Garden Answers, the monthly gardening magazine, has selected Martineau Gardens as their community garden of the month, for its December issue. Here’s a copy of it in all its glory. GardenAnswersMagazineDec2012

Martineau Gardens produced four newsletters a year. Click here to view our newsletters.

With the woodland looking so beautiful at this time of year, November and December are a great time for groups to participate in Forest School activities at Martineau Gardens. We now have a second Forest School Area to compliment the original outdoor classroom in the woods: A den constructed from hazel branches, a storytelling space and log seating all feature here, close by is our earth oven, which can be used for outdoor cooking and a bonfire area.  These area are available for groups to hire as an outdoor learning space. To find out more about booking this area for your group, for outdoor learning, download our leaflet.

Join us at this free event, to celebrate this season’s harvest of apples grown here in the Martineau Gardens’ orchard, with Local Food Global Food on Saturday 13 October, 2012, from 11am until 3pm.

You can find out more about the event here.

Apples, about to be turned into juice, by hand, on the traditional press

Cooking outdoors, using the earth oven

Live music from local musicians, wildlife  activities for children, apple pressing  and earth oven baking, are some of the treats in store for visitors to Martineau Gardens’ annual Autumn Event on Sunday 23 September from 11am – 3pm. Our family friendly ‘green’ fete will celebrate the Autumn harvest and provide an  afternoon of family fun.

For full details, including admission charge, please click here.

Carlo Mahalo and the G Strings Ukulele Band

 We’re delighted to announce that the Birmingham Honey Show is returning to Martineau Gardens, a fantastic event, organised by the Birmingham and District Beekeeping Association and is a Heritage Open Day event. The event will take place on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September, 2012,  from 10am – 4pm.  To find out more about the Honey Show, click here.

Like Bees Around a Honey pot … a bee keeper gets ready for the Honey Show at Martineau Gardens

We’re delighted to announce we’ve been awarded the prestigious Green Flag Community Award today (Tuesday 17 July),  for the third year running.

Green Flag Community Awards (part of the Green Flag Award scheme) recognise and reward the best community run green parks in the country andMartineau Gardens stood out after impressing the inspector. The Gardens were judged against eight criteria: a welcoming place; healthy safe and secure; clean and well maintained; sustainability; biodiversity and heritage; community involvement; management and achievements.

Caroline Hutton, Director,Martineau Gardens said:

“Martineau Gardens are a community-run garden that’s open for free to the public. This award is a tribute to the dedication of our volunteers who work hard to keep the gardens a beautiful and tranquil spot for Birmingham people to come and relax in.”

For more information about the awards visit: www.greenflagaward.org.uk 

Three new holiday clubs are coming to the Gardens’ this summer.  ‘Wild Things’  on selected days in August (10am—4pm) gives children aged eight to twelve years the chance to participate in wildlife activities. (Parental supervision is not required.) Or on the last three Fridays of August (11.30am—1pm), join the Femtinos (four little aliens visiting planet earth) for family sessions for children aged two to eleven. And finally, we’re delighted to announce that due to popular demand, a children’s Saturday morning pottery group is beginning. Read on to find out more:

Wild Things

Gill Preston, founder of Wild Things, is bringing a Summer Activities Club for 8 – 12 year olds to Martineau Gardens this August. Here, she explains the activities that she will be running at the Gardens this summer.

“Our clubs are a great way for children to have fun, exercise and meet new friends during the holidays. Your child’s enjoyment is our priority and we have a wide range of activities including pond dipping, bug hunts, bird watching and scarecrow making. All tempered by a variety of more calming arts and crafts in nature activities.”

Each day begins at 10am and ends at 4pm and the following dates are available throughout August. Alternatively you can book shorter sessions, on the same dates, 10am – 12 pm or 2pm – 4pm.

1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 22nd, 23rd and 29th, 30th.

The cost per child per full  day is £25, (or £10 for shorter sessions) there are some concessions available, please contact Gill Preston for details. Parents / carers are not expected to stay at Martineau Gardens during the session.

Advance booking is essential.

Book your child’s place for a fun day in the beautiful setting of Martineau Gardens in the heart of Birmingham.

