What's Happening

Thank you to all of our visitors who have made a donation to the National Garden Scheme - we have so far donated over £400 to the invaluable charities they support

Activity in the garden is limited at this time of year by the weather and how wet the soil is, but we thank our loyal, hardy and regular volunteers for their hard work even on the most inhospitable of days.

A large mound of well rotted manure has arrived ready for spreading which will keep everyone warm and active.

Our soft fruit cage has been invaded by bind weed, and we have been digging out the raspberry canes with a view to leaving the ground fallow for a while to ensure we have removed the last of this invasive weed

We are still managing to harvest a few baskets of winter salad leaves every week, made up mainly of Mizuna (brilliant in colder months), rocket and mustards. Protected from the worst of the weather by Enviromesh these have grown well despite the wet autumn.

Our harvest beyond salad is limited to some leeks, cavolo nero, curly kale, fennel and imminently a few rather sad looking sprouts. I would love to have more crops to harvest at this time of year but many of them are long term and tie up a a lot of space in summer when we are busily harvesting summer vegetables.

Before too long our crop plans for 2013 will be finalised and we look forward to a better growing season ahead!

Volunteering

Why become a volunteer with us?

Working outdoors in Patrick's Patch and seeing just how successful the work put into it, is most rewarding.  Our Head Gardener is always willing to teach you how to sow, plant and grow fruit and vegetables and perhaps you can take these skills back into your garden. 

Maybe you have some tips that you could bring to us?

If you enjoy working with children we have local school visits which we would like assistance with. 

The rewards are plentiful and as visitors to the garden have said “it’s a unique place to visit”.

We are currently seeking volunteers to assist with many duties within the garden.

If you are interested and could spare a few hours a week please contact Lisa on

01590 612113 or

e-mail lisa@fairweathers.co.uk

Courses

February 16th 2013 -Seed Sowing Techniques

March 16th 2013 - Early Season Plot Preparation

April 13th 2013 - Under Glass and Direct

May 11th 2013 - Watering, Mulches, Successional Sowing and Thinning

June 8th 2013 - Feed and Diseases

July 6th 2013 - Soft Fruit

August 3rd 2013 - Trained Top fruit

All our courses are free to attend - just turn up on the day for a 10.00 start and we aim to finish around 12pm.