The third recipient of a Green Mole Forum greening grant cheque was Fetcham Community Garden, who received £150 to put towards fruit trees, seeds, peat-free compost, equipment and wildlife boxes.

Pictured are some of the members, who celebrated the projects first anniversary on Saturday 5th November. As well as a birthday cake and homemade pumpkin soup, prizes were awarded to those who'd helped out, young and old, over the past year.

Leatherhead Community Garden, now based at West Hill School, will be holding a working party from 9am to 3pm this Saturday (5th November). See their events page for full details (along with information on The Chickens' First Birthday! event, on Saturday 12th).

On the same day, to celebrate a successful year's trial and the news that the Parish Church Council have approved its continued existence, the Bothy Garden Project (AKA Fetcham Community Garden) at St Mary's church will be holding a social/open hour, from 11am to noon.

World’s population reaches 7 billion today - Monday October 31st  

I rather like this cartoon from http://subdude-site.com/WebPages_Local/Blog/topics/environment/enviro_worldPopGrowth_charts.htm which highlights part of the problem of this statistic but there are other problems!

According to the U.N. the world's population will reach 7 billion people today. Since the turn of the 20th century global population has soared from 2 billion in 1927 to 4 billion in 1974 and 6 billion in 1999. This has sparked all sorts of discussion over the past week.  For those of us concerned about the future of our planet this is rather depressing - all these extra humans apart from needing food - and millions of people are already undernoursihed - will use more of our scarce resources and cause more pollution and send even more of the other wonderful life forms we share our planet with, speeding to extinction.  Not that people aren't lovely but you can have too much even of a good thing!

Here in the UK, the Office for National Statistics has released projections showing that the current UK population of 62 million is rising at 0.8% a year and may increase to 73 million by 2035.  The carbon footprint (or impact on the Planet) of UK citizens is much greater than those living in Africa and most of Asia so rising population here and especially in the energy hungry USA is particularly worrying.  Here are some links to some excellent interactive websites which may help you understand why some of us are worried.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/datablog/interactive/2011/oct/26/un-world-population-growth
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2011/oct/24/how-big-worlds-population-born
http://www.breathingearth.net/

Another good website to exlore is http://populationmatters.org/

Earlier this year the Green Mole Forum contacted a number of local organisations and schools, offering grants to help advance any 'greening' projects they might be considering or undertaking.

First to respond was The Leatherhead Residents' Association's Environmental Committee, who submitted a successful proposal to provide berry plants for Leatherhead Community Garden.

RHS Wisley's Rebecca Bevan, team leader for fruit and vegetables, inspected the site at West Hill School with the Community Garden Committee. After testing the soil she recommended preparation start now, but planting in March, when the ground begins to warm.

Pictured is Cheryl Allen, of the LRA, receiving their cheque for £250 from GMF treasurer Colin Brewer. Rebecca Bevan said that the money should go a long way toward filling the garden's fruit cage.

A small group of Fetcham residents have started to cultivate a small strip of land at the Lower Road end of St Mary's Parish Church driveway. This is part of a 1-year trial running until December 2011, all on a zero budget.

Keen to have new faces at our workparties, next one due Saturday, 2nd July 10-12 am.

Help turn it into attractive place for creatures great and small.

We are holding another gardening party tomorrow Saturday 29 May at 14:00. Please come and join us.

The garden at St Nicolas Pastoral Centre has come a long way and now features amongst many other things a bug hotel, a herb spiral, a multitude of bee friendly plants, log piles.

As the garden will be opened on 19 June as part of Bookham open gardens we are working hard to make it a nice space for wildlife. A few fruit shrubs would be a welcome addition if anybody has any going spare (currents, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries and/or any others).

Fitting in nicely with Transition Bookham's recent Gardening for Bees meeting and May's bee training events, Transition Ashtead's open meeting, at 8pm on Monday 9th May, is a talk by local bee keeper Andrew Barnett.

Andrew will share his passion for honey bees, and will explain all about keeping them, and their importance for pollination and the environment. He's kept bees for over 8 years, as a member of Epsom Bee Keepers Association, and has lots of stories to tell, many very funny, about his experiences.

Caroline Cardew-Smith, Transition Ashtead's secretary, will also be on hand to answer any questions about becoming a 'bee host', as she's had one of Andrew's hives in her garden for the last two years. There will also be local 'Barnett Wood Lane Honey' for sale!

Ashtead Village Club (104 The Street, Ashtead KT21 1AW. Opposite the bus stop) have kindly offered their upstairs area for the meeting. Don't forget to get yourself a drink at the bar downstairs first!

As part of the government's review of 'red tape', the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 Section 23, which governs the provision of allotments, is at risk.

The National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners is asking everyone to comment, so as to ensure the act stays in place. You can find out more on their website, the public only have until April 25th left to respond.

Dorking Community Orchard is holding a Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop this Sunday, 3rd April, from 10.30am to 2.30pm. There is a £5 contribution from members (£10, including membership fee, otherwise). To reserve a place, or to find out more, please email info@dorkingcommunityorchard.com.

Following Transition Bookham's 'Gardening For Bees' open meeting, it's worth pointing out two forthcoming beekeeping training events this May.

On Sunday 8^th May 2011, Epsom Beekeepers Association will be hosting their Introduction to Beekeeping 'Taster Day', in Ewell.

On Friday 20^th May 2011, as part of the Co-op's Plan Bee campaign, their members can attend an introductory training session at Brooklands Hotel, in Weybridge.

Both these events have limited places, so book early to avoid disappointment!

See The British Beekeepers' Association website for beginners' guides and interesting info.