Rosamund Community Garden Update January 2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!

In this update, we reflect on the highlights at the garden in 2022, and start to plan for 2023.

📅Events at Rosamund Community Garden 2023

🔥Winter Wassail, Sunday 15th January 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm

This will be a lovely opportunity to have a get-together at the garden, with mulled drinks, fires and wassailing to the orchard to promote a bounteous harvest for next year.

Please respond to this update if you'd like to attend or use this link.

This event is free to community garden members, otherwise £10 p/p, (free for children with their accompanying adult).

💩Big Job Sunday, 22nd January from 10.30 am - 3.00 pm

We usually run one of these once a month to get a "big job" achieved. This month we'll be wheelbarrowing manure from our neighbour to make our biochar/manure mix before a well-earned cuppa and catch up. Please drop in and join us!

🌱Willow Weaving Workshop, Saturday 25th February from 10.30 am - 12.30 pm

More info about this soon, please keep an eye on our social posts - Spaces: 8 Suggestion Donation: £10

🍎Apple Pressing Day, Autumn 2023, date tbc

Our "Apple-Pressing Day" is going from strength to strength and gets more popular each time, which also raises more funds for the garden.

🎄Christmas Wreath Making Workshop, Sunday December 3rd 2023, 10.00 am to noon

Our December 2022 Christmas wreath workshop in the frosted wonderland was a great success and enjoyed by all who attended, so we’re excited to be running another this year. Cost: £25

Lessons from 2022

One of the biggest lessons came from the very high temperatures and summer drought, which made us all start to think how we can manage the garden with changing climate patterns and challenges with water shortage.

Plans this year include:

• Using more green manures and keeping the soils covered to retain moisture

• Putting guttering and water butts on the poly-tunnels and any available structures

• Planting more perennials such as herbs and flowers and perennial veg, especially those that are drought-tolerant

• Laying thick mulches to retain soil moisture

• Planting clovers as ground cover to replace grass in high traffic areas

Wildlife pond

The wildlife pond has been a big success this year, and we still have a healthy budget to spend on plants to complete it in the spring.

Thanks to Margaret for managing the project and all those who helped.

"Galliford Try" team putting the guttering on Polytunnel 2 for our new pond on their community volunteer day. Thank you!

The Hub

The Hub project has been given a huge injection of funds thanks to Adrian Thompson’s great fundraising with the Spacehive initiative.

We expect to complete the framework and canvas cover this Spring, and look forward to running more workshops with Jon Kalviac to complete the cob walls and flooring through the warmer weather.

Other Projects

• We have a healthy budget to replace the entrance gates next year, and are currently researching and costing up for new ones

• Creating a wheelchair-friendly access from the entrance to the hub

• Planting schemes around the hub and arbour

• Increasing wildflowers in the orchard

• Planting for pollinators

More Events

We'll also be running cobbing, decorative natural plasters and possibly wattle and daubing lessons across the year.

Unfortunately, our pizza oven didn’t survive the winter before we had the chance to finish it, so we’ll be building a new one in the summer, and hope to build an outside kitchen beside it.

Other News From 2022

And the winners are... we are so pleased that our community garden got a GOLD in the Wildlife Garden category at the Guildford in Bloom awards.

Potatoes from sprouted potatoes at ZERO Guildford's Community Fridge and re-planted at Rosamund Community Garden by Sarah "Swift" Davies. Harvested in Oct, and once again returning to supply the ZERO Community Fridge.

"Nature: Small Ways to Help" by Alex Rose April 2022

Alex is one of our teenage volunteers and wrote a wonderful article in Burpham Pages featuring Rosamund Community Garden.

Thank you Alex.

Check out our beautiful signs created from larch left over from the compost loo. These were made by John Bannister and his very talented artist daughter Lorna. Thank you for helping to transform the garden.

The compost loo was completed! Not this one modelled by our Clare 🤣

this one! ⬇️

What’s happening with the bees at the bottom of the garden? read this update from Peter Smith 6.1.23

And Finally

You'll have noticed this newsletter is now curated on a platform called "Beehiiv" and this is our first one! If you haven't already done so, we'd love you to subscribe and share it. It's also live on our Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn accounts.

Perhaps you have something you'd like to contribute for our February edition. Please get in touch.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

**5 Reasons To Volunteer at Rosamund Community Garden**

By the way, not sure we fancy a cup of this anytime soon!

Membership Info

The Rosamund Community Garden (RCG) is sharing a membership system with Guildford Environmental Forum (GEF) and we are delighted to offer a 1-year option to join both RCG and GEF for £15 for the next year or pay £10 just to join RCG for the year to 31st March 2023 - email Adrian, GEF Membership Officer at [email protected]