Welcome to March’s garden update 😊

First, a big thanks to Lisa for teaching her wonderful willow obelisk workshop. The event raised £330 for the garden! Enjoy this little video of the day over on our Instagram page HERE.

🗓️ UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE GARDEN

🤣Laughter Yoga with Elspeth from Joyful Outdoors, Wednesday 3rd April 11:00 am to 11:45 am

Tickets» HERE 

🀩Spring Foraging Walk with Elspeth from Joyful Outdoors, Thursday 11th April 10:00 am to 12:30 pm

Tickets» HERE

⬇️Drop in Events at the Garden

• Cobbing Day with “Galiford Try” on Tuesday 12th March from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm

• Completing the Wildlife Pond with Margaret on Sunday March 24th

🎟️EVENTS OFFSITE

🌳Mount Volunteer Dates

March 10th, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm

Find out more information here.

👥Team Volunteering Days Info

With thanks to Julie for creating the wonderful flyer below, and for raising our profile in the Guildford Dragon » CLICK to read.

⭐VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT - Joanna Al-Zuhairi

I am Joanna and until recently I was part of the Rosamund Committee. I have withdrawn from the  Committee to ‘open up another avenue’ at Rosamund garden.

About myself: I have been involved with the Community garden for quite a few years but lost count of how many. I started about 1 year after the garden had opened, which was well-established.  At that time I had a busy life and was happy to just do some weeding.

After a while, I got my own bed and took more initiative. Like everywhere else the garden is evolving and new ideas (or old ideas becoming popular again) are put forward, which I like to introduce to our garden e.g. companion planting, growing green manure, making manure from mycelium (digging up mycelium from around a tree and incubate it) and asking Nature Spirits (also called Nature Intelligences or Elemental Beings) advice on how to grow vegetables - see blog below.

I do think that gardening requires more common sense than knowledge and maybe 'green fingers’. As a child in Holland, we could have a school garden after school where I did learn the basics.

I love Rosamund garden because it is quite wild, is located in peaceful and beautiful surroundings (not far from Guildford centre), and has been organic for many years.

🌱GARDEN NEWS FROM CLARE

Despite the enormous rainfall, we’ve had a very busy month at the garden, which has filled our water-butts and pond.

Skillmill Project

The Skillmill Project has built 4 amazing raised beds from larch and oak near the hub (click here for vid)

This amazing project is in the old Norbury Sawmill and gives young people skills and qualifications to help them into employment. They very generously donated the beds to the garden, and we are providing a stocked food cupboard with recipes for the students to learn basic nutritious cookery skills at the mill. Thank you very much.

The raised beds will be a wonderful addition to the garden and will enable us to grow root crops such as carrots and beetroot that haven’t done well in the past.

Ringway

The team at Ringway in Merrow are generously donating time and materials to create a wheelchair-friendly path from the entrance to the Hub. This will be made from a natural clay/stone mix and provide a framework for Annelize’s lovely planting plans of native woodland plants, shrubs and small trees.

In return, Clare has been helping the depot team with their plans to re-green their outside space and grow pollinator-friendly plants, herbs and veggies. Andrew from the team will be up to use our poly 2 space for raising seedlings and cuttings for this exciting project.

Fruit-cage

We had a fantastic turnout for our big job Sunday to extend the fruit-cage. Thanks to a lot of hard work, we now have an impressive cage over all our fruit and had a lot of fun doing it. We met some new people and made some lovely connections. The next job is to stretch the new netting over the top of the frame, so watch out for a call out for help in the next few weeks.

Funding Applications

Helen has been busy putting together a funding application to SCC YourFund community funding.

After a members poll to see what people wanted most at the garden, the wishlist will include:

• Metal edging for the front beds

• New garden furniture

• Woodburner for the hub

• Solar pump and watering system to complete the rainwater harvesting.

ZERO Donation

Ben at ZERO Carbon Guildford has kindly donated some funding to the garden to buy new potting equipment for poly 2. So we should be getting that soon to provide much-needed space for us and other projects who use the space.

DofE

Our lovely DofE students have been busy building our new shed and making gorgeous signs around the garden.

We now have 4 students signed up and we are very excited to give them a designated project to work on. 