To Book

To book a place please call Gill Preston at Wild Things on 07772447452 or email gllpreston@hotmail.co.uk

More Information …

For more information about Wildthings, and specific activities planned for each date, visit the web page at wildthingsgardens.wordpress.com

The Femtinos

Join the Femtinos this summer holidays for some fun filled activities.  Inquisitive Explorers, who created the Femtinos, explains exactly who they are:

“Femtinos are four little aliens who have travelled across the universe and discovered planet Earth. Each week they explore different topics and learn something new and exciting.”

Friday 17 August, 11:30 to 1pm, Trees & Leaves Workshops

Have fun compiling some information for the aliens about the different types of trees at the Gardens. Find out if there is a relationship between how wide a tree trunk is and the size and shape of its leaves!

Friday 24 August, 11:30 to 1pm, Nests & Feathers

The Femtinos find the bird creatures of Planet Earth fascinating. Help the aliens compile a record of all the lovely birds we see in the gardens and create some colourful collages with feathers and craft materials.

Friday 31^st August, 11:30 to 1pm, Treasure Hunt

The aliens have hidden letters around the gardens. Work in teams to explore what the gardens have to offer and see if you can find all the hidden clues. Also have fun designing your own treasure map and clues.

Please note:

Inquisitive Explorers Ltd reserves the right to alter the contents of the workshops in the event of bad weather. Please ensure children are appropriately dressed for the outdoors. Advance booking is essential.

To Book

Places are limited, advance booking essential at www.femtinos.com

Femtinos at Martineau Gardens, suitable for 2 – 11s, parental/guardian supervision required. Cost is £4 per child.

Saturday Morning Children’s Pottery

A children’s pottery group is running for six weeks at Martineau Gardens. This will be an opportunity for your child to learn basic pottery skills, under the direction of Linda Harvey (session leader at the Martineau Gardens’ events). Linda says, “I’ll be encouraging the children to express their own enthusiasm and ideas in what will be a very relaxed environment.”

There will be two one-hour sessions each Saturday, 10.30am – 11.30am and 12noon – 1pm, on the following dates: Sat 28 July, 4 August, 11 August, 18 August, 25 August, 1 September. The cost per child, per hours is £5; all age groups are welcome. Parents / guardians should stay at Martineau Gardens during the sessions, where we’re sure you’ll enjoy the therapeutic surroundings. Parents of under 5s will need to stay with their children in the studio and will be given an opportunity to enjoy it as much as the children do. Advance booking essential.

Booking:

Please book direct with pottery group organiser Linda Harvey on 0758 1783652 or e-mail linda.harvey@live.co.uk. Linda says, “If your child has particular needs, please do not hesitate to inform me – I will do my best to meet their needs”.

The information above is correct at time of publication, but for latest details, please check with the organisers direct.

Martineau Gardens will continue to be open to the public, as usual, throughout August (except Sundays and the bank holiday on Monday 27 August). For full details of Martineau Gardens’ opening times, click here.

The second day of the Martineau Gardens Storytelling Festival  (Saturday 23 June) included swashbuckling tales around the prirate ship, a teddy bear’s picnic, a dragon’s quest plus Earth Oven tales in the outdoor kitchen. There were performances of the Princesses of Grimm and Stories Shakespeare Forgot, in the marquee. Dance and music from the Black Adder Morris Clog Dancers and the Moseley Village Band were enjoyed by us all.

To see some pictures of what’s been happening, visit our facebook site.

The Yurt, Glimpsed from a Woodland Path

The Storytelling Festival is all set for this weekend (22 and 23 June): come rain or shine, Martineau Gardens and the Traditional Arts Team are ready to welcome you to a family-friendly festival of storytelling, music and more at Martineau Gardens. A marquee, a bell-tent and a yurt will all provide protection from the rain and in between the showers, enjoy outdoor performances in woodland glades, around the earth oven and the pirate ship.  Tickets are available on the gate on the night, (or in advance to callers in person to Martineau Gardens Thursday and Friday until 5pm).

Yurts have been in use at least since the 13th century, a portable wood-framed dwelling used by nomadic people. Yurts are designed to be dismantled and the parts carried compactly on camels  or yaks to be rebuilt on another site. Our Yurt, located in a woodland glade of Martineau Gardens will be the setting for several performances during the Storytelling Festival including, ‘Sun and Rain, Wind and Weather’, ‘Fearsome Stories for Fearsome Families’ and ‘Dragon’s Den’. More details about theFestival Programme are here and full details about the festival and how to buy tickets are here.

The Yurt, by the One Heart Circle

A Sky View from the Yurt