Gardening
GARDENING 1
What: We meet once a month in members’ gardens to discuss gardening matters. A different topic is chosen for each meeting which then spirals out to other related matters.
Our conversations are diverse – our gardens also, and we enjoy exploring them, picking up ideas and learning as we do so. There is a wealth of gardening knowledge and experience within our membership and we use books and internet connection for further research.
We swap seeds, plants and garden magazines. Occasionally, there are practical demonstrations and, just for fun, we sometimes have a gardening quiz.
Several garden visits are planned for the summer months.
Usual contact is made via email where we also share photos of our growing successes and, sometimes, our failures – there’s no accounting for the weather!
When: Usually the fourth Wednesday of the month 14:00 -16:00 pm
Where: Members’ homes and various venues to be agreed.
How to Join: For more details use the blue pigeon Send a Message button on the top right hand side of this page to contact Linda the Interest Groups Co-ordinator or the Gardening group co-ordinator.
Annual Report 2023
Gardening - Barbara
The group currently has ten members, and we have held monthly meetings circulating around our respective homes through the year, weather permitting we meet outside. From the plantsman’s perspective 2023 has been a better growing year than 2022; always warm, hot only on occasions and at times certainly wet, so flowers and vegetables have been capable of their best.
We started the year with practical lessons on pruning (a willing volunteer offered a big overgrown rose bush) and thoughts on pest control, ideally excluding chemicals. In April we visited Sissinghurst, one aspect of that was a chance for us to see the much-vaunted Greek garden recently established there, but realistically we found it a bit underwhelming, it needs a few more years to develop perhaps. In June we went to Chartwell and our August meeting was a summer safari around members’ gardens in Detling.
We ran a competition to grow Hungarian “hot wax” chillis. The little seeds were easy to germinate, and some of us produced reasonable crops to add to salads and other dishes, though the chillies were more like slightly spicy red peppers. Throughout the year we have shared advice and ideas, and enjoyed successes and commiserated on failures, and Autumn brings the opportunity for us to share seeds that we’ve garnered in recent weeks. And now we’re looking forward to 2024