What a strange year it has been…
But that hasn’t stopped the volunteers enjoying the bounty at the community garden this year.
It’s nearly September now, so now is the time to make chutney’s and preserving the taste of summer long into the autumn and winter months.
We have had a busy August, hosting volunteers from NCS from ages 15-17.
They battled 32 degree days to plan and start digging a new wildlife pond and had to avoid torrential summer rain and 50 mph winds. We really have had it all this month.
The volunteers researched and planned the new wildlife pond, measuring and digging on a very hot week in August. We are fundraising for the pond liner and hope to have the wildlife pond operating soon.
During one of the rainy days, the volunteers hid in the Petersfield Community Centre and painted designs on some donated tyres from ATS in Petersfield.
We hosted a bug house build as part of the bug house competition. Many great ideas were explored and the results were imaginative and the bugs will surely have many nights of happiness asleep in their new homes in the garden.
This year, in a bid to raise awareness of biodiversity and native species decline, the focus of the Petersfield Community Garden bug house competition will be on creating homes for bugs.
Pre-schools and primary school children in and around Petersfield are invited to get creative and design a wildlife home for display at the community garden and be in with the chance to win a cash prize.
Whether you choose to build a bug hotel, bee hive, dormouse nest, bird box, butterfly or hedgehog house, we want you to get your creative minds whirring for this year’s competition.
This year, in a bid to raise awareness of biodiversity and native species decline, the focus of the Petersfield Community Garden bug house competition will be on creating homes for bugs.
Pre-schools and primary school children in and around Petersfield are invited to get creative and design a wildlife home for display at the community garden and be in with the chance to win a cash prize.
Whether you choose to build a bug hotel, bee hive, dormouse nest, bird box, butterfly or hedgehog house, we want you to get your creative minds whirring for this year’s competition.
TBC
There will be a cash prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place with winning entries being displayed at the Petersfield Community Garden.
Entry and registration >>>>> HERE <<<<<<<
We had a stall at the Petersfield summer festival again this year. Sunday was a wash out with driving rain, but we did have some good conversations with the few who sheltered under our awning. Monday was drier and busier. The picture shows our stall near the end of the day. after all the preserves and much of the produce had been sold. Many people had never seen patty pans before!
Another year starts in the garden, and we’re hard at work moving compost bins to make way for our new ‘social shed’
Its also time to prune out old raspberry and tayberry canes, tied in to the supports, and tie in this year’s fruiting canes, currently straggling over the path
We’ve also been taking out some of the tree lupins in the prairie garden
Our stall in Rams Walk, as part of the Petersfield Festival, selling books, bric a brac, plants and jam, and raising awareness about the Garden. We also had a flying visit from Adam, back south from Norfolk
Things are moving and stirring for another year in the Garden. Plum blossom has now almost finished and apple blossom is about to bloom
The Tayberries and Loganberries have started new growth, and the first ladybirds have appeared
Meanwhile we’ve been active: here are Sue & Louise planting onion sets
while seedlings in the greenhouse are coming up:
Despite almost continuous rain, twenty of us came to the garden today for what has become the traditional start to our year: wassailing the trees in the orchard prior to pruning them.
Once again we had the Petersfield community choir to help us sing
followed by some instruction in pruning the apple trees
Parts of the garden are **very** water logged :)
We’ll be busy at the garden this Sunday from 2pm. Here’s a flavour of what’s on offer:
Join us if you can.
Petersfield Community Garden 