The sun was blasting and the yellow dungas were out. Always a sign of a top notch day for the Gosnells gang. And good omen it was!
On world bee day (May 20th) we got started with Laura from Plastic Free Peckham clearing a sadly neglected site that was full to the brim with rubbish; old toys, kitchen crud and even a fridge!
Laura was the perfect person to wingman us on the day, making sure we were disposing of all the rubbish in the best way, whilst also getting her hands dirty!
Once ready, Will and Tom built a slightly raised bed to make sure that we had a nice clear area ready for all our trusty local volunteers to get involved with.
Finally the big day arrived and at 2pm we were lucky enough to get a smiley, excited gang of local volunteers to lay the HUGE pile of soil. It was all giggles and plenty of hard work, but with a mead or two in tow everyone was up for it. Together we planted a large variety of bee friendly plants, all to reseed and come back next year with minimal maintenance.
The thing about planting perennial plants, is that its actually really low maintenance but has maximum impact. Not only are we feeding the bees, but we are doing our bit for community. Having more green and encouraging interaction makes everyone a little bit happier. We feel more connected to each other, and it actually encourages respect for the local area which has a huge positive ripple affect.
Not only were we joined by lovely locals, but fans and mead drinkers from as far as the US also wanted to get involved! So we sent off packs of mead, t-shirts and sunflower seeds so that they could get involved from afar.
And that, my friends, is showing the world the honey and making the planet that little bit sweeter.
Do let us know if you have an area in South London that you think could do with a spruce and a team of yellow dungaree sporting folk, we would love to hear from you!
Now buzz off and get planting!!!