On Saturday 12 March 2021, we once again planted a Tiny Forest on the grounds of Herford Hospital. Together with employees of the hospital, members of the children's hospital support association, sponsors, volunteers and a lot of children, a total of 750 seedlings were planted.
We are proud to announce that our seventh Tiny Forest has been successfully planted. Once again, many helping hands were involved and the 250 square metre area on a strip of grass next to the car park was transformed into a small forest in no time at all. As the project area was a very shady location this time, care had to be taken when selecting plants to ensure that only species well adapted to the conditions, such as beech or small-leaved lime, were planted.
Our team was on site the day before the planting campaign to prepare the area in peace and quiet and to pre-sort the plants. The soil had already been prepared at that point and we were very pleased with its condition. Shortly before starting the soil work, we were somewhat shocked to realise that a large amount of gravel had been laid, which had to be replaced with topsoil at short notice. The topsoil was finally enriched with 25 cubic metres of Terra Preta, which will ensure good water availability and store valuable nutrients from now on. It was only thanks to the great commitment of those responsible on site that everything was completed just in time so that the planting could take place on schedule!
On Saturday at 9 a.m., the first volunteers slowly arrived and a short time later almost 100 people were on site to plant the forest together in the best weather. The children from the clinic's day-care centre were particularly keen to lend a hand and showed their parents exactly how tree planting works. In between, there was delicious potato soup, children's punch and other treats to keep everyone happy. The press was also on site again and some of the children were even allowed to give interviews. After the lunch break, we mulched and this time we were finished by 5 pm. A new time record!
In future, this Tiny Forest will be used by the clinic's patients to relax and hopefully help them to recover quickly. The children at the clinic's daycare centre will also be able to use the forest as a green classroom in the future!
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We at MIYA will of course be happy to come back at any time to show you what there is to learn and explore in the forest :)
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As always, we would like to thank everyone involved; from the donors to the planting helpers to Corina Lass & Peter Hutmacher, without whom the project would not have been possible.
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See you next time!
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Your MIYA team
