Hello and welcome to May’s garden update.

📅UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE GARDEN

• Saturday, 3rd May, 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm - Family Gardening Session at Rosamund Community Garden. Bring the whole family for some outdoor fun! It’s a wonderful opportunity to connect with nature, learn new skills, and enjoy the fresh air. Drop in on the first Saturday of each month » non-members please REGISTER HERE 

• Thursday, 8th May, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Cobbing the Hub (private corporate event)

• Sunday, 11th May, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Men’s Pitstop in the Hub (volunteer session as usual pm) 

• Thursday, 15th May, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm RHS Wisley Community Meet UP with Rosamund guest speaker! (Tickets are still available for community members)

• Saturday, 17th May, 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm Women’s Empowerment Circle at Rosamund Community Garden.» BOOKING AND INFO

• Thursday, 22nd May, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Surrey Choices Cobbing the Hub (private event)

• Sunday, 25th May, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm Men’s Pitstop in the Hub (volunteer session as usual pm) 

🌍EVENTS AT ZERO GUILDFORD » CLICK

🌱GARDEN NEWS

by Clare Millington

In the Garden

Hopefully you’re all managing to get out in this fantastic sunshine! The fruit trees and bushes have put on a glorious display this spring and, if we get some lovely rain over the next few months, we’ll hopefully enjoy a great harvest.

As we continue experimenting with sustainable growing methods for the drier climate, our harvests will show if we’re getting it right. We’re using scythed grass, donated woodchips, and composted manure to mulch around our fruiting plants. This keeps the plants fed and locks moisture into the soil.

Kate is planning to keep the soil in the fruit cage covered with grasses and other ground-cover plants, with one end allowed to grow tall for insect habitats. We can also plant companion species around the orchard to increase nutrients and retain water where it’s needed.

Watering new plants is essential while they establish strong root systems, but it’s a balance. We need to water them well enough to keep them alive, but not so much that they don’t need to reach down and become self-sufficient (a bit like raising human beings!).

The best way to see if something needs water is to observe the foliage and stick a finger into the soil. If the plant is wilting and the soil is dry below the surface, it’s time for a good soak.

In the Poly Tunnels

Poly 1 is just nearing the end of its wonderful salad season. Although the lettuces are still going strong, the hot weather is sending the oriental plants like rocket, mizuna, and mustards into their flowering stage. These peppery flowers add a bite to mixed salads, and the tunnel is now full of yellow and white blooms, with pollinators buzzing happily.
This year, we’ll “chop and drop” the salads to create a green mulch on the beds and plant tomatoes directly into it. Combined with our solar rainwater system, this should mean we won’t need the usual watering rota and will hopefully increase our yield.

Poly 2 is currently full of seedlings, and we’re gradually planting them out as they grow strong enough. We have lots of different tomato varieties this year, so we’ll be trying them both inside and out in the beds.

Dye Project

We’re very lucky to have Erin on board this year to take on the dye beds. Erin is doing her Master’s in sustainable fashion and is enjoying making natural plant dyes for fabrics.

She’s sown lots of seeds, including coreopsis, dyer’s chamomile, dyer’s sunflowers, and weld. We’re really excited to experiment with all the different dye plants in the garden.

Fun fact: Did you know that almost all plants and flowers can be used to produce dye? At Rosamund, we have nettles (green dye from leaves), green alkanet (lavender dye from roots), and dock (red, orange, and brown dyes from roots).

Look at What’s Happening in the Fruit Cage

CLICK TO SEE OUR VIDEO

Or if you are in our members’ WhatsApp chat group, the video is there!

Andy’s Man Club

The men from Andy’s Man Club are now visiting monthly to help us with the Hub and various structures around the garden.

Led by Tony, our resident chippie, they’ve built a lovely wood store, made nest boxes, cleared and put up trellises for the outdoor seating circle, and are planning to extend our storage area and fill in the gaps in the Hub walls. Tony has also fenced in the compost bays and added much-needed edging in the poly tunnels (he’s a marvel!).

Once we have the design for the outdoor kitchen, they’re looking forward to building that too!

Guildford Outdoor Men's Pit Stop

Are an active men’s peer-to-peer talking group. This group focuses on getting men outdoors in the Rosamund Community Gardens, promoting fresh air and social connection. 

Facilitated by Surrey County Council Community & Prevention

With gratitude to Markus Dell at https://www.markusdell.co.uk/about for this amazing video:

For more information about the Pitt Stop group visit this link.

The Hub

It’s been a long journey, but the end is in sight. We’re very hopeful that this amazing project will be finished this year!

The first of our cobbing groups (Inghams Travel) visited this week and had a great time making cob and bottle windows. Seven lovely women completed one of the cob walls in a single morning, and it looks incredible! Enjoy this video of the day.

