Formartine in Bloom 2013 Formartine Beginning to Blossom 2013

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1 Ltd Formartine in Bloom 2013 Formartine Beginning to Blossom 2013 Illustrated Report Collieston. Butterflies in the Butterfly Garden at Fintry School.

2 Formartine Beginning to Blossom 2013 Eight schools entered this year, the same number as last year. However, there was a substantial change in participants. Fyvie and Pitmedden were new entries, Ellon Primary returned and Auchterless, Balmedie and Daviot withdrew to develop new projects for next year. It is nice to see almost all schools continue to be involved in the international Eco-Schools scheme Note 1. Udny Green and Tipperty have now achieved 3 flags each, Fintry has 2 flags, Slains and Arnage have 1 flag each and are both working towards a second, and Ellon PS, Fyvie and Pitmedden are working towards their first. Many schools are also involved in other schemes too. For instance, Tipperty and Fintry have participated in a national RSPB bird survey and Udny Green has gained a Silver award in the Green Tree Award Scheme run by the Woodland Trust. Most schools produce vegetables. Not all are as lucky as Pitmedden and Udny Green who have a vegetable garden each in Udny Castle walled garden and use of the greenhouse. Slains has its own vegetable garden and potting shed. Arnage use a poly tunnel, Ellon PS use raised beds, Fintry and Pitmedden have planters and Tipperty and Ellon PS even use re-recycled plastic bags. At Tipperty and Udny Green the vegetables are used for cooking and linked to healthy living and nutrition. New fruit trees have been planted at Fintry, Fyvie and Udny Green. All were in danger of being choked out by grasses and the judges advised using mulch mats of old carpet squares to counter this. The new woodland at Ellon PS and the wild hedge at Tipperty required the same treatment. Meanwhile Fintry has applied that advice given previously and their woodland hedge is now thriving. Wild garden at Fintry School. Beach Garden at Slains School. There is a wide range of different types of garden. Most schools have a wild garden, including newly developed ones at Fintry and Tipperty. More specialist gardens include Butterfly gardens at Fintry, Slains and Tipperty, Ponds at Fyvie and Udny Green, a Sensory garden at Udny Green (a culmination of an Award winning design project from last year), a Beach garden at Slains, a rock garden at Udny Green (on top of the bug hotel). Many schools too have minibeast hotels ranging from old pallets through to piles of old logs. Other wildlife accommodation includes bat boxes at Udny Green, squirrel boxes at Tipperty and widespread bird feeding stations and bird boxes. I am pleased to record that the bird box with CCTV at Udny Green was finally occupied this year and the development of six sparrow chicks was followed closely by the pupils. More specialist wildlife accommodation includes bee boxes at Slains and Fintry and a wormery at Udny Green. Note 1 Eco-Schools is an international programme designed to encourage whole-school action on sustainable development education issues. It is an environmental management tool, a learning resource and a recognised award scheme. The programme provides a framework for learning and action, which can link sustainable development education with everyday curricular work, as well as encouraging closer links between schools and the communities around them. Over 98% of Scotland s local authority schools participate in the programme. Almost half of these participants have attained the internationally-recognised symbol of excellence; the Green Flag Award. 2

3 Butterfly Garden at Fintry School. Sensory Garden at Udny Green School. Links to the curriculum are now more clearly developed. Many schools link in to maths with graphs. Fintry recorded tree growth and litter amounts, Slains tomato plant growth. Fintry has also carried out surveys of minibeasts and wild birds while Udny Green linked a minibeast survey to different habitats. Fintry reared caterpillars to demonstrate the life cycle and then released them into their butterfly garden. Less obvious links were beautifully demonstrated at Arnage where the natural history of spiders was studied and striking spiders webs were constructed in the arts class, made from silver paper and hung between branches in their woodland together with poetry and prose about spiders. Fyvie used recycled materials for their arts project and held an eco-fashion show for the community. Silver spider s web and poetry at Arnage School. Maths at Slains School. Perhaps one of the most striking links to the curriculum was demonstrated at Ellon PS where the competition featured as one of the main projects in the special needs class and the deep involvement and obvious enjoyment were clearly demonstrated in the moving presentation by one of the pupils involved. Links to the community get stronger too. Tipperty, Fintry and Fyvie carried out a litter pick in their local community. Fintry asked the local WRI to help with cooking lessons and they jointly produced a recipe book. Fyvie and Udny Green hold a regular community café and run it as a business thus involving children in collecting money and calculating change. Similarly, Ellon PS sells their produce to raise funds. At Fintry the local joiner supervised production of signs and labels and the local farmer donated a tatty box for making compost. Herbs are still available for picking at Tipperty and now at Arnage. Udny Green has taken over one of the flower beds on the Green from the octogenarian team on Formartine in Bloom and Pitmedden has taken over the stunning planters along the front of the school. Tipperty deliver a harvest box of vegetables and fruit to local OAPs and Pitmedden entered their vegetables into Pitmedden flower show and won an Award! 3

