Garden improvements: day two complete

As you can see the beds are now in place! The garden is transformed.

There is still more work to do - we need to order more soil and manure to top them up. The wood needs some more sanding, and we will give each bed a number. We also plan to put some weed suppressant membrane down around the beds, with either bark or gravel to finish the job.

Many thanks to all who helped Lansbury Gardeners achieve this. Happy gardening in 2011!

Garden improvements: day one complete

Just back from a long day with Lansbury Gardeners. Was awake at 5am thinking about things I thought I had forgotten and in Tesco by 7.30am getting various snacks to keep us going. Them Gordon and I went and picked up the cordless screwdrivers from HSS and came back and got set up from 9am...a long day.

Of the 16 raised beds - 14 have been built. 7 beds are in the garden and partially filled with soil.

Tomorrow morning Friday 21st January the final two beds will be built, all the beds will be put in the garden and the rest of the soil moved into them from the remaining bags. Next week we will get more soil to top them up.

If you can come down and help for any amount of time Friday morning you would be very welcome! We aim to be finished (certainly in the hall) by lunchtime so the Bingo can come in at 1.30. We should be able to finish the job.

Thanks to residents Rahima, Amina, June, Frances, Mary, Gordon and Shumi who all came and helped today. A big thanks also go to Agim, Thomas, Ken, Simon, Fintan and Ian from Poplar HARCA who helped with this massive job.

See you tomorrow - I will be at the hall from around 9am. Louise

Garden improvements at Hind Grove Community Hall!

On Thursday January 20th and Friday January 21st 2011 great things will be happening at the Hind Grove Community Hall garden!

The giant grow bags which have served us well for nearly three years - but are now looking a bit saggy and tired are to be replaced with timber beds (like the ones in the photo which are at West India House).

By doing this we will also be able to make more space available for growing and make the garden look more attractive. The wood arrived yesterday, and we are now all set to construct the beds which come pre-drilled so are easy to put together. The soil from the existing bags will be transferred over, and next week we will bring more soil in to top the beds up.

If you want to help us - come along to the hall from 10am onwards on Thursday. Light refreshments will be provided. If you would like to bring something to share that would be lovely. Hope to see you there.

London Health Commission Awards

Oh well, unfortunately Lansbury Gardeners did not win the Well London award last night at the London Health Commission Awards ceremony. It was great that we got through to the top three though, so should feel proud of that.

Boris was there in good form and looking as tousled as ever, and there was a lovely view of Tower Bridge from the top of City Hall.

Chilli festival at RHS Hyde Hall

Yesterday Lansbury Gardeners had a great day out at RHS Hyde Hall in Essex. We chose this weekend as there was also a chilli pepper festival on with plenty of fresh chilli and chilli products to taste, as well as cooking demonstrations and chilli pepper talks. We grow quite a few chilli peppers in our garden at Hind Grove in Poplar, so there are quite a few enthusiasts among us.

I must admit I tasted the hottest chilli ever which brought tears to my eyes and made my tongue so hot and numb I couldn't speak for nearly ten minutes... So thanks to the young man in our group who tempted me down that path - you know who you are!!

Hyde Hall is a great place to go, the cultivated gardens are quite compact so there is definitely not so many of those to see compared to Wisley, but there are lots of wide open spaces outside of the main hilltop gardens for young people to run around in, or for a woodland walk, and it definitely provided a relaxing day.

Our group comprised 20 adults and 20 children - the vegetable garden is a great place to test people's knowledge and I enjoyed a little impromptu teaching on a lovely day out.

Spitalfields Show and Green Fair September 2010

Mary and Luthfa explore the farm

A small group of us went to the Spitalfields Show today. We wanted to see what the show was like so we can think about entering next year. The Coriander Club will be a hard act to beat - but I think we can have a go!

We visited the farm first which set several of us off reminiscing about animals we had known when we were young. Luthfa talked happily to the chickens who surprisingly seemed to understand her chicken talk and clucked back. They reminded her of chickens eating out of her hand when she was young. The guineas pigs reminded Francis of her of her father who reared Guinea Pigs for food when she was a child. I was reminded of poor old Percy our Cockerel who came to a sticky end when his early morning crowing was just too much for us and our neighbours. Being presented with my noisy friend "Percy" for dinner one evening, was too much for me. He was also rather tough and chewy.

The vegetables in the garden are great and an inspiration - but we couldn't identify them all, so would be good to have more signs. If only we had more space in Poplar - what we could achieve...Frances is very keen to grow Callaloo so we will order some seeds for next year.

Finally, the only disappointment of the afternoon was the lack of a cuppa. There was lots of lovely food - but no tea stall, and the coffee hut on the farm closed early. Perhaps next year the East End WI could do a tea and cake stall?

A visit to the Spitalfields Show

Do you know about the wonderful city farm and garden in Spitalfields? If not come along with us to the Spitalfields Show and Green Fair on Sunday 12th September 2010.

Spitalfields City Farm is located between Whitechapel and Brick Lane - More information about the show is here.

We are planning to meet up at 12.45 outside the Hind Grove Community Hall to be ready to leave promptly at 1pm to travel to the show together using public transport. If you want to come please sign up at upcoming.

Perhaps next year Lansbury Gardeners can enter some of our own vegetables and try to win a prize? Come with us to see what the show is all about and to get some ideas, see the animals, look at the vegetable gardens, and see the countryside in the City.