What a fantastic, productive morning! I met up with six people at 10am at the horse trough as arranged; some came to stay and work, some came to just introduce themselves and take a look at the site.
We continued to clear the piece of ground to the right of the fruit trees of small roots and stones, and started to define growing areas or strips, and pathways between, by raising the soil into mounds (see photos attached). I had managed to get hold of some wooden boxes at £7 each (bargain!) which can be used as growing boxes. They can be used as they are, and can also be stacked up for height, which is something we will need to provide for some growers at some point. They will need treating with wood preservative suitable for edible plants, to make them last longer.
We also weeded the fruit and herb area, then planted nine cordon tomatoes along the wall and watered. They will need stakes. Ann kindly brought along two borage plants in the week which were planted in the herb area, and have been marked with yellow plant labels, so please look out for them when weeding!
So! An excellent beginning! Sheila has kindly offered to make a start with Instagram and Facebook , so if anybody would like to help, I’m sure she would appreciate that.
What’s next?
- Continue to clear the ground to the right of the raised strips.
- Continue the raised strips to the end of the plot
- Stake the cordon tomatoes
- Treat the wooden boxes with suitable preservative
- Gradually start to edge the grass where it meets the plots to make it neater and easier to weed
- Keep weeding
- Keep watering if necessary……… there are issues with watering at the moment as regards the water supply, which we are addressing.
A group of us have arranged to meet up on Wednesday 22nd at 10am, and Saturday 25th at 10am, so if you are interested in joining us, then please come along! Of course, you are always welcome to go along to see progress and lend a hand any time you are passing.
Please feel free to contact me any time with any questions or suggestions either by email or on my mobile. Look forward to seeing you at the Community Garden soon!