Theo is one of our youngest volunteers who loves coming to the garden on activity Sundays and pushing the toddler wheelbarrow. For his 2nd birthday Theo's parents set up a fundraising page with People's Fundraising so friends and family could support the Triangle Garden instead of buying him gifts.
A guest blog by Anni Sander (photo credit ©LiveKindly Co)
Happy New Year! Have you got any resolutions for 2022? For me it's the typical 'do more sports' and 'take more breaks'. However as a family we're trying something new this year, we're attempting Veganuary.
Vegan fasting
This week's guest blog is by Dale, one of our Growing Ability gardeners.
'As a Triangle Community Gardener, we all went for a walk down the Hitchin Museum, to look around the old treasures and history of the museum.
After we had a few group photos for our Gardening Newsletter, we had a group talk, all of us together.
We all said we would come back after the Christmas holiday break.
At the end of the session trip, we went to the Christchurch café for a cup of tea, it tasted really nice.'
This week's guest blog is by Holly, one of our Growing Ability gardeners.
'I’ve been making artwork using leaves, I made a leaf wreath and I have used all sorts of leaves with different autumn colours. The colours are around us now; I can see the bright colours; green, reds, orange, yellow and dark colours; brown. The brown leaves are more crispy.
Today I found a skeleton leaf. My favourite…
This week's blog post is from Kavita of Garden Club on the humble but versatile stinging nettle:
Symphytum officinale in the family boraginaceae with its tall clumps of large green hairy leaves and clusters of tubular flowers appears all over the Triangle Community Garden and allotments in May and June. Upright and growing to around 1.5 metres the flowers vary in colour from pale pink and white through to blues and lilac, a handsome plant particularly attractive under trees and on banks, when allowed to spread in drifts it is a spectacular sight. Easy to propagate from root cutting, division or seed, it is also almost entirely pest and disease free.
One blustery Friday morning in May, Garden Club members set about clearing the waist high weeds smothering the fruit bushes in the Forest Garden. Pulling nettles, cow parsley and goose grass out of the rich, moist earth to uncover half-hidden bushes, discovering snails in unexpected colours and seeing the beginnings of this year's berries, was an oddly satisfying experience on a wet morning.
Activity continues in the Forest and Community Gardens to help plants and shrubs recover from the long period during lockdown when it was not possible for the volunteers to work. More membrane has been removed in the Forest Garden to give the rhubarb and day lilies chance to spread and thrive, and the currants (pictured above) have been thoroughly weeded, opening them up to the light and air. The Cercis (Judas Tree) is nearly in flower with a touch of colour coming through.
Garden Club members have spent several sunny Friday mornings clearing the Forest Garden and rediscovering forgotten plants amongst the undergrowth. It’s been instructive to see how the garden has evolved over the past year with minimal human intervention. Some plants have held their own while others have disappeared amongst the more vigorous weeds around them. As we cleared one sheltered spot of nettles and brambles, the unmistakable scent of mint hung in the air, reminding us of the mint that was planted several years ago.
April is always a busy time for Friday Garden Club. The Forest and Community Gardens have been waking up since early spring with lovely blossom on the almond and apricot trees, ferns unfurling and sparkling blue and white anemones carpeting the ground. A few nettles and brambles are being cleared to allow shrubs, trees, herbs and perennials to hold their own against these more rampant plants.
