2022 Progress

by Jayne Bradly Russell

5th May 2023

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A review of progress made over 2022 in the Wymondley Community Garden written by Jayne Bradly Russell.

After a brilliant year at the helm, Caroline McDonnell. passed the baton of Chair of the Community Garden to Jayne’s stewardship in October 2022.

January saw our first Gardening Club meet of the New Year. We did pruning of the Apple trees with demo and talk by local villager and gardener, Paul Kennedy. A large pile of soil was moved by mini digger and two raised beds were created from old scaffold boards. We completed the Big Garden Bird watch at the end of the month.

In February the wildlife pond was started by three of our regular team. It was dug out and the edge was arranged with donated stones. A grid was fitted to the top for safety purposes. The liner was installed later in the month. We were gifted a tray of primroses that really added a needed splash of colour to the garden. This month the team also helped to tidy and clear the Great Wymondley churchyard, a good number of us made a big difference.

The pond work continued in March, with more stones and planting donated plants. We planted hedging in 2 rows down the Graveley road to the corner and then along the bottom to the corner by the post box. Our donated roses arrived from Harkness Roses and we planted them in our newly created Rose Garden at gardening club. Rose arches were built and we had a talk on the benefits of composting. A donated wormery was built and installed.

Community Garden Week came around in April and early in the month we had a write up in The Comet. We filled the raised beds and brought new tools from the budget for everyone to use. Guttering was put up around the shed and solar lights made a big difference at night. We built a bug hotel ready for an Open Day we held. This was a great success with lots of activities for children to enjoy throughout their visit. At the end of the month, we had a community church service on the garden. By the end of April, the garden had burst into life with birds, flowers and bees enjoying the warmth.

In May the weather started to get very hot and watering became a daily task. The strawberries did well in the sun though. Bark was laid in the rose garden and oxygenating plants were added to the pond. Raised beds were planted with various veg and flowers. We decided to take part in No Mow May and the cow parsley flourished in the wild areas. The tomatoes were installed in the greenhouse. A busy time weeding and sowing seeds. Caroline was keen to try her hand at growing Loofah seeds especially Loofah seeds! At the end of the month beans and sweet corn were planted .

In June the clover and self-seeded poppies appeared bringing butterflies, bees and birds into the space. It was another hot month so watering by rota continued. Strimming and mowing some areas made it look tidy and maintained again. Ever resourceful, the team made a trellis for the pumpkins to grow up from tree branches and a herb garden was created in a galvanised tank. The loofahs continued to grow in the greenhouse as well tomatoes and cucumbers.

A very hot and dry July started to become a challenge to water plants as no rain was forecast and the Community Garden has no direct water supply. Cucumbers, beans, corn and lettuce were all growing well. The team replanted a raised bed with flowers all grown from seed and we were delighted to see that the roses had begun to flower in the rose garden. Finally, we had a little rain towards the end of the month!

We had an abundance of produce to harvest in August; beans, aubergines, potatoes, tomatoes, sweetcorn and apples from the pruned trees. The temperature was still very hot with no rain.

In September, following the sad death of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Community Garden flowers were picked to sit alongside the book of condolence in St Mary’s Church. In apt timing, the last of the Queen’s Green Canopy trees arrived and was planted. Lots of weeding and tidying was done at Community Garden. The parish Scarecrow Festival took place and the team created a garden scarecrow with a “Use and reuse” inspired theme. Loofah harvest time was very exciting with the help of a young gardener. Lots of produce to be shared out to everyone.

In October we had lots of seeds added to our seed box to share. A new Magnolia replaced a self-set and unruly hawthorn. We launched an Autumn photography competition as all the leaves starting to change colour. Pumpkins grew bigger, dahlias, cosmos, and roses continued to flower until the frosts arrived. Crab-apples and apples looked so tempting and toadstools popped up in the bark overnight.

We planted some autumn sweet peas in the greenhouse in November. Manure arrived from our Great Wymondley farmer which is just what we needed on the raised beds. Having gone from a very hot dry summer the ground was wet and sticky and difficult to weed .

The final month of the year was expectedly cold with snow that stayed for days then daily hard frosts with an amazing hoar frost which looked beautiful. However this combination did a whole host of damage to many normally hardy plants and shrubs. We had to cancel December’s Gardening Club due to the freezing temperatures.