Fennel

Both herb and bulb fennel are lovely plants - and herb fennel can make a great hedge: http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/4285/how-to-grow-herb-fennel

Further work on our raised beds - and more recycling of things thrown away!

We had the great pleasure of Mrs Ahmed joining us again with our garden today. Mrs Ahmed is a lovely lady, with interesting things to tell about plants from her native Egypt - and she plies us with watermelon!

Mrs Ahmed enthusiastically helped put soil into another raised bed, and smoothed it out...

Helen unloads more soil, while Mrs Ahmed and Gail swap gardening tips

As you can see, we've filled another raised bed.

On top of the raised bed we've put a window box which Theresa was throwing out, and used a lampshade which somebody was throwing away as a planter (turned upside down). The next job is to add plants - we're thinking herbs...

Petherton Road community gardening

On the way back from swimming this morning I met a gentleman who introduced himself as Jack working on a community garden on Petherton Road which is very near ours on Highbury Grange - so we're community garden neighbours!

Their garden is built on what was the New River flowing from near Hertford to Sadlers Wells - built in the seventeenth century to bring fresh water to London. The Petherton Road community garden features a lot of wild plants, and an abundance of morning glory, planted as a cutting from her own garden by a local resident. This wild garden is beautiful - look out for it when you are down that way (it;s worth a walk there!)

Butterfield Green Community Garden, Stoke Newington

The lovely Butterfield Green community garden between Highbury and Stoke Newington is running a picnic on Sunday 27th July (see bottom of page for url)

This is where the orchard has been created.

It has leafy shaded areas

There is a wonderful waterfall feature

The water feature has its own suspension bridge!

The water feature with waterfall and suspension bridge is impressive!

There is a bandstand at the eastern end

http://www.shakespeareresidents.org.uk/

Working on our raised beds

So we tip more soil into the raised beds...

How do you do this elegantly. Well, if you want to know, don't take any notice of this demonstration...

What do you mean put some umph into it?...

Give it a shake to make it all come away...

Filling up nicely

Does anyone have any custard?

Grasp the roots firmly when your about to plant...

You sure nobody has any custard?

Remember btw the leaves are poisonous, it's only the stalks that you can eat...

Well, if there's really no custard, I'll have to plant it then...

We harvested some peas that have we grew on the patch of ground...

The raised beds take shape - the leaning spade suggests there's a tea break going on...

The tea break is still going on...

Still going on - everyone is obviously swooning over Gabby's macaroons...

Back to work

More wood...

Is that a gesture?

Or is he water divining?

Or maybe some ancient pagan ritual?

Because of the spacing of the posts for the noticeboards, we found it was better to join a small and a large raised bed together.

We've got rhubarb and herbs in this bed

This series of pictures was taken about 2 weeks ago - people have been adding plants since, and they are thriving (the people and the plants)...