Awbridge Wildgrounds group planning for the spring

Several members of the group along with myself and a new member Colin a local resident and a enthusiastic gardener all came together last Friday to decide on the next step for the community garden.

After some discussion about the direction and focus for the future taking into consideration the time that people are able to contribute to growing this project ( excuse the pun)
The plan of action was agreed to be the following :

• To concentrate on getting the new raised beds ready for the spring and to get a composter on the go
• To look at ways of involving the children for example  asking them to explore what ingredients need to go into making good compost, for each class to plan for what vegetables could go in their plot thinking about slow growing and fast growing fruit and veg, maybe link this to other themes e.g historical periods etc , also maybe to help by planting seeds etc.
• To look at ways of involving families for example holding sessions to learn more about growing vegetables and sharing skills and to consider what plants are needed in the wild grounds area to help attract creatures that will keep the slugs and nasty beasts at bay
• Maybe to start  a gardening club or arrange a number of activities

With all of these plans in mind we decided that we needed to focus on the things that need to happen before the Christmas break,  namely organising a composter which Colin  kindly offered to donate to the project and to set a date to prepare the soil in the raised beds ready for the spring.

The other things to consider was how we were we going to find the organic materials we needed to prepare the soil.

The provisional date for digging (subject to good weather) has been set for this Sunday morning, a tight schedule indeed,  however its amazing what a group of enthusiastic people can organise in a short time.

As to the  donations of well rotted manure, personal approaches combined with a leaflet out to the parents has brought in lots of offers of help which is great because they are going to need at least 25 bags of the stuff.

Mr Barnes the headteacher has also offered to write a article for the village newsletter asking people for donations of tools and useful implements.