The Big Lunch 19 July 2009

Butterfield Green News

Thank you to everyone who helped clear weeds and ivy from beside the stream on Sunday July 11th. We revealed more of the of the original granite boulders and built a log pile to provide shelter for wild life. In the orchard, we cleared some of the more invasive weeds (or wild flowers!) and built compost bins.

A sign for the Community Orchard has just been put up on the wall opposite the Shakespeare Walk entrance. Thank you to Bron who designed and painted it.

We have been in contact with the people responsible for the erratically functioning stream: we won't give up!

A list of wild flowers (or weeds!) spotted in the orchard last Sunday is on this website in the Orchard section.

From Albert Town to Butterfield Green

Click here to read Nick Holder's history of Stoke Newington’s forgotten park.

This article was originally published in the Hackney Citizen.

The Big Lunch on Butterfield Green - Sun 19 July

More information available at the Big Lunch

Details about the Big Lunch on Butterfield Green to follow.

The Big Clear-Up on Butterfield Green - Sat 11 July

Hi everyone

Please come and help us clear Butterfield Green of unwanted ivy from 2-5pm on Saturday 11 June - your help will be very welcome!

Please contact Annie Wilson for more details: anniewilson@tiscali.co.uk

Many thanks - hope to see you there.

The Big Picnic on Butterfield Green - 'what a tease the weather was'

As a result of the recent weather and the forecast, it was decided that the picnic could not take place as intended on Sunday 7th June.



However, although the event was officially postponed, an impromptu gathering went ahead as the sun came out and a number of the musicians performed during the afternoon, including Grupo Ase (Cuban rhythms); Bow and Bellows (including lovely singing); and Kate Shortt (classical and jazz cellist, and comedienne).

With special thanks to Bron for organising the entertainment, and to Paul for organising the event.

Wild Flowers in the Orchard

Wild Flowers

Spotted in Butterfield Green Community Orchard on July 11th 2009:

Bindweed
Convolvulus arvensis
Climbing plant, twists round supports; white trumpet-shaped flowers; very invasive – can kill plants it winds round

Bird’s-foot trefoil
Lotus carniculatus
Low, creeping plant with clover-like leaves and bright yellow, pea-like flowers

Burdock, lesser
Actium minus
Large plant with branches of oval leaves and very sticky round burs

Calamint, lesser
Calaminta nepeta
Tall plant with branching stems of small grey/green leaves; small, mauve, pea-like flowers; smells slightly minty

Clover red & white
Trifolium pratese & repens
Leaves in 3 parts with purple or white domed flower heads made up of many narrow tubular flowers; sweet-smelling

Comfrey ‘knitbone’
Symphytum officinale
Tall, large-leaved plant with narrow blue/purple bell-shaped flowers hanging down in groups; makes good green compost; leaves used for sprains/breaks

Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale
Long leaves with tooth-like edges growing from the base of the central stem; bright yellow flowers made up of many thin petals; leaves edible

Dead nettle
Lamium album
Ovate, serrated leaves in pairs up the stems; large white pea-like flowers where the leaves join the stem

Dock, red veined
Rumex sanguineus
Tall plant with reddish stems and large, oval, red-veined leaves; tiny, hard reddish flowers in spikes; leaves used to soothe stings from nettles

Fat hen
Chenopodium album
Tall plant with oval, slightly tooth-edged leaves; small, hard green flowers in spikes; used as a vegetable from stone-age times

Knapweed
Centaurea nemoralis
Slender stems with narrow leaves all the way up to round, pink/purple flower-heads, made up of feathery petals; bulbous swelling of brown bracts below flower-head

Lady’s bedstraw
Gallium verum
Tall, branching stems with star-like arrangement of very narrow leaves; spikes of sweet-scented, bright greenish- yellow flowers; used as mattress stuffing

Mallow, common
Malva sylvestris
Tall, branching plant with frilly-edged leaves and large rose-purple flowers; leaves edible

Mugwort
Artemisia campestris
Tall plant; deeply cut, chrysanthemum-like leaves all the way up branching stems to spikes of small, hard white flowers

Plantain, great
Plantago major
A low circle of wide, ovate leaves with deep veins running length-ways; spikes of tiny hard green-white flowers

Poppy, common
Papaver rhoeas
Medium-height plant with deeply cut leaves and bright red flower with yellow centre

Vetch, tufted
Vicia cracca
Low, spreading plant with small oval pairs of leaves along the stems; branched tendrils from stems; spikes of bright purple pea-like flowers

Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Like cow-parsley, a tall plant with umbels of tiny white flowers; deeply cut feathery leaves

Butterfield Green Stream....Trickle...Dried Mud

Yes, we know!!!

We have been on to the relevant parties: the design team who actually commissioned the work on the stream - Rattlin' Boag; the clients - The Learning Trust and the Hackney Parks team responsible for maintenance. So far, communication is happening and a site investigation from the installation people is planned for this week.

The Big Picnic will go ahead with or without a running stream. So hope to see you then.

Annie+Bron+Julie+Maggie +Pat

Butterflies and Bees in Albion Grove

The planting bed in Albion Grove was completed on Saturday 30th May - it now forms a beautiful, sustainable oasis for beneficial insects and our delight. With thanks to:

• Debra Shaw from Hackney Council's Street Scene for the plants
• Annie Wilson for the planting plan and the planting - together with Pat O'Leary and their labourer, Phil
• Sarah and Rosie Allen for watering all the plants

Butterfield Green Meetings

There have been two Butterfield Green meetings in May with the park manager Michael Dixon and with the new park development oficer Eleanor Johnson. We heard from MD that staffing on Butterfield Green has again been reduced - and the supervisor is away on maternity leave, with no cover. We said how disappointed we are with the level of maintenance on the Green, while appreciating that the staff are doing their best. We hope to take this further.

Eleanor Johnson is in a post with responsibility for liaison with Park User Groups. We welcome this new post and look forward to working with her.

The problems with the stream have rather taken up all our energies lately - but we look forward to planning ways of improving both maintenance and future developments on the Butterfield Green.
There is a Hackney Park User Group meeting at 7.00 pm on Thursday 11th June at Hackney Town Hall - everyone is welcome to go along and meet the Head of Parks department, John Wade.

Sign of the Times

Thank you for your comments about the sign for the Butterfield Green 'River'. The Learning Trust agreed to change the sign and to incorporate our logo as an acknowledgement of all the work the local community has put into the Green. It was due to be put up last week - we're waiting.....!