Well, hasn’t it been grand to have a few summer days, at last – long may they continue! Gardening, of course, must continue whatever the weather and so it has.
Our second Grow Your Own session on Raised Beds and Propagation was another winner – we demonstrated how easy it is to put together a raised bed and then spent a little time maintaining the plot that we’d planted up last time around, weeding, supporting the peas and beans and another round of ‘happing up’ the tatties. Dorothy then passed on her knowledge of propagating plants by demonstrating taking cuttings, splitting plants and potting on, as well as a recap on seed sowing. The gang all had a go and took some soon-to-be mighty plants – herbs, leeks and brassicas – away with them. We even had time to plant up another lustrous herb sink.
The previous Thursday we’d headed down to the Council PARC (Pinefield Assessment and Resource Centre) facility to help them develop a community garden. The support worker Toby had done lots of prep for us, mulching with cardboard and with the help of two energetic young people we got cracking. We planted climbing beans (with cane supports) and lettuce in the old greenhouse frame. All sorts of goodies went into the main bed, as well as some seeds sowed here and there. A most rewarding morning – the staff were most pleased with the transformation the five of us effected! We’ll be back to continue the good work at some point for sure.
It was a busy few days as the following Monday we headed down to Elgin Academy for a packed session, working with lots of classes from Biology and Home Economics across the day. The kind teachers chipped in too and between us all we weeded and maintained the existing six 3 -metre squared plots, harvesting some treats, as well as building another six of these monster beds! The kids got really stuck in, there were many keen DIY’ers and budding gardeners amongst them and some were brave enough to taste some rocket flowers and oriental green leaves. Tastier and fresher than the stuff at the supermarket down the road…
Warm wishes to you all until next time.
