To Walter de Grasse
Dear Walter,
It’s been a busy month, but not much has been going on in Old School Garden.
though I’ve planted out onions and sowed Broad Beans as well as some hardy annuals, scarified and fertilised the main lawn areas, I can’t claim to have moved on much on the home patch. Still, today I plan to spend a good time putting up fencing to hide the oil tank and possibly also laying the final slabs where the new shed is going. And hopefully I can at long last make a start on that this week, before the bad weather sets in. Despite a cold start today we’ve had things quite mild here recently and it looks like the rest of the week is also going to warm up a bit.
Front garden still looking good
Nerines looking colourful
a new ‘beehive’ water butt for our courtyard- awaiting fitting
Broad beans poking through
and onions
and garlic
Echeveria- soon to be put under cover for the winter
Colour starting to come on this Liquidambar
The next job..fencing in the oil tank, with gate
I spent a couple of short sessions over at the local High School Allotment project helping to cut out grass and weeds from around the orchard trees, and I hope to get back there to help in the next couple of weeks. It will be good to get the orchard into some kind of managed state.
Well, having said what I haven’t been doing at home, I can move on to report some major progress over at the local church, where you’ll recall I and others are gradually taking the churchyard and surroundings into more active management, including the churchyard itself as a meadow habitat.
Over the last three weekends (plus a surprise session on Saturday) the ‘Community Payback Team’ have been over to help us tackle some major projects. These are people who have broken the law in some way and have been sentenced to giving time back to the community for free. They, plus a few local volunteers, have put in a tremendous effort and the result is a transformation of the church surroundings. Here are some pictures which illustrate the key achievements, including planting an ‘Avenue of Remembrance’ to commemorate the closure of RAF Swannington (Haveringland) 70 years ago in November, the cutting and raking off of the churchyard, clearing the ‘French Drain’ that surrounds the church walls, strimming the perimeter of the church and the nearby access road and car park, planting many narcissus bulbs (donated by local businesses) and plenty more.
I have been very impressed with the effort and good-natured attitudes of those who have helped us and we have achieved so much more than I was expecting. Things look very promising for the major Remembrance Day service on Saturday 11th November; and I’m especially pleased that you and Ferdy can join us.
Old School Gardener
Old School Garden 