The People’s Community Garden

Guild 2 on my allotment

2011-10-30T13:14:00.001Z

The new permaculture design cohort set dates for the future. Today we meet on my plot. I have several items:

a fire
do the 4 questions- see previous early blogs
do a design process on my plot
find a plant to identify
maybe get a take away to eat as it gets dark.
drink in pub.

Guild 2 on my allotment

2011-10-30T13:13:00.000Z

Life at the Garden

2011-05-27T10:52:00.000+01:00

It could never be said that people working at the community garden are anything other than dedicated. It would seem however that in Steven's case, the pressure may have got to him...

There is always lots to do and see at the People's Community Garden - why not come and visit us!

Recent News at the garden.... and a date for your diary

2011-04-15T21:38:00.000+01:00

The Easter plant fair was today - more of that to come, but first, some of the preparations, and other news...

As well as plant preparations for the fair,

The Halifax school have been planting potatoes,

SNAP have been renovating the herb spiral,

There were mothers day pansies to collect

and as it was Linda's Birthday, time for a well deserved cup of tea!

Finally, Maidenhall plot holder and herbalist Alix Rodwell talks to members of the Time for You Gardening for Health club at the Community Garden.

Her next talk is on Tuesday 3 May at 1.30pm, all welcome.

Useful tips

2011-04-15T21:19:00.000+01:00

You can find out all sorts of useful information at the People's Garden. Just take Pat's humane anti pigeon devices... there's no half eaten cabbages here:

And then there's potatoes - Susannah writes

"Trevor shows new volunteers the easy way to plant potatoes. Instead of digging a trench, he recommends using a bulb planter. Joanne Brannan at the Community Supported Agriculture project at Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm agrees with him. She plants up whole fields this way and says it is much less labour intensive."

When it comes to spuds, you can't do much better than that!

African garden in the making

2011-04-06T20:43:00.000+01:00

Having been quiet for a while on this blog, there is now an abundance of things to tell you - a bit like all those seeds germinating this time of year.

The African garden being constructed by the People's Garden and pupils from Chantry High School is well under way - its all best said with the photos...

Treading the paths

Building grey crowned crane shaped seat (Uganda's national emblem)

Sowing seeds

seed sowing - sunflowers, chillies and peppers

Alison Findlay of RHS lends her expertise

Keen planters

marking boundary with rubble donated by local building suppliers Collier and Catchpole

Planting feather grass round the turn seat

Shovelling manure to keyhole gardens

Staking out central compost well with hazel poles from Allotment Forestry Project, Sidegate Lane

Top off the plots

Spring cleaning

2011-02-17T10:37:00.000Z

There were lots of spring cleaning jobs to do this week, and while we gave the grasses a hair brush and the borders a tidy, the first snow drops and crocus are busily coming up:

All about the People's Garden

2011-02-06T22:15:00.000Z

Would you like to know more about The Peoples Community Garden? Here's Susannah Robirosa to tell you more:

The latest garden course and another volunteer story

2011-02-06T22:11:00.001Z

The peoples garden regularly holds gardening courses - take a look at the latest one:

Volunteer Stories

2011-02-06T17:03:00.000Z

The People's Garden has ventured into the world of youtube! you can already see how to take care of your secatures in a previous post and now you have a chance to see some of our volunteers stories:

A new year

2011-01-29T16:44:00.001Z

A month into the new year and there is already a lot happening at the garden.

A new porch roof has been build on the cabin:

And there are two new plots, one which will become an African garden, a project the People's Garden is undertaking with Chantry high school:

In the meantime we have been muck spreading on the other new plot:

While the volunteers muck spread and dug over a patch for onions to go in, Rick was in full flow with the new garden course - it was very cold Friday so they were huddling in the poly tunnel with a heater:

Winter Pruning

2010-12-17T14:21:00.001Z

The ground was frozen solid this morning, so there was no digging at the garden today! Instead Ric taught us how to prune soft fruit and fruit trees - we learnt how to cut so we didn't squash a bud, where to cut so as to promote the growth we want, always cutting to an outward facing bud:

You can tell it was cold today! So that we didn't all freeze solid, we also did some work in the cabin, and Ric explained how to take care of your secateurs:

Karibu community group and some garden news

2010-11-23T10:09:00.002Z

Karibu is a multicultural women's group run by Lara Uzokwe, and recently Susannah went to visit them to talk all things gardening.