4 Nice touches which attracted the judges attention included: the comprehensive approach to all aspects of the competition at Fintry; neat wall baskets made from recycled milk bottles and the spiders webs at Arnage; the scarecrow and bird scarer made from flashing CDs, and the water collecting feature at Ellon PS; eco-fashion day at Fyvie; entering the flower show at Pitmedden; the beach garden and bog garden at Slains, the harvest box at Tipperty and the wormery, the sensory garden and the soup at Udny Green. Bird Scarer at Ellon Primary School. Wormery at Udny Green School. Judges Prize. This is a new award given to the school which, in the opinion of the Judges, has done something very special independent of both the points awarded and of the overall marking scheme. The award is a wooden plaque with an owl in a tree applied using pyrography created by Mrs V Hudson of Tarves. Judges Prize: Awarded to Fyvie School. Soup anyone? Sustenance for the judge. The winner of the first Judges Prize is Fyvie School for a wide-ranging campaign against litter and dog waste in the local area including the woodland walks. Fintry carried out a litter pick and campaigned in the village against litter and dog waste. They wrote to the local newspaper and produced and displayed notices along the woodland walks on the Fyvie Estate. The competition is practical as well as theoretical, linking the educational curriculum- ecology, sustainability, horticulture, maths, biology, with wider practical issues, such as cooking, food quality and healthy eating. Judging provided a fascinating 1.5 days. The range of activities carried out, the enthusiasm displayed and the confident presentation are all impressive. It is hoped that this will engender in young 4

5 people an appreciation of their environment and a sense of belonging and identity with their communities which will be carried forward into adulthood. It has been clear since the first FBB in 2009 that several schools were working towards a plan over several years and thus, as time progresses, competition will get much more intense. This is clearly illustrated this year with five schools achieving Gold Awards and there was only one mark separating each in turn! Three schools withdrawing for a year to develop new projects can only increase that intensity. Formartine Beginning to Blossom 2013: Awards GOLD AWARD & Winner ~ Fintry School; GOLD AWARD & Runner Up ~ Slains School; GOLD AWARD ~ Udny Green School; Arnage School, Tipperty School; SILVER GILT AWARD ~ none; SILVER AWARD ~ Fyvie School, Pitmedden School; BRONZE AWARD ~ Ellon Primary School. Judges Prize 2013 ~ Fyvie School. Bug Hotel at Slains School. Udny Green School- Rock Garden and Bug Hotel. 5

6 Formartine in Bloom 2013 Sixteen communities entered, the same number as last year. There were three large communities, seven medium and six small. Disappointingly, Better Balmedie withdrew for they were challenging in the large category. Against that, Rothienorman re-entered and Newburgh, one of the few communities who had never participated, entered for the first time. Graham Waters, recently retired Formartine Landscape Services Officer, has at last found exactly the right size of garden to suit him- the whole of Newburgh! Wyverie Court, Oldmeldrum. McDonald Woods Community Garden, Ellon. I highlighted how competitive the schools were and how close the marks were in the Gold Award category. Well, the top of the Large Communities section of Formartine in Bloom was just as close. The displays at Meldrum and Ellon were superb and vied with each other. Beds, hanging baskets and planters were brilliant in both. The new community garden in Ellon s McDonald woods matched the Forsyth Garden at Meldrum. Both have armies of helpers, weeders and waterers, who are organised like a military campaign. Both involve the wider community, recycle and compost. In the end the judges felt that Meldrum just pipped Ellon in the WAY it involved its community. They felt that the mannequins in Meldrum Square attracted attention, thanked the community for its support and highlighted the fact that the display was a community effort carried out by volunteers. They felt that the Ellon Civic Pride label even though it was displayed on pretty well every bed and planter was more discrete, less inclusive and less informative. Turriff the only other large community entrant continues to improve but has a long way to go to match the other two. However, watch this space! A little bird has whispered that Turriff intend to significantly up their game next year. Pitmedden. Newburgh. The Medium Communities were almost as close. Pitmedden continued its winning streak but was closely challenged by new-comer, Newburgh, as runner-up. The amount of work carried out by the Nicer Newburgh group in just 18 months is phenomenal. A play park has been cleared from the jungle on the 6