We’ve wanted a dye bed at the garden for a long time and we’re hoping to inspire the students to create something really beautiful, ending with running a dyeing workshop to showcase the different plants they grow.

GEF

Last but not least, GEF have donated a very generous sum for us to complete the hub project! This will mean at last we can have a beautiful dry space to use for workshops, meetings and cuppas.

Fudge will be back to complete the roof in the next 2 months and we can start up with the cobbing days this month as the weather improves.

🌿PLANT OF THE MONTH “MULLEIN”, WRITTEN BY ANNELIZE KIDD

I just love how nature can help keep us healthy. I am very excited that we were given quite a few mullein (Verbascum) plants which have been planted around the Rosamund Garden last summer. 

Mullein is a biennial (short-lived perennials that usually take two growing seasons to complete their life cycle) with large oval grey hairy leaves and tall flower spikes that terminate in a dense spike of pale yellow flowers; they bloom in summer for about 6 weeks. 

Mullein is a traditional treatment to fight the bacteria that cause respiratory infections (make an infusion of boiled leaves), and also ear infections (using the flowers in an oil infusion). This handy plant is anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, and also expectorant. It might even be able to fight influenza, and herpes viruses. 

It's easy to make your own mullein medicine. Pour a cup of boiling water over 1-2 teaspoons of chopped mullein leaves, and leave to steep for 10 minutes. Strain through some kitchen paper or a filter to remove the plant hairs (an irritant), add a little bit of honey, and drink this the minute your chest feels tight. 

In earlier days, people with tuberculosis would roll leaves up in a makeshift herbal cigarette, and inhale deeply to get rid of a never-ending cough. Mullein is great for any kind of lung-cleansing. The leaves burn slowly and have a relaxing, calming smoke that soothes the lungs, dislodges mucus, and opens up the airways. 

If it's an earache remedy you’re after, then infuse mullein flowers in olive oil for about 3 days. Use as eardrops. This is used to treat the pain and inflammation associated with earache.

🎥SOIL FOOD WEB with Paula Mayers

Ever heard of the ‘poop loop’? 

What's the difference between dirt and soil? According to our soil-superstar, Paula Mayers, and world-renowned soil ecologist and microbiologist, Dr. Elaine Ingham, A LOT. 

Maintaining a diverse and balanced soil microbiome plays a vital role in the health and productivity of our ecosystem and agriculture. 

The Soil Food Web is a holistic approach to understanding soil health and fertility. At its heart is an intricate network of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, microarthropods etc.) that decompose organic matter, cycle nutrients, and enhance soil structure.

Better soil health means healthier, more productive plants. It removes the need for inorganic fertilisers and pesticides and helps mitigate climate change by enhancing the efficiency of carbon storage in the soil. 

So, how can you create a soil microbiome that nourishes your plants and the ecosystem? 

• Compost as much as possible

• Minimise tillage 

• Avoid synthetic fertilisers and pesticides 

At Rosamund Community Garden, we grow produce in tune with nature, using no-dig methods, slow natural enrichment and non-mechanisation. 

MARCH JOBS AT THE GARDEN

• Continue to weed the front beds to make room for planting.

• Prepare the raised beds - line the base with cardboard and the sides with plastic sheeting, ready for a topsoil/compost delivery coming soon

• We can start to sow seeds under cover next month in poly 2. Just remember the mice like seeds so keep them covered if poss.

• Even though it’s raining, the poly-tunnels can become very dry, so keep checking the soil and give them a water if needed

• The salads and greens in the poly-tunnels are lovely so make sure you pick some at the end of your slot

📰COMMUNITY PROJECT NEWS

🐝Our Honeybee Colony Loss by Peter Smith
» CLICK TO READ 

🦋March Moths from Peter Smith
»CLICK TO READ 

🔮Nature Spirits at RCG by Joanna Al-Zuhairi
»CLICK TO READ

🌳GARDEN VOLUNTEER GROUP SESSIONS

We have regular groups on Tuesday and Sunday from 2.00 pm - to 4.00 pm and Friday from 10.00 am - 12.00 pm so if you want to come and garden together, just turn up. If you are in our WhatsApp group, please also use this to check if people are in the garden for a session.

💰MEMBERSHIP 

The Rosamund Community Garden shares a membership system with Guildford Environmental Forum for joining info please email [email protected]

February’s Update

Happy Gardening!