We have three more groups booked to do cobbing and wattle-and-daub, and then we’ll schedule some sessions for volunteers to come and have a go.

Clare and Helen recently visited Butser Ancient Farm and got some great tips from the archaeologist there about traditional rendering techniques and materials. We’re so looking forward to that final stage and seeing the finished results.

DofE

We had a great afternoon with the DofE group making new signs for the orchard trees.
Our mission this season is to provide loads of signage around the garden to help people identify plants and areas. We had lots of offcuts from recent carpentry projects, so it was fab to upcycle them into unique markers.

Growth Team - Surrey Choices

On April 17th we were pleased to welcome for the first time members of the Growth Team from Surrey Choices, who spent a lovely sunny day with us helping to build our new compost bays, putting in a new mulch path behind the trellised fire circle area and "porcupining" in the hub in readiness for new cob and wattle and daub sections. Thank you to al who came along for a very useful and enjoyable time together. 

For more information about the Growth team: CLICK

Family Gardening Sessions

Last month, Jane welcomed five families of all sizes and ages to the session. There was something for everyone. Most of the children especially loved exploring the garden, and everyone seemed to enjoy the rosemary tea and biscuits afterward! She has also listed the sessions over on our Facebook page here and Eventbrite, so if you can please help spread the word that would be much appreciated.

Why Organic Seeds?

While most people understand the benefits of growing organic food, it’s equally important to consider where your seeds come from.

Non-organic seeds are typically mass-produced using pesticides and herbicides on large monocrop fields and in industrial poly tunnels.

In contrast, seed from organically grown plants tends to be more resilient, they’ve had to naturally resist pests and disease.

By supporting organic and regenerative growers, you’re also contributing to a healthier environment for the future.

It’s worth noting that many small-scale seed producers aren’t officially certified organic (as certification can be expensive), so it’s always good to check whether they grow without synthetic chemicals before deciding where to buy.

👩🏻‍🌾MAY JOBS AT THE GARDEN

• Water poly-tunnels, seedlings and raised beds when dry

• Plant out robust plants as and when they’re ready and mulch well

• Water outside plants when very dry

• Strim or mow paths 

• Tidy tool shed

• Weed raspberries in the fruit-cage

PLANT OF THE MONTH by Helen Harris

Woad 

Latin name:  Isatis tinctoria 

Ecology and habitat: Woad thrives in temperate climates preferring well-drained soils. It is relatively tolerant of poor soil conditions and drought, which has contributed to its widespread cultivation historically. It can be found in various locations such as fields, roadsides, and brownfield sites. It is a biennial plant, meaning it completes its lifecycle in two years. In the first year, woad grows a rosette of leaves close to the ground. These leaves are pivotal for dye extraction. In the second year, the plant produces tall flowering stems with small yellow flowers that smell lovely and are used by many pollinators.  

Uses of Woad: Renowned for its deep blue dye, woad has played a vital role in the the UK’s textile industry and agriculture. 

• Dye and soap production 

The most famous use of woad is its dye, which has been a staple in the textile industries of the UK for centuries. The dye is extracted from the leaves of the plant through a complex process that involves fermenting, drying, and powdering the leaves before they can be used for colouring fabrics. On a commercial scale, one acre of land produces about ten tonnes of leaves twice a year. One tonne of leaves produces just two kilos of woad powder. 

Woad dye produces a rich blue colour via the chemical Indigotin, which is identical to the blue dye chemical in indigo. The black seeds  of woad are winged, resembling small tongues, and can produce an olive dye and also woad oil which is used in soap. 

• Historical and Cultural Significance 

Woad holds a significant place in British history and culture. The earliest evidence so far found of the use of Woad in the UK dates from the Iron age (1^st century BC from an excavation in Humberside). Ancient Britons used woad dye not only for textiles but also for body paint. Woad has a long association with East Anglia, the land of the Iceni tribe and of their leader Boudicca. Woad is a well-known antiseptic and it may have been used to help heal battle wounds. 
The illustrators of the Lindisfarne Gospels (late 7^th/early 8^th century) used a woad-based pigment for the blue. Amongst pagan users, woad is was supposed to aid in shape-shifting and the study of past lives during magic rituals. 

• Medicinal Uses 

Woad was also used widely in traditional medicine. The plant's leaves contain anti-inflammatory and antibacterial compounds making at a versatile home remedy. Woad root granules are used in Chinese medicine for treatment of cold and throat infections 

• Modern Applications 

Today, woad is experiencing a renaissance as interest in natural dyes grows (for example in our current dye bed at Rosamund Garden). Sustainable fashion brands and artisans are rediscovering woad for its eco-friendly dyeing properties. Its cultivation is also being explored in regenerative agriculture practices, where its robust growth can aid in soil restoration and biodiversity enhancement.

MEMBERSHIP

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

We look forward to seeing you in the garden soon!