The pipes of broccoli

Yesterday was the first time I'd had a good look around the grounds, to see what progress has been made other than in the community garden. Outside the hall, the beds have been dug over and I discovered what had happened to the tray of broccoli seedlings I picked up from St Mungo's a few weeks ago. They seem to be thriving!

In the community garden itself, the blackcurrant bush planted last spring has produced a few berries. Watch out, Ribena... Herbs, traditional apothecary plants, fruit and vegetables all happily co-exist in this sunny open space.

These lovely dianthus are now in full bloom. They were from Lidl or Aldi, 99p specials. I don't know the name of the white, pink tipped rose although I've had a good look on the internet.

Every Thursday morning the community garden is transformed with a shade sail and tent, books and toys and guinea pigs, for the pre-walkers outdoor play session run by Limelight. The session provides sensory experiences for the little ones, and it's great to see the garden put to such good use!

Free workshops start today - here comes summer at last

Glorious weather, finally! Just in time for the workshops to start. Today from 10am onwards Kristina Binns from Lewisham Council is providing a recycling information stall in the centre reception area. At 1.30pm she will be hosting a composting workshop and at 3.30pm a Love Food Hate Waste workshop. If you come to both as I'm going to you can learn all about creative ways of using leftovers, storing food correctly and if you can't use it, compost it! More information on these workshops and permaculture/build a bug hotel can be found on the earlier blog post here. Please come along and check it out to see if there are spaces available - you can visit the garden in progress too.

I have to say the compost heap is smelling lovely at the moment. Very compost-y, is that the word? Rowland helped me water the garden including the heap and planted several herbs and medicinal plants from the big plant giveaway.  We had a closer look at the St John's Wort growing by the preschool fence. Rowland showed me the translucent spots on the leaves that mature to produce the oil. It is an exquisite plant, very delicate in contrast to its showier relatives.

St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) - link to uses

Today (when I'm not at the workshops) I will be mostly raiding the allotment garden for more plants. It's getting overgrown so I will be doing it a favour. 

The circular bed and herb border

Now there is more light coming in through the fence, the lavender bushes are flowering for the first time in years. Marjoram, which must have self-seeded, is growing underneath and the soil is very compacted and mossy. They really need to be in a sunnier spot so once they've finished flowering I'll cut back and transplant. That area is crying out for some woodland plants: foxgloves and pulmonaria

On the home front, the rain has obviously benefitted the garden and my agapanthus which usually produces one measly flower head if anything, has four large globes. It's growing in a very large pot among japanese anemones. This was sold to me many moons ago as Anemone hupehensis 'Hadspen Abundance' but it doesn't look like the photos being a lighter pink. It is alive with honey and bumble bees.

Agapanthus

Anemone hupehensis 'Hadspen Abundance' - or is it?

I just had to include a photo of this beautiful rose, Joie de Vivre. I'm still reading 'No Dig Gardening' by Ruth Stout and will have to put off the review and received wisdom until next time! It's such a harsh climate on the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Joie de Vivre, rose of the year 2011

WORKSHOPS IN NEW CROSS

Three Cafe Crema garden events for aug-oct 2012

August 11th 10-1

Horticultural workshop and fruit tree pruning

Paul Ritchens from The Kings Cross Skip Garden leads this session on pest recognition and organic pest control strategies. This session would be great for beginners and enthusiasts and people who really don't want to douse their trees and gardens with harmful pesticides but don't want everything to get eaten either... Also good for new gardeners and allotment holders. After the morning session there will be a break for lunch (you are welcome to bring a picnic or you can buy something from the Cafe) followed by a short practical session looking at the new espalier trees and doing some summer formative pruning. Session ends at 1pm. All welcome, free. 

Please drop in to the Cafe or text Kiri to reserve a place. 07950 552 571.

Many thanks to Lewisham Council's 'Community Gardens Small Grant Award' for funding this event.

Come and try your hand at Botanical Illustration at Cafe Crema....

Free botanical illustration workshops will be held on Sat 15th sept and oct 13th from 3.30 til 5.30.

Learn to paint and draw botanical specimens with professional artist Alison Day from Lewisham Arthouse. Explore the autumn colours, shapes and textures of the local flora found in the wildlife garden at Café Crema. Suitable for adults and children over 10 yrs, (or younger if they are very keen.) No previous experience needed. Materials provided. You are also welcome to bring your own sketchbooks/ pencils if you prefer.

These two events are organised in partnership with London Wildlife Trust.

To reserve a place please text 07950 552 571 or email: freshfilmscafe@hotmail.com. You will need to drop by to leave a £3 deposit to keep your place, but this will be returned to you on arrival. Refreshments will be provided.

