4th December - National Tree Week was a huge success for us. 38 children from Arreton Primary School, volunteers and helpers came to Naturezones and planted 42 silver birch trees. It was made possible with a grant from The Tree Council who created National Tree Week

 The 42 trees of different silver birch species ( including:- Betula pendula, Betula papyifera, Betula pubescens, Betula utilis jacquemontii. They all have white bark) will create a fabulous habitat for wild life but will also show people how attractive a copse of trees can be made to look. There is a central area to the copse that has been left unplanted to create a glade. The copse will be under-planted with native species of wild flowers to provide an all year round larder, nectar for insects, and then later seeds for birds and small mammals. After simple instruction on how to plant a small tree all the children got involved in digging the holes, planting the trees and then mulching around the bottom of the trees with hay from the haystack that had been left for the purpose. However, some of the children had better ideas for the use of the haystack. They had great fun clambering up its soft walls to play King and Queen of the castle. The hay stack has been hugely popular with visiting children. So much so that we are going to ensure there is one available every year. They are perfectly safe and always provide a deep cushion landing and impossible to fall off. Every one should have one.

23rd October - Good news!  we have been accepted by the Tree Council to take part in National Tree Week 27th November - 7the December. They have given us a grant to plant a small and very pretty silver birch copse. We will be performing this project with 38 children from Arreton Primary School on 3rd December. Families wanting to see the results of their work can visit Naturezones on Saturday 8th December 11am - 3pm. Please try and be Green, cycle or walk along the cycle path or catch the No 2 bus to Blackwater.

27th and 28th September - Cultural Olympiad Open Weekend was a huge success. We are delighted to be in partnership with the Quay Arts Centre and Melanie Swans Art group that includes people living with Autuism. Amazingly this is the only group on the Island involved with this important national project. On the 27th everyone met at the Quay Arts centre then on the Sunday Naturezones opened its gates. Famous actor Geoffrey Hughes came along to open the event.

. He has a lot of expertise in conservation and woodland management. So his support will be invaluable.

20th September - More good news. The Tree Council have awarded us a grant of £510 to plant a mini Birch copse, this has to be done during National Tree week. The criteria is to involve school children in the project. We have invited Arreton Primary School and Medina House Special School to take part in the two days (3rd and 4th December) of Celebrating Trees. We will be planning lots of tree activities from bark rubbing to hug a tree.

12th September - Exciting news!! Thanks to Melanie Swan, artist, parish councillor and former Isle of Wight County Councillor and cabinet member for children's services, and, dynamic projects leader, we are involved in the Cultural Olympiad which will be running in tandem with the 2012 Olympics www. The title of Melanie's project is "No man is an Island". We will be working with a group of young people on the autistic spectrum creating art and connecting it with nature. This will include photography with a specific 2012 theme and creating living walls and carpets from felt then planted up with wild flowers. This will also be in partnership with the Quay Arts Centre. The open weekend is 27th September (at the Quay) and 28th September (at Naturezones) so please come along.

On 17th of September the Education section of the Cultural Olympiad project will be launched at Naturezones 6.30 - 7.30 pm (tea and biscuits provided).

What excites Naturezones about this project is the opportunity to talk to a new group of people about the importance of protecting and creating wildlife habitats.

11th September - Having passed all the checks we are now officially Access Providers for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. We will be offering Skills and Service in Conservation and the Environment. Carol Taverner presented Angela Hewitt with her certificate. We had a group shot with four young people who will be participating. The D of E is open to anyone aged between 14yrs and 25yrs. It is anticipated that they and Two groups of Isle of Wight College students will be involved in our "Young Meadow Makers" project. All we need now is the grant.

22nd July - Naturzones seems to enjoy extremes of wind - we are in a valley, and sunshine. So we have turned one of the polytunnels into a shade tunnel. This has proven hugely successful and the plants propagated by the college students are looking nice and healthy. We used green netting designed for the job and attached it to the hoops using plastic ties. Wind burn and sun burn are now a thing of the past.

20th July Our open weekend was hugely successful and came to fruition with a fund raising supper in the evening. Supporters were given Summer chicken casserole and fruits of the summer jelly with creme chantilly. Provided by Lugley's Tuck Shop. A pre-supper stroll through the meadows and woodland set everyone up for a hugely relaxing and casual evening. So much so that everyone wants to come again. I can see a regular Naturezones supper night under way. Next Supper night will be August 9th @6.30 p.m. Cost £8.00 BYO. Cheques payable to Naturezones Wildlife Education Trust.

11th July The east side of our seven acre field is over fertile due to the  intensively farmed adjacent field. We get the run off from the excessive use of fertilisers. The effect on our field is an abundant growth of unwanted grasses, thistle and dock. To mitigate this we have rotovated a section of the field and sewn it with cornflowers seeds. The result of this "pilot planting" is extremely pretty, corn marigold, corn daisy, corn flower and poppy are all flowering and there is serious promise of an grand flourish of the rare corncockle which we expect to be in full swing by the end of next week. The wind has not been kind to insects but when it drops I expect to see numerous butterflies dancing along the beautiful flower heads.

