Royal Edinburgh Community Gardens – May Update
The big news this month is that Simon Duffy has started as coordinator at the RECG. Simon has got stuck in straight away and we’ve had a lovely day with him getting to know volunteers and how the gardens work. We are sad that Robbie won’t be a regular feature at the gardens any more, but hope that he will pop in from time to time and may do the odd day here and there. Robbie was a great asset to the gardens and we wish him all the best.
The last few weeks have been really busy at the gardens, with Lloyds kindly choosing us for their Give and Gain programme and spending two very productive days at the gardens. The terrible weather didn’t dampen their spirits and they joined our regular members as everyone pitched in to transformed the path through the woodland. We cleared a new path through the woodland and planted 30 currant bushes, mulching them using the old wood chip from the path through the orchard. Lots of barrowing backwards and forwards! Rowse had given us more than a hundred small lavender bushes and, having cleared the ground from the seating area in the South Garden to the double gate, we have what will be a very pretty hedge to attract bees. The herb spiral was given a much needed make over and the good news is that the rabbits (so far!) have resisted eating them. A big thank you to all of the people who came down and did so much hard work and for the money for plants you raised, it really has made a huge difference to the gardens.
We have also had several visits from Craiglockhart Primary and also George Watsons Nursery. All the children have done a fantastic job of planting out lettuces, sowing basil and coriander and weeding the potatoes.
The warm weather has been really welcome in the gardens and things have suddenly perked up and had a growth spurt. The lettuces, which were looking pretty sorry for themselves, now look full and healthy which is good news as we’re about to start supplying Edinburgh Larder with them. We’re moving as much as we can from the glass houses, which we hope will be finished soon, and planting it out. The South Garden is looking lovely and colorful and has really filled out in the last week or so.
Jobs for the next couple of weeks include: planting out the beans: planting the remaining lavender; ongoing weeding and watering; preparing a bed for cabbages and then planting them; putting straw round the strawberries; building supports for the broad beans and French beans and hopefully moving back into our glass house. As always, there’s lots going on and we couldn’t do it without all of you. Please do pop down, get stuck in with one of the many jobs and meet Simon.
A couple of words from Simon:
“After a warm welcome from everyone I am settling in as the new Garden coordinator. Two days have passed and already I feel very excited about the coming months in the garden. Everything is growing at an amazing speed and all the vegetables are looking great. I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone and working on both new and existing projects in this wonderful community garden. I’m looking forward to working with you all and sharing your ideas.”