7 island, existing beds along the main road have been cleaned, refreshed, weeded and extended. New beds have been developed; and new planters, both simple and complex, have been placed in the main street. It will be most interesting to see how Pitmedden responds to this unexpected challenge next year. The situation in the small communities was quite different. For several years, Auchterless, Udny Station and Woodhead of Fyvie have vied for winner s position. However, this year, the latter two have dropped back to be overtaken by Collieston as runner up and closely challenged by Ythanbank. I don t know why Woodhead has fallen back so much, but Udny Station suffered a significant fall in volunteers and may have to withdraw. That is very disappointing. Udny Station display their certificates in the Community Centre and it was most heartening to see how they improved every year until they won in However Auchterless goes from strength to strength. Its display is magnificent for such a small communitycolourful hanging baskets on pretty well every lamp post for over a mile, five large, brightly coloured beds, hanging plants in the bowl of a tree, a strong community involvement including the playgroup and this year the school, and a massive range of recycling. Recycling is one of the criteria on which all entries are assessed. There is an amazing range of recycled planters:- lots of concrete sewage pipes of very different sizes at Pitmedden; several old baths at Fyvie; delivery bicycles and an old shopping trolley at Cuminestown; and a toilet pan and old agricultural machinery (turnip masher, seed drills, and others unidentified) at Auchterless. They must have the most original recycled item too. Their red PO phone box was recycled into a tourist information centre complete with stand containing maps and leaflets! Auchterless phone box- the ultimate in re-cycling? Hanging basket at Auchterless. Finally, it is nice to see joint activities between a community and its local school which we encouraged last year. Udny Green School has taken responsibility for some of the village planters and one of the beds on the Green. Pitmedden School now cares for the very large planters outside the school. Udny Green flower bed. 7 Planter outside Pitmedden School.

8 The support also works in the opposite direction too - individual community members supporting activities in the school - notably at Fintry and Slains Schools. As usual judging is a very inspiring day. The effort and commitment of volunteers is obvious and the sense of pride in their community or school is palpable. I still believe that one can tell one is in Formartine by the brightness of the village displays. However, this may be more difficult in the future because I understand that Buchan is now following in our footsteps with a very similar competition including one for schools. Formartine in Bloom 2013: Awards Small Community Winner ~ Auchterless; Runner Up ~ Collieston; Highly Commended ~ Udny Station, Woodhead of Fyvie, Ythanbank, Udny Green. Medium Community Winner ~ Pitmedden; Runner Up ~ Newburgh; Highly Commended ~ Methlick, Tarves, Cuminestown, Fyvie, Rothienorman; Large Community Winner ~ Oldmeldrum; Runner Up ~ Ellon; Highly Commended ~ Turriff. The Awards Ceremony for both competitions was held on 26 th Sept in the very comfortable staff room at Meldrum Academy and was again attended by over 100 people including representatives from most of the participants. The Formartine Partnership would like to thank the judges Carole Baxter from the Beechgrove Garden, Jack Grant from Aberdeenshire Council, Richard Walker from Cruickshank Botanic Garden, University of Aberdeen, and Bob Davis from Formartine Partnership. We would also like to thank the sponsors:- Oceangrove Geoscience Ltd., JRD Equipment, Rambos Tyre Services and Sinclair Contractors- who provide all the prizes and thus increase the competitive element in the competitions, and Aberdeenshire Council who cover the cost of administration. Income Accounts. Expenditure Formartine Area Committee 1, Prizes 1, Frames and certificates Judging Expenditure Sponsorship: Judges' prize JRD, Oceangrove, Rambos, Sinclairs. Catering (Awards Ceremony) Venue hire (Awards Ceremony) 0.00 Partnership overheads TOTAL INCOME 2, TOTAL EXPENDITURE 2, Formartine Area Committee FBB Grants (seven schools)

9 Our Sponsors Formartine in Bloom 2013 Formartine Beginning to Blossom 2013 Udny Station Hotel Rambo s Tyre Services Formartine Partnership Ltd 29 Bridge Street, Ellon, AB41 9AA; Tel , rodgunson@formartinepartnership.org.uk The Formartine Partnership is a company limited by Guarantee no. SC