Harvest 2nd October 2018

Harvest Time

Today the toddlers came to the Community Garden on their way to storytime in the church with The Revd Jan.   Just as in Oscar Wilde’s wonderful fairy-tale ‘The Selfish Giant”, it was as if the garden smiled.   Each child picked one of the rosy Jonagold apples that have been hanging invitingly on the espaliered tree and took it into church as a harvest offering.   The building rang with the sound of small feet and children’s voices as we thanked God for His generous gifts.

Whenever gardening seems like a chore, it’s good to remember such moments.   We have just received the 2018 East Midlands in Bloom “It’s Your Neighbourhood” assessment from the RHS who have classed us as “thriving”, but no-one could possibly quantify the value of being able to share the produce from this small piece of land with our extended community.

Do help yourselves to a bunch of flowers or herbs before the frosts come and if anyone fancies making pumpkin or butternut squash soup, there are some fruits in church for the taking!

 

 

 

Teddy Bear Paw Hunt

The Community Garden provided a lovely sunny backdrop for a visit from the Under Fives Group yesterday afternoon.   Liz had hidden teddy bear paw prints around the garden and the children (and parents) collected them in paper bags.   All the children were presented with some bubbles as a reward!

On such occasions I realise why we cultivate this space in our church grounds.   It’s a place of welcome and nurture, a place to explore and experience the natural world.   There’s so much happening in the garden at the moment; flowers bursting open, vegetable plants including broad beans, runner beans, butternut squash, sweetcorn to name but a few and green strawberries forming where the flowers were.   We’ve also just planted a fig, blueberry and bay purchased with the token we were given by the RHS last summer.   Come and explore whenever you like and maybe pick a bunch of herbs you can use for flavouring or some sticks of rhubarb to put in a crumble …..

Caring for children with all their innocence and freshness and for our precious earth with all it generosity, is key to the future of humanity and we have such an opportunity to do both these things through our Community Garden.   I get very excited when I hear that Under Fives children, supported by their parents, are caring for the seeds they planted on a Tuesday afternoon, or that a couple of 8 year old boys have each taken a tomato plant to grow at home and will be thrilled if they succeed in producing just one tomato!   We’ve shared sunflower plants with neighbours in the flats behind the Community Garden and an African friend has inspired me to sow callaloo, a Caribbean vegetable which is a cross between watercress and spinach.

Seeds of change and roots of community and friendship are spreading wider, stronger and deeper from our small patch around the tarmac.