They had a lovely time hearing about the people's garden and Susannah invited them to come along. In return Karibu have asked Susannah to visit their group through the winter to give gardening tips, and then they hope to start coming to the garden in the spring:

Meanwhile in the garden, Lawrence and Sean made an exciting discovery - some not so common, common lizards which have made their home on the lizard bank! Its nice to know the accommodation is approved of:

Pumpkin Soup

2010-10-29T19:30:00.000+01:00

Want to try something warm and satisfying? How about this soup with crusty bread rolls:

picture from http://www.cupcakegrenade.com/

Ingredients

1 pumpkin

2-3 onions

vegetable or chicken stock

Butter

vegetable oil

salt and pepper

Method

Set your oven to its hottest, then cut the pumpkin onto four and remove the seeds. put a little oil, salt and pepper on your pumpkin then bake until it is cooked - soft when you cut it with a knife.

In the meantime chop up your onions and fry at a hot temperature in butter and oil, for a minute, then turn right down and slow fry until caramelised - soft and brown.

Put your cooked pumpkin, any juice from it, and the onions in a food mixer and blend - add hot stock to make it the thickness you like, serve with bread rolls.

Pumpkin Fritters

2010-10-29T19:13:00.001+01:00

This recipe is a bit of a make it and see - you might like a little more spice, a little less sugar... have a go and see what you think!

Picture from http://babootie.com/

Ingredients

1 small pumpkin

2 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon all spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon brown sugar (or whatever sugar you have)

self raising flour

caster sugar to dust

Method

De-seed, peel, chop up and boil your pumpkin - it is cooked when it feels soft to cut with a sharp knife. then mash it and stir in the sugar, spices and egg.

Add flour a little at a time until you get a thick batter. Shallow fry a tablespoon of batter at a time and dust the fritters with caster sugar.

You can eat them on their own or serve them with ice cream or maple syrup.

Friday catch up - Halloween Fun Day

2010-10-29T19:00:00.000+01:00

Today started with garden work alongside setting up for the fun day, with the continuation of the building of the tool wash area and bug hotel extension:

Hot off the press, some snaps from today's fun day, which included pumpkin carving, mud monsters, the smoothie pedal bike, apple bobbing, halloween hunt, guess the weight of the pumpkin, how many seeds in the jar, face painting, composting (and all about worms) and lots of yummy food including pumpkin soup and pumpkin fritters - phew!

Recipes in the next couple of posts and photos from our official photographer to come, but in the meantime, a little flavour of the day:

Friday catch up - weeding

2010-10-22T18:14:00.002+01:00

It was all about the weeding today. Its a job that always needs doing, but we especially want the People's Garden to look good for next weeks Halloween fun day (Click picture for larger size):

So we weeded the borders (and saved the horseradish):

And the veg beds:

And there was still time to admire the flowers:

And even learn something about the Garden's soil texture - the picture below shows how the soil at the garden is a lot of sand (bottom) then silt, then clay, and (at the top) organic matter. It shows that although the soil is free draining, it doesn't have much nutrients... hence the tons of muck that are shovelled onto the site!!

Friday catch up - memorial tree

2010-10-08T21:29:00.002+01:00

There was lots to do in the garden today...

While the remaining tomatoes "hang about":

There was plenty of autumn clearing to do:

And surveying of the new roots bed:

As well as the digging up and potting of self seeded grasses:

We also prepared a place for the memorial tree for much loved and missed artist and volunteer, Paul. His tree is called "Paul's Scarlet" (Catagus lavaegartus). We look forward it its planting:

Friday catch up - new gardeners!

2010-09-24T22:09:00.001+01:00

It was all go today at the garden, not least with the two new gardeners who will be working at the People's Garden for the next six months - so its welcome to Sean and Lawrence:

Today we thought we wouldn't have much to take up to the community shop what with this being the last of the runner beans:

But in the end we took up lots of tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, courgettes, beetroot, and even some strawberries and parsley - enough that it took two people to carry it all up there.

