Sunday 27th November 2016 – Winter Pruning Workshop
We had another great pruning course, delivered by Jape Darby. Thanks to those who came and learnt some valuable skills.
We learnt how and why to prune the wisteria and also pruned six apple trees, the gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, raspberries, loganberries, blackberries and lots of herbaceous shrubs. We shared some butternut squash soup and rolls to keep us warm and enjoyed some good company.
Photos on Facebook.
Monday 21st November 2016 – 2017 Raised Bed Applications
A reminder that the closing date to apply for a raised bed to grow your own vegetables in 2017 is 1st December 2016.
To apply, read the Tenancy Agreement and complete a Raised Bed Application form and send it to us by 1st December 2016.
You must be a member of the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group to rent a raised bed – join using our Membership Application form.
Sunday 20th November 2016 – Another grant award
We’ve been awarded £1400 from the Dulverton Trust.
This is ‘to cover food and drink and the printing of questionnaires for the Community Big Lunch in June 2017 and to pay for annual insurance.’ We are hoping to carry out a community consultation at our community lunch next June to find out how the neighbourhood would like to use the garden and see it develop to better suit their needs. There will be free food and drink for those taking part in the consultation and we can even pay our entertainers this time! More details to follow early 2017. Many thanks to the Norfolk Community Foundation for facilitating this grant.
Friday 18th November 2016 – Pumpkin carving
Thanks to everyone who came and took part it was a lovely afternoon and evening. Photos on Facebook.
Wednesday 12th October 2016 – Some fantastic news!
Many thanks to the Paul Bassham Charitable Trust for donating £1000 to the community garden. We will use this to pay 2017 public liability and assets insurance plus make some essential repairs to some of the raised beds this winter. Thanks also to Wyn Hurst our volunteer funding officer who has spent hours this year researching, writing letters and filing in forms to find much needed funds to keep this voluntary group and beautiful urbanoasis running.
Sunday 18th September 2016 – Thanks for the tools
Many thanks to Norwich Community Green Gym for donating some garden tools to the Grapes Hill Community Garden that are surplus to requirement at their NCGG Woodlands allotment. These included hand forks and trowels, secateurs, buckets, gloves and a much-needed wheelbarrow.
Saturday 20th August 2016 – Peter and the Wolf
‘Gone with the Wind’, a local wind quintet, performed Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’ in the garden. This was a free event with afternoon tea. Thanks to Kate and the quintet for organising this and all the volunteers who baked scones and cakes and helped on the day. The event went well, and we took in £108.94 in donations for refreshments.
See the photo gallery for this event.
Sunday 7th August 2016 – No Fear Gardening Group help out
Thanks to No Fear Gardening Group for sending us more volunteers to help on Sunday 7th August. This was really appreciated and enjoyed by all. The garden relies on volunteers particular at this busy time of year. Find out more about this new Norwich group on http://ellenmarygardening.co.uk/no-fear-gardening.html.
Sunday 19th June 2016 – Big Lunch
Our Big Lunch was a great success.
Saturday 11th June 2016 – Herbal Talk and Workshop
This was a great success with several places funded or subsidised thanks to the East of England Co-operative green tokens scheme. #cooptokens.
We learnt about growing and using medicinal herbs with medical herbalist Alex Hobbs.
The workshop included a tour of the garden and surrounding area to discuss a range of medicinal plants and herbs that were either growing wild or had been planted by the garden volunteers.
The talk included the top 10 commonly cultivated and top 10 wild medicinal herbs and their uses. Attendees potted up their own miniature herb garden. Sandwiches and afternoon tea were included.
Let us know what other courses you would like the Garden Group to host. We have more funds from the Co-op.
Sunday 1st May 2016 – Nature in the Garden
Norfolk Wild Encounters returned with their amazing display of Hawks and Owls. Other stalls included: The RSPB, Loke Herbs, Norfolk Master Composters, Friends of Train Wood, The Sustainable Living Initiative, Woodland Crafts, Organic wine tasting with Tom Loudon of the Greenhouse. Plant sales. Seed swap. Tea and cake stall.
Saturday 2nd April 2016 – Wild Flower Seeds
We have just received several boxes of wildflower seeds from Kew Royal Botanic Garden’s Grow Wild scheme. Most of these we are donating to the Dingles Project which is part of the same community. Plus we plan to do some Guerrilla Gardening in the Grapes Hill area!
Friday 1st April 2016 – New Member of Events Team
We have a new member of the events team: Danni Chadwick – welcome aboard! Danni’s experience includes organising events when she was an Assistant Beaver leader in York and she currently works in customer relations. Let us know if you would like to take on a leading role within the community garden group.
Friday 11th March 2016 – A Sponsor for the ‘Vega’ Cherry
We have a sponsor for the ‘Vega’ Cherry. Many thanks to Jane Sayers and Anthony Preston, two of our long-standing committee members and trustees, for sponsoring the Vega Cherry which was planted in January 2011 and grown as a fan. This variety comes from Canada. It produces large, sweet, juicy, creamy-white cherries with a red flush if you can catch them before the resident blackbirds!
Saturday 6th February 2016 – Winter Pruning Course
Not put off by a forecast for heavy rain and 40 mile an hour winds, a small group gathered on Saturday 6th February to learn and then try out some winter pruning knowledge and skills. The rain stayed away, the wind was tolerable and everyone went away eager to try out what they had learnt in their own gardens.
Thanks to Jon Darby for another excellent training session. Look out for more courses to be funded by our most recent £200 award from the East of England Co-op #cooptokens.
See Facebook for pictures.
Sunday 31st January 2016 – Raised Bed Tenants’ Get Together
Our year got off to a cheery start despite the persistent drizzle on Sunday. The new raised bed tenants met each other and swapped ideas before getting down to digging in some horse manure collected by Patrick from the Keswick Riding Stables in return for a £20 donation. See Facebook for pictures of the big dig in!
We were joined by some 2nd year International Development students from the UEA who took the opportunity to interview the tenants and volunteers for their research on alternative food networks within Norwich. In return they were very wiling to help dig in the manure and compost. Copious amounts of tea and cake were consumed as both calories and warmth were in big demand!