January is not for everyone to be outdoors, but our hardy, dedicated and creative Garvald Mayfield
Garden workshop team were out each Friday for their Fire and Craft session. Garvald keep our
hearth warm every Friday and have continued now into the Summer months too. Three Hares also
welcomed the Dirty Weekenders (Edinburgh University Conservation Society) to our monthly
Volunteer Day. The attendance from them is always brilliant and they achieve a lot of work within
the time, it is always a pleasure to have them help us out!
In February we had our first Wassail to celebrate the Orchard we planted last year and to wish the
trees well for the growing season ahead. Three Hares are happy establish an annual event of
bringing Community together for a light hearted ceremony with live music (this year from
Portnawak & The Woo) and to be part of resurrecting an old tradition, highlighting the importance
of Orchards which have been in huge decline since the 1950’s. With the addition of the Orchard to
Three Hares we hope to increase biodiversity and habitat for insects and wildlife.
In March we hosted the Green Team, who always put in much effort on Conservation Tasks for
which we are very grateful. They had 3 sessions on the land and our newly planted trees have been
well cared for.
Trees and Seas Outdoor Adventures also had a 5 day Forest School in March into April, where the
kids enjoyed river dipping, charcoal and Elder pencil making along with many more activities.
Our Volunteer Day in March was focused on Tool Care and sharpening. This was in anticipation of
the scything to be done later in the year to keep the bracken down in the Orchard.
In April we finally launched our Poetry Trail! The creation of the trail has been funded by
SUSTRANS ArtRoots. 70 or more folk came along to walk the gentle poetry trail route with us and
hear live Poetry readings and live music in each Poetry Place. A huge thanks to all the poets and
musicians who took part. The Poetry Trail is free for anyone to enjoy, by downloading the audio
from Echoes App and following the map (beautifully drawn by Katy Lonsdale). Visit https://three.
Three Hares also hosted a Community Scything Workshop in April, in partnership with Midlothian
Wildflowers, facilitated by Rob Brodie. The workshop was full capacity and the glorious weather
made for a great first scything experience for the group, with others honing their previous
experience. The group started in Rosewell, scything in Rosewell Park where a wildflower meadow
has been created, with the second half of the day at Three Hares.
The Volunteer Sunday in April gave us the opportunity to erect the fixtures and fitting for our new
hut front awning. The canvas has been sewn by volunteer Moggie, and our volunteer Julien used
his climbing and general great practical skills to get up on the beams for placement of the fixings.
This will be a great addition to Three Hares for those rather wet events that tend to happen in
Scotland! And, mentioning new additions, Three Hares now has a custom built bike rack installed
just inside the entrance gate. We hope this will encourage more green travel to Three Hares, or even
entice users on the NCN916 off the track to explore the Community Woodland
In May we welcomed back the Green Team who fixed our hand rail that leads down the steep slope
to the Musical Forest, and took care of the trees that form our new hedgerow, planted in December.
The tree guards had been knocked a bit with the storms of the beginning of the year, but now they
are well protected once again.
Our May Volunteer Day saw the Three Hares Scything Team bring out the tools for the first time
this season for use. The Orchard bracken was so well chopped last year that it is significantly
reduced and rather than a scything session it became more of what our volunteers described as a
Sickle Tickle, mainly cutting back new Gorse growth. We will keep an eye on that though, and
have 3 scything sessions planned from now until the Autumn. Already we are seeing an increase in
the biodiversity of that part of the land. Thanks to our team of volunteers who are so carefully
looking after the Orchard; Sima, Katy and Andrew. We hope to expand our scything team this year
and open up more section of land that is covered with bracken, leaving enough bracken for wildlife
cover and habitat.
So far in June, we have the Green Team coming back for more tree care and will host a Summer
Solstice day out in nature and outdoor cooking session with a Refugee/Asylum Seeker Group based
in Edinburgh. We are happy to have Garvald for their Friday Fire and Craft and the return of
Venture Trust Scotland for a staff training day. Three Hares will also be promoting more
Community Build opportunities and look forward to more Volunteer Days and Summer Scything
