Up, Up and Away…

August 2009: The Final Showdown
Frank (1); Cotoneaster (0)

You know how you can sometimes ignore a problem and it will do the decent thing and go away? That was the tactic we employed with the last, very stubborn, cotoneaster root. It worked for a while as we crumbled compost bought from the local Recycling Centre and sowed seeds until we were all PollyAnna'd out.

But, one day, as we discussed the planting plan for our future 'orchard' (by the way, how many fruit trees do you need to be worthy of that label?), we knew we could put off the problem no longer. Happily, Geordie Frank, one of our resident pensioners (say it quietly) wandered past and picked up the challenge. Within moments he was back with his work boots on and shovel… er, pickaxe… er, saw in hand. My,my, the way he tackled that root. You had to see it, it was impressive. And all for a cup of tea and chat with the ladies (I think we can call ourselves that).

(And, by the way Frank, entre nous, you don't look a day over ... oops, no, sorry, promised I wouldn't.)

Back(s) to the Future II …

July 2009: Getting to the root of the matter. 

Time Banker Emma pauses while watching Jon (York Rise Grower) dig.

With the neglected rose bushes transplanted to a new home with the Time Bank helpers, you'd perhaps expect a frenzy of preparation for future harvests? Sadly, not so. The Veg Patch was still harbouring a couple of renegade cotoneasters which had defeated all our onslaughts, with roots deep under the surrounding paving. They had to come out before we could continue and the scale of the task was demotivating us. What to do?

A quick phone call to Clare from Origins Time Bank and one Emma, pictured above, strolled onto the Veg Patch one Tuesday in July with her gardening experience and the determination to not let anyone leave until the job was done. Thanks, Emma. … Umm, no, really, thanks! 

At the end of the day, the ground had been dug over, wooden raised beds built, compost bought in and lots of growers went home with sunburn and aching limbs. (In fact one last cotoneaster root remained, more of which later …)

Back(s) to the Future

Feb 2009: Did I mention the Cotoneaster? Mmm, lovely, isn't it.

Before the blog began: Well, this is how it started for us. Yep, faced with the prospect of turning the above plot (top photo) into a lush 'kitchen garden', early enthusiasm expressed over seed catalogues soon had all the fizz of 3 day old lemonade.

Lest we be accused of wimping out, it needs to be said that we were starting our veg patch a tad late in the season (April) and there was a lot of ground to (un)cover.

April 2009: Going to the (Time) Bank to get the job done.

Enter Viki and his team of Time Bank gardeners, a lovely group of men from Old Church Court in North London, who pitched up and started cheerfully digging out the rose bushes and ancient shrubs, while we pulled a few weeds and made cups of tea - and in L's case, a magnificent, huge, fresh cream Victoria Sponge Cake was baked … which I regrettably forgot to photograph.

Incidentally, if you don't know about TimeBank, check out these websites here (TimeBank) and here (SPH) and you, too, could soon be basking in TimeBank goodwill.