Five Things To Do With Your Family This Weekend

EVENT AVANT GARDENING

The punk rock little sister of the sedate Flower Show, the Chelsea Fringe has been held since 2011. London’s annual celebration of alternative planting and nature is an idiosyncratic event that celebrates the best in community and guerrilla gardening, and encourages links between gardens and art, literature, music, cookery, history, crafts and ecology. Whether you take a peep into one of London’s secret gardens, learn about foraging in the city on a wild food walk, poke your head into a community garden, or join family friendly workshops, the festival is packed with things that make you gasp with pleasure, as well as inspire you to dig out your fork and trowel.

This years highlights include the eye-popping Belgravia in Bloom festival, which this year partners with the London WIldlife Trust to bring the ‘Into the Wild’ theme to life with biodiverse floral installations, a chance to make seedbombs and cake decorating classes. Or, across London, peek into the secret Tate Modern community garden to see the herbs, get along to a huge outdoor festival in Cranbrook, enjoy an afternoon of music in Olden Community Garden, or join a natural pigment-making workshop.



DO ANIMAL SNAPPERS

Do you have a budding wildlife photographer in the house? The RSPCA Young Photographer Awards has now opened for entires and runs until August 15. There are ten different categories including Pet Portraits and Mobile Phones and Devices, which opens up the competition to anyone, regardless of whether they have a camera. Take a look through last year’s stunning entries for inspiration, and the best of snapping luck!



DO WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

Saturday is World Bee Day, which aims to get the world buzzing about the importance of bees and beekeeping. Find out more about urban bee keeping here, bee-themed project-based learning here and our guide to beekeeping here. Or discover Urban Garden Gal’s tips for bee-friendly plants to grow here. Bees are vital links in the food and food security chain, and contribute to the mitigation of climate change. They’re also awfully cute! Why not show your love for the fuzzy, striped creatures by making a bee hotel, creating a bee-friendly garden or crafting this adorable tin-can bee.



DO BLOCK PARTY

We always welcome a new free thing to do in London, so the news that some of the biggest, most fascinating models of the city have a new home is very welcome. The London Centre, housed in Guildhall Library brings together three scale models of the capital, that spread across hundreds of square metres of floor space. They include a replica Square Mile, that includes a glimpse into the future, as it shows buildings with planning permission, the huge model constructed by NLA, that features every big building across the city, and a model of the Royal Docks and Greenwich Peninsula that shows existing and future projects. Perfect for Lego fans and London architecture nuts alike! Find out more here.

DO AND RECIPE TRUE LIME

Late May brings more natural bounty to forage. The young, heart-shaped leaves of the lime or linden tree are sweet, and taste even sweeter when the leaf is covered in honey dew from aphids. The green leaves have been used as a herbal remedy for thousands of years; they were believed to cure boils, regulate menstrual cycles and dissolve blood clots. The flowers and leaves of the tree make soothing herbal teas and cordials, or they can be added raw to sandwiches and salads. Alternatively, try making refreshing Lime Flower and Himalayan Balsam Vitamin Water or sweet Fragrant Linden Blossom Sun Cake.

WHAT WE’RE EATING FETA, EGGS AND DANDELION GREENS Make this tasty wild food dish to celebrate the blooming of spring. Dandelion greens are very nutritious: they are high in calcium, rich in iron and loaded with antioxidants. Find the recipe here

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING How can nature support us to sit with uncomfortable emotions: “Spending time in nature when it’s uncomfortable can be a wonderful way to build up our capacity to hold our more uncomfortable emotions. It’s in the times we sit in the murky edges that we evolve.” See more here