The 'Croft Hill Crew' have kindly provided this short story about spreading a little sunshine - in more ways than one.

Early this year I was visiting a friend in hospital and was reading one of her gardening magazines. I came across an article on Seed Bombing - a friendly, enjoyable and cheap way of spreading a little sunshine into other members of the communities hearts in a subtle and fun way. As an avid gardener myself, I thought this could be a project I could support my good friend Gareth to have a go at. Gareth loves going out for a push in his chair. He is well-known within and around his local community and is missed if he has a break from his usual routes.

Seed Bombing involves mixing wild flower seeds with compost and a little clay (stickability!) then getting out there and lobbing them in sorrowful patches of bare ground in the hope the seeds germinate and flower come the summer time. Gareth and I caught a bus to Skipton where we bought wild seed mixes from the pound shop. We asked a local potter if she could spare us a little clay. We then mixed the seed bombs - a lovely sensory experience. Gareth wasn't too impressed with this part! We made over a hundred, left them in my greenhouse for a few days to dry and voila!

Another of Gareth's personal assistants, Corinne, then joined us on a push out around the village armed with two bags of seed bombs. On setting off, Gareth threw the first bomb into an area just close to his home then we headed to the Beck Side walk he loves, so we could spread the joy of flowers down there.

The wait........ Had it been too cold? Had the birds devoured the seeds? Had the local council sprayed them with weedkiller? Well...On my way up to Gareth's home a couple of days ago I spied small specks of red on the land by his house! I got off my bike and went for a look and lo and behold... Poppies! Gareth and I set off not long after in search of more but as of yet no others have been spotted. On our way home, irony set in as we saw the housing gardeners about to cut the grass on the land - but with a few kind words, a smile, an Ooooo from Gareth we persuaded them to go round the poppies! Hopefully the others will set seed but fail not we'll be out in the autumn armed with daffodils and a bulb planting tool!

We would sincerely like to,thank Darren and James from Yorkshire Housing for helping us do our bit for our community, the bees and other wildlife... We just stopped the mowers in time!

Jim, Gareth & Corrine - The Croft Hill Crew