Harvesting beetroot:

In the meantime Rick has been sorting out the rotation for the garden (if you are visiting, you can see his plan in the cabin), which is timely given the very large pile of muck now waiting to be spread!

Friday catch up - tomatoes

2010-09-17T15:35:00.001+01:00

Both last week and this week there was produce for the community shop - mostly tomatoes this week. They also needed the leaves with blight removing and some of the more dodgy looking fruit. Also this week potting on, including brassica and more weeding of the dreaded mares tail:

Orange and Purple

2010-09-17T15:29:00.000+01:00

I thought you might like to see some of the amazing things flowering in the People's Garden today:

Friday catch up - harvesting

2010-09-04T14:20:00.000+01:00

There was lots to be harvested this week, and not just food! While we all admired the cauliflowers and a very yummy looking selection of other vegetables harvested this week, some of the flowers have been producing their own harvest in seeds.

Work on the compost heap meant a harvest of compost for the garden and room for the barrow loads of weeds we uprooted from around the brassicas!

Awareness morning at Monmouth court

2010-09-02T13:01:00.001+01:00

It was all action on Tuesday as we had the chance to be neighbourly at Monmouth court, who were holding an Alzheimer's awareness morning:

In true wacky racer style a variety of transport could be seen going round and round the car park, including wheel chairs, bicycles, a radio controlled car, ride on mower and our own trusty wheel barrow:

Susannah even managed to find a home for the produce with Monmouth courts' chef!

New Patchwork Plot holders

2010-04-13T12:29:00.003+01:00

Papworth Trust volunteers have decided to take on their own Patchwork Plot - this is Jess, Lisa, Jonathan and Dorothy feeling very excited about the proposition:

Recycled Jungle Castle

2010-03-19T19:44:00.000Z

Dan was working in a school in Bury St. Edmunds that was looking for employers to work with students from a special school. After a presentation the students set about growing potatos in bags, sowed sweet pea seeds and created a recycled "Jungle Castle"

The Recycled Jungle Castle above. Below is the potato in compost bags, the idea is as they grow you unroll the bag and fill it up with compost until the bag is totally unraveled.

Above: the sweet peas were sown in pots to be transplanted into the green tubs with bamboo poles. Below is the poster that the school made for our Vegetable Games open day on 24th July.

scythe lessons

2010-02-17T18:30:00.000Z

Thanks to David for scything out wild flower meadow. I love this photo as it shows health and safety lessons- real world examples that sharp things needn't be dangerous.

CHRISTMAS WREATHS

2010-02-17T18:23:00.000Z

Real easy, some Ivy from an overgrown area and some ribbon. Makes a lovely wreath to hang on a door. Cheap, 100% not tacky and Many were made in the Triangle area of town.

REMEMBERANCE DAY

2010-02-17T18:17:00.000Z

Poppies sprung up after the terrible first world war. The seeds last for years in the ground and disturbing the soil allows them to germinate. This Novemver 11th at 11pm we had a minute's silence.

Olympic rings

2010-02-17T18:10:00.000Z

We wanted to plant up the Olympics rings in the garden, visable from the railway line. Picture from my phone. Tulips planted but we are planning what other flowers will work for year fround colour. Any Ideas?

Linda showing the scale.

Tulipmania & 350.org Transition

2010-02-09T02:04:00.000Z

WELCOME

2010-02-09T01:50:00.000Z

Susannah and the mug

Dano on right

Ric in red

Steven is Sporticus

pics here of Becky and Julie and Lindsey

I love this photo

2010-02-09T01:00:00.000Z

MAMOUTH EXCAVATION

2010-02-09T00:57:00.001Z

MAMOUTH EXCAVATION nearby the allotment when building Stoke School. So the bones and this map are at the local museum and boy they are big. When we dig at the garden we keep thinking what will we dig up. So far handcuffs, bits of pottery and 2 bones. Lots of glass and random allotment debris. But we are hoping to find some treasure. Please bring little trinkets of treasure for the kids to find (like stonese with holes in and shells)

becky the new gardener :o)

2010-01-25T10:18:00.006Z

hey every one my names Becky and I'm the new gardener here at the peoples community garden. I've been working here since the 14th of December 2009, and have found many aspects rewarding yet educational. Theres so many new friendly people to meet from workers,volunteers,people with learning difficulties and many people from other organizations and schools. please keep checking the blog for new updates and photos and if you have a spare 5 minutes please feel free to drop in for a chat to find out more what were all about!

