Garden Blog
Andy’s garden blog
Hi from Andy! Garden Blog page to keep you up to date with the garden…..
Sroll down to the bottom to see some pictures from the garden
+++++++
Winter in the garden at KIND
Feb 9th 2012
Christmas is now well behind us. I’ll start by saying a belated ‘Happy New Year!”. We are now in the middle of a cold snap although the vegetable garden has been dug and composted. The seeds have been sown in my green house at home because the one at KIND has temporarily been removed due to our forthcoming development. The snow drops out and we’ll see the first daffodils soon. We are looking forward to a wonderful year in the garden at KIND.
++++++++++
Autumnal Signs
Oct 21st 2011
In the garden at KIND we have begun the big cut down of herbaceous plants. This work should be completed by mid November, but by the Spring all the plants will be with us again.The last of the veg is being cropped, cabbage, lettuce, pak choi, leeks and parsnips.
In readiness for the new development at the KIND SEED CENTRE we have taken down the pergola and will be soon be dismantling the greenhouse. This will be re-sited on the Centre’s roof in due course.
We wish to thank 3 groups of volunteers (36 bodies) from Barclays Bank for their great efforts. St Brides church grounds now have a makeover and the vicar is very impressed.
Happy winter gardening
Andy
++++++++++
Summer’s Nearly Over
Sept 7th 2011
The Summer is is nearly over for another year in the garden at KIND as the shortening days bring an autumnal feel to the coming weeks.
Roof garden – we harvested potatoes, sweetcorn , tomatoes, runner beans, french beans and butternut squash.
Terrace – still a blaze of colour – giant begonias, geraniums, petunias – forget your sunglasses at your peril.
Greenhouse – we have enjoyed a supply of cucumbers and tomatoes but sadly there has not been enough warmth to ripen our mellons. – maybe next year !
Garden – It has been a good summer for shrubs and herbaceous flowers and our fruit crop of apples and plums has been excellent. The lawns have withstood our childrens games. The garden is a great educational tool and we have added a new medicinal herb bed.
Vegetable garden – we have enjoyed a constant and varied supply of veg and fruit. Our visitors do not go away empty handed, indeed some are known to pop round on the off chance that there may be surplus goodies!!
++++++++++
St Michaels in the City clear up operation
We have nearly finished a major clear up operation at St Michaels in the City church.Their garden has been neglected. It had become severely overgrown and was attracting a fair amount of rubbish. With the help of chain saws, strimmers, and willing volunteers we have cleared the site and for the moment has become less of an eyesore.
++++++++++
The Garden’s Looking Rosy
++++++++++
Getting Ready For Summer
April 26th 2011
This month we have been very busy getting ready for the long awaited summer. We have done a clean up of the gardens at St Michaels in the city, with much welcomed help from some of the staff at United Biscuits…Thanks guys!
The bedding plants are nearly ready for the borders and the vegetable garden has been planted up.
On Thursday mornings we have been running a vegetable growing course for people in Mildmay Hostel. All involved have worked extremely hard and all the hard work has paid off with new skills being learnt and the reward of fresh grown vegetables.
I have continued work at St Brides, preparing lawns ready for the summer. We are all looking forward to the garden in full bloom!
Spring Takes Hold
March 3rd 2011
The Winter will soon be a distant memory as Spring takes hold of the garden with snow drops. The first Daffodils, Forsythia and Hemamelis are in bloom to start us off beautifully.
In the vegetable garden I have been digging compost into the borders in preparation for this years bounty. Onions and garlic, with shallots already planted and the rhubarb a step ahead as its starting to grow.
In the greenhouse, potatoes are sprouting and I have started cabbage, pak choi, leeks, lettuce, beetroot and cauliflower.
The children have also been busy in the garden, they have sown peas, french beans and mangetout. A job well done!
The pond had recently sprung a leak so we have had some brick work done and it looks to have stopped the water, and soon it will be re rendered.
In the middle of the garden we had a sensory garden, which unfortunatly was past its best. So we have decided to plant a medicinal border with Fever Few, Chamomile, Arnica, Cumfrey , Lovage and lemon scented Cat Mint.This will soon be a great addition to the Centre as a learning resource for the children who come and visit KIND’s SEED Centre.
++++++++++
Autumn’s Turning Into Winter
Nov 15th 2010
Now Autumn is turning into Winter we have cut down all the herbacious plants in the garden and pruned some of the shrubs, this helping us to get all the leaves out.
At teh end of the month we will be cutting back the reed beds and cleaning out the pon with the help from some very enthusiastic young volunteers.
The vegetable garden is coming to an end now, but we still have leeks, parsnips, cabbage and cauliflower which will be made good use of by the children that are currently visiting the KIND SEED Centre. We look forward to eating some of their home made vegetbale soup!
This has been a fabulous year in the vegetable garden with more than 30 different crops of soft fruits and vegetables, bought to be harvested and cooked by the children, which is enjoyed by all.
++++++++++
Feeling Like Autumn
Set 21st 2010
In the garden at KIND it has started to feel abit like autumn with the leaves already starting to change colour. Very soon now we will be cutting down the herbacious borders that have looked excellent this year.
We have now been collecting seeds for next year from plants in the garden to help us save money in the spring (Handy tip!).
In the vegetable garden we have harvested celery, red and white onions, courgettes, tomatoes, carrots, peas, apples, potatoes, runner beans, ballotto beans, butternut squashes, lettuce and leeks. All of which have been enjoyed by the children who visit the KIND SEED Centre.
Next week i will be cutting down and clearing the pots on the roof for this year, as well as be digging in the organic compost into the vegetable borders.
Happy gardening!
++++++++++
Welcome Christian
Aug 12th 2010
We wouold like to give a warm welcome to Christian as a volunteer on Wednesdays. We hope he will enjoy his time with us.
The summer club here at the KIND SEED Centre has been very sucessful with a full programme of exciting sessions, inhcluding those involved in the garden. The children have been looking, smelling and tasteing the herbs in our herb garden. They have had an ooprtunity to learn about the medical values of herbs as well as use them in cooking sessions in the Centres kitchen.
We have spent two sessions digging up potatoes from our vegetable garden; we had a bumper crop this year and the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
We have also harvested sweetcorn, cucumbers, tomatoes, gooseberries, runner beans and broad beans. All of which have been enjoyed by the children at lunch time!
Preparations for next spring have begun with sewing wall flowers, as well as pak hoi and lettace for the late summer.
++++++++++
Preparing For Royalty
July 19th 2010
At present, we are preparing for the visit of the HRH the Duchess of Cornwall. After weeks of dry sunny weather, it has rained almost everyday for a week.
Danny, one of our young volunteers has been helping by jet washing all the paths and pavements. We are harvesting cherries, cucumber, runner beans, lettuce, courgettes, french beans, black currents and pak choi.
The main garden is coming together well and we are on schedule for a fantastic day on Monday!
++++++++++
Week 2 of Gardening Course
Mar 31st 2010
This week we’ve planted out the onion bed with leeks, red & white onions and shallots. I’ve also been doing plenty of greenhouse work with seeds and pricking out for the summer display.
It’s week 2 of our gardening course run for adults today. In this week’s session we’re looking at seeds, seed sowing, pricking out and starting potatoes in pots.
++++++++++
Pingback: Autumnal Signs | KIND