Rockaway is Blooming, Pond Progression & Garden Volunteer Day Update
Not only is the Community Forest Garden looking lush, but the yard is also blooming as the many flowers, shrubs and trees that Poppie (our Garden Volunteer Co-ordinator), Henry (our Gardener) and Mark have planted, burst into life.
Henry has also planted the first of the outdoor tomatoes in troughs on the cafe doorstep, bringing more of the garden into the Rockaway yard, which is the space with the most visitors. Not only will they be able to smell the tomatoes as they ripen in the coming months, its a great feature to open up a conversation about the garden project and remind people it's close by. The yard can be such a dizzying visual experience, it's easy to forget there's a wonderful green space a short walk away, just back down the main drive and a few steps along Eastcourt road...
Mark has also made the most of the recent sunshine to tackle creating one of the new ponds we've been planning. The yard pond will sit beneath the elephant fountain, which will eventually pump water up to aquaponic bays on the terrace so that visitors can select their own salad plates. Watch this space as the vision manifests...
We've also changed our garden volunteer day to a Saturday to enable more people to get involved around work commitments, school and other weekday stuff. It means that whole families can now come along and get stuck into the garden project to help us grow. Garden tasks can be as gentle or as energetic as you like and a free delicious vegan lunch from the cafe is provided as a thank you for your time.
So, if you'd like to be a part of this community project and reap the mental and physical health benefits of gardening in a beautiful green space, as well as relaxing and taking in the views, just contact Poppie below.
If you're interested in our exciting plans for developing Stage 2 of the garden, as well as ways you can help, you can read all about it on our garden webpage.