Friary Gardens

We visited Friary Gardens on a beautiful warm day at the end of September. From their web site: 'Friary Gardeners offers horticultural training and greater independence to people with disability through the raising of annual and perennial plants from seed, growing flowers and vegetables, the sale of plants and produce and the provision of gardening services to the local community, particularly those who are elderly and/or have a disability. All the revenue generated by the sale of plants and services is "ploughed" straight back into the work.'
They are also growing plants for Great Dixter now! It is a magical place with a wonderful atmosphere. I wish I had time to volunteer!

Bridge Community garden September

Lots of stuff growing at the Community Garden in September in spite of still waiting for funding for the hard landscaping and an unexpected mysterious flood, possibly from an underground spring, which meant digging a few ditches to drain it. We wondered if we could start selling bottles of The Bridge Community Centre natural spring water. We have pumpkins, leeks, chard, perpetual spinach, jerusalem artichokes, kale, brussel sprouts, cabbage, courgettes, salad and lots and lots of raspberries.

September colours

Jewel bright like the burning sunsets at this time of year.

Harvest

My tomatoes all got blight. I didn't trash the lot and cry over empty pots of tomato sauce like my neighbour. I removed the brown bits and waited. The weather turned drier. I was careful to water the roots only. I removed more brown bits as they appeared. Soon my plants had no leaves left. Nearly all my tomatoes ripened. I only lost a few. As it became colder I removed the unripe ones and let them blush red in a bowl on the kitchen table. Next year I will plant my tomatoes in pots and fill the raised bed with peas.




























Tomatoes from the raised bed in my garden.
Salad and the raised bed.
Courgettes and the raised bed.
Cucumbers.

Old Town Garden: Last days of summer

The leeks are looking really good since the mulch has been applied.
I mulched around the chillis and other areas with some grass clippings. This will help keep moisture in. September has

been so dry the ground is parched.

The rocket I sowed has come up as well as some mizuna and mixed Chinese leaves.
The fruit trees are laden with fruit at this time of year.

Creating a Community Garden

This is the plan I created for the first Community Garden in Hastings. I worked from the sketches of my colleague Joel, who designed the garden and has instigated the whole project. I started working on it as a volunteer in Feb 2009. We are waiting for Lottery funding to complete the hard landscaping and have had to make the most of not having the design completed.
















April 2009
Here is a panoramic view of the site with the fruit trees and bushes planted on the left and right banks. Planted with apples, gooseberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and figs.

May 2009
Volunteers lend a hand preparing the first vegetable bed by digging off the top layer of grass and turning it over.

This is my two year old son who has been with me as I worked on the garden. The newly planted raspberry canes are being mulched with cardboard to keep down weeds before being covered over with hay.
















The poster I created with my husband to advertise the garden.

Old Town Garden: tidy up

I've been emptying the compost bin and mulching the veg in the potager after weeding and watering. I also trimmed the grass edging. I love making the garden look tidy.