunflower show - who can grow the tallest. Measure and record growth and how long it takes to grow to full height.
9. Grow a pumpkin. Who can grow the biggest? Use it as part of your Halloween celebrations.
10. Help raise funds for a third world environmental project.
11. Help in a community clean up i.e. Tidy Towns Group or similar body.
12. Keep the area around your meeting place clean.
Planting a tree
While visiting a park or woodland in autumn, collect chestnuts or acorns. These should be fresh, as dried up nuts may not germinate.
1. Take the chestnuts and soak overnight in water. Plant in individual pots and cover with 1/2 a plastic bottle to create humidity. Watch it grow and plant out when it is 12 - 14 inches high.
2. Plant chestnuts/acorns where you find them. Visit the area again in spring, see if they have grown. Oak, Ash, Lime, Beech, Rowan, and Silver Birch are all ideal.
3. Apply to Crann Ireland
Planting up window boxes/tubs
Wood or plastic boxes/tubs are ideal, as are hanging baskets. Ensure there is good drainage - (stones or polystyrene pieces). Use compost. Buy young plants. Plant as directed on the label. Water regularly. Best plants: - Geraniums, fuchsia, marigolds, aubrietia, and lobelia. (Small evergreens and ivies in winter).
Feeding Birds
The best foods are: - Unsalted peanuts, fat, bread, cake crumbs, seeds, cheese and bruised fruit. Don't forget to also leave out water. In spring, stop feeding nuts as they can harm the chicks. Use a mixture of melted fat, fruit, nuts/seeds to make a bird cake that's ideal in winter.
Planting an insect garden
To attract butterflies and moths plant Buddleia, Vibornam, Sedum Spectabile (ice plant) Nicotinia. To attract insects plant Polyanthus, Aubrietia, Wallflowers, Sweet William, Lemon Balm, Snapdragon and Hollyhock. Ask at your garden centre for more plant names. Wild flower seeds are also available, a little more expensive but well worth the cost for display. Wildflowers should never be picked but left to propagate naturally.
Litter clean-up
Instruct Beavers not to pick up any sharp object but to report them to you.
Ideally, you should look over the area beforehand noting any danger - hazards. If it is too bad, abandon your clean up and report the site to the Council.
Plastic gloves should be used.
Contact your local council beforehand with date and venue. They will supply black bags and collect the rubbish after the event. Some councils will issue a certificate or make your own for the council to sign.
Have water or wet wipes and towel handy for cleaning hands when finished.
Make sure you have a first aid kit with you.
Grow a Pumpkin.
Pumpkins like a rich soil if they can get it, but will grow on unmanured ground as long as it is well drained. They need plenty of water throughout the
growing season.
Sow pumpkin seeds outdoors in spring under cloches made out of plastic drinks bottles. In the early summer they can be sown outdoors without protection.
Alternatively they can be sown in spring inside and planted out in early summer as the weather gets warmer.
Pumpkins produce both male and female flowers. The female flowers can be recognised by the tiny green pumpkin shaped swelling just behind the flower. Only let the plant produce a few pumpkins: pinch out the growing tips when there are enough pumpkins growing. Pumpkins ripen best on the plant. Cut them just before the first frosts or at Halloween.
