Save the dates!

Feeling all ecological this autumn? Well, we’ve got just the thing. Here’s what’s going on in Kidlington over the next 2 months.

October
13	Lyne Rd Green Seed Sowing | Fri 13th Oct, 10.30am-12.30pm | Lyne Rd (OX5 1AE) – Come join other volunteers to help us plant out some wild flower seeds!
14	Abundance Apple Pressing | Sat 14th Oct, 10am-12pm | North Kidlington Primary School (OX5 2DA) – Join Kidlington Abundance as we celebrate the abundance of the natural world. Bring your surplus apples and pears*. Help chop, scrat, press and bottle the juice. If you don’t have any fruit – don’t worry! Just come and join in the fun. Everyone takes home some juice! *Fruit does not have to be in perfect condition (windfalls are fine)
	Clothing Swap | Sat 14th Oct, 11am-2pm | Exeter Hall, Kidlington (OA5 1AB) – Come to this Waste Innovation Station event and contribute to the circular economy! Bring in clothes and swap new ones for free OR come without clothes to swap and buy clothes per kilo.
19	Exeter Close Garden Day | Thursday 19th October, 10am-12pm | Exeter Close Playpark, OX5 1AB –  All are very welcome to join us as Harvest@Home continues work on the beds in the playpark, turning them into a community herb and flower garden!
20	Nature Hour | Fri 20th Oct, 10.30-11.30am | Moorside Place, The Moors (OX52UZ)  – Join us for a ‘Nature Hour’ led by Wild Kidlington officer Rhiannon Young. After a short nature talk on the topic of the day there’ll be a related nature-based activity to enjoy. This event is open to the public and is suitable for all ages and abilities. We meet in the lounge area next to the Willow Tree Cafe.
21	Park Hill Monthly Garden Open Day | Sat 21st Oct, 10am – 12pm| Park Hill Recreation Ground (OX5 2DA) – Come and muck in with other volunteers as we maintain and enrich this community green space and Harvest@Home project!
November
1	Kidlington Gardening Society AGM 7.30pm | Exeter Hall, small hall (OA5 1AB) – Speaker TBC. Join us for our AGM.
2	KEG Meeting | Thurs 2nd Nov, 1pm | Exeter Hall, small hall (OA5 1AB) – Join representatives of different local eco groups and enthusiasts to connect, communicate and collaborate.
3	Nature Hour | Fri 3rd Nov, 10.30-11.30am | Moorside Place, The Moors (OX52UZ)  – Join us for a ‘Nature Hour’ led by Wild Kidlington officer Rhiannon Young. After a short nature talk on the topic of the day there’ll be a related nature-based activity to enjoy. This event is open to the public and is suitable for all ages and abilities. We meet in the lounge area next to the Willow Tree Cafe.
4	St Mary’s Fields Work Party | Sat 4th Nov, 10am-12pm | St Mary’s carpark (OX52AZ) – Join the team of volunteers working on some late Autumnal tasks to encourage nature. Also enjoy a well-earned slice of Julia or Rosie’s homemade cake at half time!
	Coronation Garden Planting Party | Sat 4th Nov, 11am-1pm | Home Close (OX5 2DN) – Come along and join us to help plant bee-friendly border plants in the village’s new Coronation Garden that has been created to celebrate King Charles’s coronation. [Please note the time change for this event]
10	Houseplant Repotting |Friday 10th Nov, 11am-2pm | Exeter Hall (OX5 1AB) –  Boost your mood through the winter with a bit of indoor greenery! Do your houseplants need a bit of TLC? Bring them along to Exeter Hall and we will supply compost and help you to re-pot them. We’ll also be potting some plants up for our Christmas event stalls, and would appreciate your help with that!
17	Nature Hour | Fri 17th Nov, 10.30-11.30am | Moorside Place, The Moors (OX52UZ)  – Join us for a ‘Nature Hour’ led by Wild Kidlington officer Rhiannon Young. After a short nature talk on the topic of the day there’ll be a related nature-based activity to enjoy. This event is open to the public and is suitable for all ages and abilities. We meet in the lounge area next to the Willow Tree Cafe.
18	Park Hill Monthly Garden Open Day | Sat 18th Nov, 10am – 12pm| Park Hill Recreation Ground (OX5 2DA) – Come and muck in with other volunteers as we maintain and enrich this community green space and Harvest@Home project!
20	Ladies Christmas Swap Shop | Mon 20th Nov, 7.30pm | Kidlington Baptist Church (High St, OX5 2DS) – Swap clothes, gifts and toys in the run up to Christmas – save money and recycle! Please bring good / gift quality items to swap. Refreshments provided.
23	Hedgerow planting at Orchard Rec Ground | Thurs 23rd Nov, 10am-11.30am | Orchard Recreation Ground, (OX5 2HX) – Come along and join other volunteers as we plant some hedges!
	Hedgerow planting at Lyne Rd Green | Thurs 23rd Nov, 1-2.30pm | Lyne Rd (OX5 1AE) – Come along and join other volunteers as we plant some hedges!

And don’t forget there’s great stuff going on every week!

When & Where?		What?
Thursdays, 11am-2pmExeter Hall, Oxford Rd (OA5 1AB)		Cherwell Larder Marketplace – Get some food saved from landfill, and sample tasty cooked food from the Climatarian KitchenHarvest @ Home Seed Swap – Swap your surplus seeds and get planting
Fridays, 10am-12pmBetween Oxford Rd & Hazel Crescent (OX5 1ED)		Hazel Walk Community Allotments Work Party – Join the Harvest @ Home volunteers growing food for themselves and the community while caring for the nature on the plot.
Fridays, 11am-2pmExeter Hall, Oxford Rd (OA5 1AB)		Cherwell Larder Marketplace – Get some food saved from landfill, and sample tasty cooked food from the Climatarian Kitchen
Saturdays, 11am-2pmExeter Hall, Oxford Rd (OA5 1AB)		Cherwell Larder Marketplace – Get some food saved from landfill, and sample tasty cooked food from the Climatarian Kitchen

Local Eco News

Some headlines since the last update…

Apple Pressings – Every Autumn Kidlington Abundance pulls out all the stops taking our surplus apples and pears and making delicious juice and even cider! Apple pressing events are really popular community occasions where all ages can join in cutting, pulping and pressing the fruit. At the last one on the 30th September at Kidlington Methodist Church 95 litres of apple juice were produced! That’s 126 bottles worth! And that’s not even counting the juice drunk fresh from the press on the day! There’s still one more opportunity this year to attend a pressing – THIS Saturday (14th Oct) at North Kidlington Primary School between 10am-12pm (see details above).

Coronation Gardens – Some of you will have noticed that the rather wild patch of land at the entrance of Home Close has been claimed by Kidlington Parish Council and is being steadily transformed into a Coronation Garden in celebration of the be-crowning of King Charles earlier this year. So far the ground has been cleared, a path and natural turf laid, and the dry stone wall given a bit of encouragement! Some benches and bins have also touched down. The plan is to plant some trees, and install insect and bee-loving flowers such as lavender and rosemary on Sat 4th Nov, 1-3pm. If you’d be up for coming to help out please join us!

If you have any local eco news or events to feed in to our next monthly digest please email: kidlingtonecogroup@gmail.com

Our next KEG meeting is on Thurs 2nd Nov, 1pm @ Exeter Hall (in the small hall). All welcome!