2018
January 10. “Flame of Bhopal’ rose. The rose was specially developed for The Bhopal Medical Appeal and the proceeds of its sale go to the appeal. Two bushes planted!
2017
22 December. Aaaaaargh f***! Yeah. thanks for stealing our petrol mower (brand new) and strimmer. Very community spirited.
26 October. How many bankers does it take (after lunch) to screw a bit of trellis to the wall?!
Our fantastic volunteer team from Deutsche Börse after another day’s brilliant work.
Some of the other great work completed by the Deutsche Börse group
20 October. AMAZING!! Still picking beautiful ‘Little Gem’ lettuce.
16 September. Hurray! Finally, we’ve built a proper tool rack in the tin shed to keep everything from getting jumbled on the ground all the time (pfffff!).
3 Sept. Kate’s mega pumpkin crop and pumpkin delivery vehicle.
2 September. Nick grew this! It’s a ‘Melon pear’ Solanum muricatum, and is a species of evergreen shrub native to South America and grown for its sweet edible fruit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_muricatum
15 August. Mmmm mmmm, delicious plums.
9 July. Margaret with Tower Hamlets Mayor, John Biggs, at our party for Jo Cox.
All of these. Ripe NOW!!
7 June. Strawberries with balsamic vinegar. Delish!
2016
End of Growing Season, Lottery Application- Autumn 2016
As another growing season comes to an end it’s time to take stock in our wonderful garden. We’ve made progress in so many areas but now find that many of our growing beds are simply falling apart. They were only ever built as a temporary solution and many of them have now really come to the end of their useful life.
Now that we’re well established as a community organisation, and have a five-year licence for our space, we’re able to apply for various sources of funding that were previously unavailable to us. This autumn we are applying to the Big Lottery Fund and if we’re successful it will see our make-shift beds replaced with solid constructions designed to last for many years.
The new compost beds are built. Got to be happy with that!
We originally set up a composting system as another part of our bio-diversity award, using various plastic composting bins for different purposes and, although they were clearly marked, with signs in both English & Bangladeshi, we found that the system was not correctly used.
We have now taken a different approach and built these large wooden beds designed to receive all general composting material.
Various tomato types all nicely ripe in Approach Gardens.
Best4Hedging- Update 2016
Last year we were lucky enough to take delivery of 250 native hedging plants (as detailed below). In just one year these plants have established themselves into beautiful hedges and, in years to come, will also yield fruit, nuts and flowers.
As the pictures show, the pond area is now fully enclosed with hedging and, down one side, various berry bushes. The hedges also shield the new
Ivy and Climbers- Update 2016
As a part of our bio-diversity award we planted three different types of ivy along the railings on north side of the garden. This is now incredibly well established and provides a source of food for the bees late into the year after the pollen is finished from other plants.
Wildflower Meadow- Update 2016
As a part of our bio-diversity award we planted a wildflower meadow. In its first year we had a very bright coloured show but mostly of annuals we’d added to the seed mix. This year we have a very different show as the perennials show themselves.
2015
Summer party.
Early June and the garden’s in bloom. Some of the shrubs and other plants really starting to fill out now.
2013
July. Morpeth school offers free plants and shrubs. All gleefully accepted at Approach Gardens.