Gingerbread Community Garden

2010-01-14T16:56:00.003Z

Winterval

2010-01-11T18:08:00.000Z

Wow it has been snowy and cold for nearly three weeks. hopefully nothing damaged. th epolytunnel was saved by Susannah and the only casualty is the cabbage frame. We got some photos and are going to start a photo diary throughout the year. Happy New Year

At this time of year colourful Dahlias seem a dream

December Party

2010-01-06T19:29:00.012Z

THE WINTER PARTY

December 7th was our thanks to volunteers party. We had a fire in the clay oven, mulled wine in the polytunnel, a community garden made from gingerbread and sweets. Really without volunteers it would just be a garden so It was great to see old and new volunteers. We also played a new game on the welcome area paving using dice made with our own fair hands.

Happy holidays

2009-11-18T13:57:00.003Z

The 'Tulip Mania' open day on the 24th October had a good turn-out despite unkind weather. The event marked the launch of the garden's wind turbine, kindly donated by Mosscliff Environmental, who were represented on the day by David Wyllie. The turbine supplies power to the garden's cabin, enough to keep lights phones and laptops running. The day was also supported by several local councillors - Philip Smart, Bryony Rudkin, Alan Sparrow and Jim Powell.

People took shelter in the polytunnel to sample tasty baked treats, pick n' mix tulip bulbs and try their luck at the tombola. There was an interesting demonstration from master composter Leslie Cass and a tent providing information about the Ripple Food Cooperative. Numbers were bolstered by the arrival of the Transition Ipswich cyclists, finishing off their tour of the town to mark Climate action day in conjunction with 350.org.

The Mayor Councillor David Goldsmith arrived in time to dig deep and plant the first tulip bulb on the new patchwork plots, some of which have yet to be snapped up. If you fancy having a go at growing your own veg, come on down and sign up for a bite-sized allotment at the People's Garden, where you can get help and advice on growing your own food.

Look out for a short film of the event coming soon.

Chilli Strings

2009-11-05T22:25:00.004Z

The bumper crop of chillis this year has provided a good surplus. Those that won't be cooked before they spoil are being strung up for drying and decoration in the new summerhouse.

The polytunnel has now been cleared of the summer vegetables, with some tomatoes still yet to ripen. Laying them out in the sun will give them a chance to turn red and juicy before they spoil. For those that don't there is always chutney or fried green tomato recipes...

The brassicas and chard are coming along nicely. Chard is good steamed with a dab of butter and some salt and pepper. If you have been growing beetroot this year, don't throw the leaves away. They are similar to chard and spinach, and the whole stem and leaf can be steamed or used in soup. Delicious.

2009-10-16T19:42:00.004+01:00

Growing People has never been more fun. Dano here from the Community Garden and we are really enjoying the garden with different people popping in each day. Based on the 16 bus route off Halifax road in the Maidenhall area of Ipswich we are a year and a half old. It is a week before our 2nd open day (this year Themed TULIPMANIA).

We are hoping to get all visitors through our new gate and im really loving the path our project is going. We are going to do more educational - learning to garden with Ric and Lindseys GArden Exercise classes are start up again in Spring next year.

We need help as always and we are looking for someone to take on the blog as a way to let everyone know whats going on.

Please come and visit, call 01473 261112 for more info. or visit the website www.townandbridge.org.uk/garden

This week we had a visit from the Permaculture Association and are hoping to become one of their LAND project members. We also had the Prince's Trust do a sterling days works and Sunday its Community PAybacks Turn. Both are working in the wildlife area preparing the ground to sow wild flower seeds and to put up a summerhouse donated by Suffolk Sheds. We hating up ve been put fliers for TULIPMANIA in Chantry and Stoke.
dano