Cafe Crema: 306 New Cross Road, London SE14 6AF. Close to the Town Hall and almost opposite the venue, minutes from New Cross Gate station. Tel: 020 8320 2317

Another layer of 'lasagna' rained on

The almost continuous rain over the past couple of weeks has ensured that the new plants have settled in. Now what is needed is a bit more sun as most of the plants were chosen for their tolerance to drought and a hosepipe ban was in force when they were planted. Doh!

The circular bed after a lot of rain

There is a mini rain shadow in the roof overhang of the raised bed against the wall and the back of the bed is dry. The plants don't seem to mind apart from the oriental poppies, which are just underneath it; they seem to be putting down roots though not doing as well as my Mrs Perry this year. Before it got battered by the rain, that is. Here is a photo of the first flower to open, on Jubilee weekend. I love the blowsy, opulent flowers. Who is Mrs Perry? Amos Perry, nurseryman, who discovered this salmon sport in his Winchmore Hill garden in 1906, named it after his wife.

Papaver orientale 'Mrs Perry'

The 'rain shadow' at the back of the raised bed

More on lasagna gardening

A pile of grass clippings the height of the compost container was deposited a couple of weeks ago, the result of mowing the community centre grounds. Some went into the heap and about a third was left to be rained on and start the process of decay. Some of the pile was layered on top of the cardboard in the prospective veg patch. I am keeping the different piles separate at the moment. Doesn't look much like lasagna to me! or at least one that I'd fancy eating. The compost heap/layered garden is now the lucky recipient of a similar sized pile of nettles which are slowly rotting - I'll give this plenty of time as the last thing I want is another load of nettles.

Another 'lasagna' layer - semi rotted grass clippings

Musings on roses, lasagna gardening

Roses grow on you, sometimes a bit too much

Reflecting on how much time and effort I can put (even with volunteer help) into the traditional method of double digging the community garden, I consulted with Elwood Amey. Elwood is a gardener by profession and helped the older people's group design the garden structure some years ago. He is also a trustee of the community association and a partner in the Wellbeing Service which inspired the idea of an apothecary garden.

We had a conversation about roses and which ones to keep. They hadn't been pruned for so long that one had reverted to its wild state and it will have to come out. While not the biggest of the bunch, it will take some doing. I've already got rid of one which was fighting to survive the competition from pernicious weeds and not really in the right place, unless you want your legs scratched to pieces as you pass. Another is defying attempts to grow up the trellis on the bunker, stretching out to the light in the opposite direction.

Ideally I'd like to replace them all with Rosa Mundi, the 12th century apothecary rose said to be named after Fair Rosamund, mistress of Henry II! Unlike the floribundas and the hybrid teas, lovely though they are, it won't end up with flowers waving 8-10 feet in the air. One of my earliest memories is of my grandmother's square rose bed featuring the gorgeous 'Peace' in her garden, located at the foot of the Peak District National Park; but she did employ a gardener to keep them in good shape.

Rosa Mundi (Copyright Peter Beales Roses)

I love roses and have grown many (and lost some to disease or being in the wrong place) - here are two of them.

The highly scented Portland Rose 'Jacques Cartier' (1868)

Hybrid musk 'Cornelia' (1925)

Mulches and 'lasagna' gardening

Elwood suggested I cut down the big weeds, cover some of the areas with cardboard, followed by a deep mulch of bark chippings and plant through that. Brian kindly supplied a very large double sheet for the area that I've designated for fruit bushes and some vegetables. I've pinned it down with the bags of old compost for the moment. I'm fond of the cottage garden look and have planted a hollyhock picked up for a song at Farmstead Road Community Garden stall at the Phoenix Festival.

Intrigued by the idea of a cardboard mulch I went on a journey through the internet and discovered the wonderfully named lasagna gardening. The idea of No Dig gardening was developed in the 1950s in the USA by Ruth Stout, who lived in Poverty Hollow, Connecticut, and wrote a book Gardening Without Work; for the Aging, the Busy and the Indolent! Sounds appropriate.

Here is a presentation on lasagna gardening by Philadephia County Master Gardeners (Penn State University), and an interesting blog about it. Enjoy!

Transformation of the community garden

This is the Goldsmiths Community Garden.

 

Before: The raised bed - say no more!

In between: the ivy and bramble are cleared, revealing a peony

After: The newly planted raised bed, filled with aromatic herbs

Before: you can't even see the circular bed

In between: the circular bed, revealed!

After: the circular bed, lovingly restored

What a mess - sad that such little care or interest was given to this sunny spot