Community Garden news

I was delighted to receive notification of a £350 grant from Lewisham Council for a project at the community garden yesterday. Great news! I'm waiting to hear from the Payback Team when they are able to start digging the garden, hopefully next or the following week.

With the grant we can purchase a wall sundial for the garden, it looks like slate but is made from recycled coffee cups. Now for some sun...

Recycled sundial - very eco-friendly!

We can also build a bug hotel and I've been saving bits of wood and broken pots, bamboo canes and other stuff. There are some pallets at the community centre to give it a head start. What is a bug hotel? If you look it up on Google there are horror stories of hotels and bed bugs, but this is different; a home for bugs to shelter, live and reproduce in. Here are two examples. 

Example of a bug 'hotel' from Earthworks St Albans

A bug 'mansion' from the Scottish Wildlife Trust

I have set aside a little budget for materials but I would rather use it for something else - see 'Fundraising ' below - so if you have old tiles, smallish logs or fir cones to spare I'd be grateful for any donations!

There will be a workshop to design and build the bug hotel at Goldsmiths Community Garden, please let me know if you are interested in attending - date to be confirmed but it will be sometime in August. We'll be doing some design work, drawing and building so it should be fun for everyone.

Permaculture

As part of the project we are offering a one day Permaculture ‘taster’ workshop for a maximum of 15 local people, by Ruth and Suriya who host the Permaculture Kids Club at Grow Mayow Community Garden, Sydenham. What is permaculture? It's a design approach to any human activity and is a combination of Ecology, Architecture and Organic Gardening. Wow. Please let me know if you are interested in joining this workshop - date to be confirmed, as above.

Composting, recycling and Love Food Hate Waste

Next week is Recycle Week - bet you didn't know that (nor did I). Three or four years ago I ran some recycling workshops for local organisations and schools - I love finding out what can and can't be recycled, what it's made of and what happens to it and so on. Call me a nerd! WRAP, in conjunction with Lewisham Council, delivered a session on composting after North Downham Training Project opened their garden, which won a London's Green Corners Award in 2007. It's time for another one.

Kristina Binns from Lewisham Council has kindly offered to run workshops on composting, recycling and Love Food Hate Waste as part of the project. What is Love Food Hate Waste? It's a brilliant website with all sorts of hints and tips about saving food and money. We waste a staggering amount of food in this country, due to confusion over date labels, buying too much and not using cooked or uncooked food in creative ways. Delicious Nutritious will be running cook and eat sessions at the community centre, as will Limelight Family Learning Centre as part of their Summer Programme and this workshop will complement their sessions. Everyone is welcome. Please let me know if you are interested in joining these workshops - date to be confirmed, as above.

Community event

There is a little money in the budget that can be used towards a community event to celebrate the community garden on 18 August. It is still in the planning stage, but the famous Smoothie bikes will be there!

Red leaved basil in herb border - Hampton Court Flower Show 2010

Fundraising
Every seed I planted of the red-leaved basil has germinated and I now have loads of plants, far more than I can use. Last year one big plant on my kitchen windowsill lasted into the winter, and it looks fantastic in a mixed bed if you can keep the snails and slugs off it. I also have other plants; curly parsley, oriental and California salad mix and Marmande tomatoes. Last year I bought some very cheap hanging baskets and liners from Wilkinsons, filled them with mixed salad leaves and herbs and suspended them from crooks in the garden. Worked a treat as it frustrated the snails no end!

To raise some money for the garden I will offer them for 50p each - all for a very good cause! I would like to use the money raised to go towards learning materials as at the moment this blog is the main source of information. They are not quite ready yet but in a couple of weeks' time they will be available. 

I will also be fundraising for a new fence and gate to the garden, a new lawnmower and tools. Watch this space.