Bold Vision » volunteers

First Prize for Common Growth in Lewisham in Bloom!

Common Growth — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 19:05:31 +0000

Last night Common Growth was awarded first prize in the community gardens category of the Lewisham in Bloom competition! We’re so excited and proud! They recognised all the work we have done to the difficult space with minimal resources and over quite a short time, and they commended our cooking activities, workshops and other events as well.

We are so grateful for all the help from our regular volunteers and anyone who’s supported us over the last 3 years! It’s an amazing achievement and we are going to celebrate it this Sunday afternoon! So do come and join us for some nibbles, drinks and perhaps a spot of gardening on Sunday from 2-5.

We would also like to thank Louise, Sarah and Ella from the Grow Wild team for their help and support.

Also, our next gardening workshop is coming up on Saturday the 19th of October from 10.30 to 12.30. Lumen Silveira will be leading this workshop on ‘extending the growing season’ and ‘planting now for spring’, which will cover what plants and seeds can be planted during the Autumn for autumn/winter blooms and crops, and tips on bulb planting for a colourful spring display. Do get in touch if you’d like to attend. (Email Commongrowthuk@gmail.com or Text Anniek: 07956239893)

Hope to see you soon!

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Free gardening workshops in August

Common Growth — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 21:01:58 +0000

Dear Garden lovers,

With all this warmth and sunshine the garden is bursting with life – come and pop in for a visit! We’ve got our regular Sunday opening from 2.00pm to 5.00pm and also both a kids workshop and an adults workshop in August, so you’re spoilt for choice!

First up is the kid’s workshop on Wednesday 7th of August called herb spiral fun. It is suitable for children of all ages and runs from 10.30-12.00, and will involve fun learning activities, games and singing.

After that there will be an adult’s workshop on Saturday 17th of August called Herbs and their uses and will run from 10.30 to 12.30. As usual this will be a mix of learning and practical activity.

The workshops are informal and fun, and it’s a great way to learn a few more gardening skills and share tips with other gardeners.

More information on the courses is given below. If you would like to attend any of them, or want more information, then please text Rich on 07901 360321 or email commongrowthuk@gmail.com giving the name of attendees and a contact telephone number. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. All courses are free, but we suggest a £3 voluntary donation to help cover the costs of materials.

Common Growth Community Garden, Sandbourne Road (on the corner with Jerningham Rd), SE4 2NS. http://goo.gl/maps/wu3GC

Looking forward to seeing you there!
Rich
On behalf of Common Growth Community Garden.

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Workshop on organic pest control methods: Jun 8

Common Growth — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 07:52:13 +0000

Grow Wild and Common Growth are inviting you to another free permaculture gardening workshop at the Common Growth Community Garden on Sandbourne Rd. The workshops are informal and fun, and it’s a great way to learn a few more gardening skills and share tips with other gardeners. Saturday’s course is on pests, and although this might not sound glamorous, every gardener knows how annoying it is when your salad crop gets munched up by snails overnight, or your beans attract black fly. So come and find out how to control these problems without using chemical pesticides, but by using organic permaculture methods.

Sat 8 June 10.30 – 12.30 Insects: Friend or Foe?
~ Learn to identify pests
~ Organic pest control methods
~ Recognising beneficial insects and how to encourage them to your garden
~ Practical activity: planting flowers which attract beneficial insects to the garden.

If you would like to attend the workshop, or like more information, then please text Rich on 07901 360321 or email commongrowthuk@gmail.com giving the name of attendees and a contact telephone number. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. All courses are free, but we suggest a £3 voluntary donation to help cover the costs of materials.

Also, don’t forget that the garden is open on Sunday afternoons from 2.00pm to 5.00pm. We are always looking for more enthusiastic gardeners to get involved – no gardening experience necessary, just come and enjoy the garden!
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Anniek
On behalf of Common Growth and Grow Wild
Sandbourne Road, Telegraph Hill, SE4 2NS, http://goo.gl/maps/HfQp4

New Greenhouse, Soup and Sunflowers at Common Growth

Common Growth — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:14:31 +0000

The ‘first’ day of spring brought lots of people to Common Growth. As well as 8 of our regulars, we welcomed 8 new people to the garden. /We finally finished the greenhouse! So we immediately got underway with our seed planting – starting with like 120 sunflowers for the ’1000 Sunflowers in New Cross’ project. We also planted some potatoes and wild flowers, dug over compost, and managed some weeding. Then it was time for Souper Sunday! This time it was my turn (Anniek) to cook and I served beetroot and jerusalem artichoke soup with home made bread. Yum!

Let’s hope the sun is now ‘back’ to help the seedlings germinate and our plants recover from the harsh winter.

The garden is open from around 2-5pm each Sunday. Hope to see you there.

PS. There are still some places for the free gardening workshops at Common Growth – email commongrowthuk@gmail.com to book a place.

Get sowing and growing Saturday 13 April 10:30am – 12:30pm

Growing fruit in containers Saturday 2o April 10:30am – 12:30pm

Pond Planting Saturday 11 May 10:30am – 12:30pm

http://growwild.org.uk/food-growing-workshops-for-all/

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February the 3rd: SOUP-er Sunday at Common Growth

Common Growth — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 21:17:37 +0000

Hi Everyone,

The dark and miserable month of January is nearly over and slowly our daylight hours are increasing again.Yeah! To celebrate this we are starting February with another SOUP-er Sunday on the 3rd of February! Louise from Grow Wild will be sharing some delicious home made soup with us and if weather permits do a little cooking demo as well. Everyone is welcome to join us from 2-5pm! The attached photo was taken at a previous Soup-er Sunday. We are keen to continue to share food and conversation at Common Growth – and we’re looking for more people to get involved with the cooking, sharing and the gardening, so do come along some time!

As ever there are plenty of tasks to get involved in at Common Growth, such as finishing the building of the greenhouse, building steps, digging the pond, and constructing the pergola. There is also still some ‘Elephant Garlic’ to plant – I know a bit late for garlic, but better than never (I’m not sure that’s a phrase in English – I’m translating from Dutch!)

Hope to see you on Sunday.

Anniek
On behalf of Common Growth

P.S. Do make sure your come prepared for mud and rain! (I’m not sure I’m selling it here, but MetCheck said only Light Rain for Sunday afternoon, so no excuses!)

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