7th June Eager to discover the movements of wildlife at around the Naturezone's site we have dotted surveillance cameras around the area. We have seen badgers, vixen and cubs, squirrels and a whole range of other interesting stuff including the person who helped themselves to some of our foxglove plants. We are sure this is an over-site and that they have every intention of paying for them (£40.00).We are prepared to wait until the end of the month for a cheque.

14th May It is amazing how from one year to the next the weather can have such a significance on how plants grow. Last year we had a very dry Winter and the buttercups, only flourished along the damp wood land edge of the meadow. This year the story is quite different and a vast abstract tapestry of the egg yolk flowers with their polished petals cover the seven acres. Walking through the meadow two days ago I also noticed that the birds foot trefoil is not only coming up but double the amount to last year. I have got to cut some grassy paths thought the meadow ready for open day and it will not be a nice experience to have to cut some of them down. But it has to be done as the whole point of this project is to allow access to the public on open days.

The weather has also had an affect on the bluebells in the wood. last year they were quite late and didn't begin to open until mid May. This year with the wet winter they were earlier and bigger and sadly are nearly over. This is disappointing as I wanted it to be a highlight of our open day. I must keep my eyes open for the creeping (tufted vetch) and kidney vetch. I have also noticed that the swallows are back. They really enjoy swooping across the buttercups seeking out insects.

9th May We are busy planning our open day. it happens to coincide with the Big Green Picnic. As we are on the cycle path from Newport to Merston we thought it would be a good idea to tie in with their council project but understandably they didn't want to detract the emphasis from their own project. So we have decided to take a stand and tell people they can visit us after they have been to the BGP.

22nd April We had a teachers discussion group. This was hugely helpful. We have already done a risk assessment of the site but their input made a few additions. We also talked about school visits and the themes they would like us the cover. The cost of transport was an issue. The Wight bus for 42 children was £105 for a return trip but Southern Vectis bus company offered the same price for 53 children. per head this is cheaper, However, most schools bring 30 children and do not usually fill the bus. I think we need a mini bus of our own. We can then cover field trips to other projects on the Island. Even trips on the mainland.

7th April - The contractor turned up to install the Diamond tank and soak-away for the toilet block. We had to get permission from the environment agency as it is in a sensitive water extraction area. However I have been told that you can drink the water after it has passed through this special tank. Any volunteers??

2nd April - The Green Gym visited us and did some constructive work. Clearing up the dead wood and making eco-piles. Clearing out the ditch which has become blocked with dead leaves. Putting in the posts for the withy bed and digging a small area for our demonstration woodland edge garden. about 30 turned up  and they worked really hard. We gave then soup and cake, provided by volunteer Wendy, which went down really well.

March 2008 three volunteers and two college work-experience student cleared the wood of the mass of rubbish that had accumulated over the years. There was a huge pile. it took four lorry loads to take it all away. However the entrance to the wood is now looking quite smart.

January 2008- we planted a conservation hedge near the top of the field it consisted of blackthorn, buckthorn, hawthorn, field maple, briar rose, crab apple and spindle

December 2007 - Planted a thousand native daffodils in the spring meadow. Cowslips to be planted out early spring

Cleared up lots of rubbish and straggly fencing that was littering up the field, but still more to do.

Installed a bird and red squirrel feeding table in the wood

Planned the courses

Created a brochure about the project for professional organisations and bodies

Created the web site

Put up a movement sensitive battery operated camera in the wood next to the feeding table.

April - Dec 07  - Spent the year watching the land to see what emerged. We were delighted to see, English bluebells, foxgloves, red campion, birdsfoot trefoil, creeping vetch, horseshoe vetch, chamomile. Also, beautifully scented thistles intoxicated the summer air but, just too many of them!

Drew up a design for the reserve and meadows with the help of local gardener Irene Baggot

Asked Hampshire and Wight Wildlife Trust to do a survey.

Asked the Isle of Wight College if they would be interested in being involved in the project. We are pleased to have two groups visiting on Monday and Wednesday. The Wednesday group help with some of the ground work. Pulling out sycamore weeds and plating up plugs. The Monday group are working on craft projects, signs, bat, squirrel and bird boxes (to be installed in may at the open day. We also have a 2nd year horticultural student on work experience from the college one day a week.

Asked Hugh Milner from the Forestry commission to pay us a visit and give advice.

Hampshire and Wight Wildlife Trust designed a woodland management plan to coppice the 3 acre ancient woodland and remove the rampant sycamore trees over a 20 year period. The wood has a tree preservation order so we have got to apply for a felling license. This will be done through the Forestry Commission and the Isle of Wight Council.

Had the first lot of hay cut and baled in October. A local farmer removed the hay for his sheep

Potted up hundreds of plugs to plant in parts of the field

Next....

coppicing of the wood - this is a 15 year programme, cornfield, scraped meadow, withy bed, crab apple copse, silver birch copse, ditch clearance - ongoing, experimental meadows.