Happy soggy new year!

Hi folk

Happy soggy new year! The current garden status as I write this is… it’s a bog!  The river of rain may have stopped flowing down (and washing away) the hardstanding paths and the waters are receding for now but much of the garden is still very waterlogged.  It’s times like these that we remember how this project came to be –  if it didn’t get so wet then this soggy patch of land would never have been left ungardened for long and would never have been given over to us to become our beautiful productive community garden! Here’s a pic of the pond with not just the path but the path edging as well deep underwater! Sharp eyed readers will spot Harry the cat who is a regular and cheerful attendee at garden (though the way he was cheerfully dipping his paws in the pond makes me fear for the frogs who’ll be along next month…)
I’ve got more news of our glorious new shed.  A massive thanks to David and Patrick and Mike and everyone else involved in getting it built and ready to use.  The amazing set of sturdy shelves were finished in December and were all built our of foraged wood from skips and what not.  We had our grand opening at our Christmas party and now joy of joys all the kids’ stuff has been carefully sorted and organised into labeled boxes and the shed is now a treasure trove. It’s always the way when you do a big tidy we found so much long lost stuff, scissors and tools and toys and useful bits and bobs that it’s like going shopping. And now we can clear all the cooking stuff out of the tunnels and welcome in a new ear of tidiness.  Great stuff
We started back our Wednesday volunteer days this week and new volunteers are very welcome along!  It’s great to get out and get some outdoor time when the days are so short and also to pick some delicious winter greens fro a vitamin boost after the season of biscuits and booze.  We’re here every week 10-3 in January and then back to 10-4 from Feb and new folks are welcome along at 12 or 2:30 for a tour or just come when you can.  Our afterschool club also started back yesterday and they had a great time in the dark playing in the pouring rain and getting absolutely soaked paddling in the floods.  They are a hardy bunch and luckily we have the cosy balehouse, hot squash and hot water bottles for when the cold really kicks in!

We also started back our lovely toddler group today and were lucky to have a morning in the sun for digging, paddling, exploring, singing and  making flappy sticks to celebrate the catkins that are just starting to  drop and release their seeds.  We’ve still got a couple of spaces in our Tuesday group starting next week and there’s more info and the booking link HERE
People are often surprised when I tell them we stay open all winter and we’re still busy and still harvesting and sure we can’t quite match the tasty summer treats of just picked tomato and basil or juicy strawberries but let me leave you with some pictures of some of our fab winter veg – our best sprouts yet AND our biggest celeriac getting prepped for the soup pot!

And stay tuned to hear about some exciting plans we have brewing for 2024!
See you in the garden!

Lucy

Lucy Mitchell
Community Project Worker
07506 905 394
ghcgarden@gmail.com