Hey Jude...

if you don't know her then you are missing out; here's her response to my last blog post (it was a bit longer than just this quote, you will find the whole thing in the comments section):

An extract from a poem by Edwin Markham, an American poet who died in 1940:

He drew a circle that shut me out.
Heretic, rebel -a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win,
we drew a circle that took him in.

Very relevant and timely. And while I am at it, here is another extract from another one of his poems, A Man with a Hoe:

Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans
Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes.
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?
Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw?
Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow?
Whose breath blew out the light within this brain?

The great Guy Garvey runs our training day...

We had a great training day on Monday, 15 of us led by Guy Garvey (well actually not him...rather it was a nice bloke from the Thrive organisation, but interesting to think that Guy might have taken a day off from writing his poetry and his current tour to run the training day...that would have been something to write about. Here's a photograph of Guy (sorry, Damien was his real name). Don't know who Guy Garvey is? Click here.

Bob's been at it again, here's the story....

Last Wednesday I saw a skip and decided it needed raiding. Bob was with me, and I think like many people who are with me when I go skip raiding, he was a trifle embarassed. Me, I do it all the time, skip raiding that is, especially when there might be fuel for my woodburner going free. So, I asked permission, and went off to try to liberate some wood...and found quite a bit including a good few lengths of 6x1 tanalised, or it might have been 8x1. Tanalised wood is not much good for burning, which is just as well as Bob immediately nabbed it all for the allotment. Huh.....

Anyway, he put it too good use, and here is the outcome, a nice tool rack and there is even a shelf above it, all the better for being made of free (liberated) wood. Very tidy, with just the very smallest hint of OCD. Here's a pic....nice one Bob.

A quick progress report.

Terminal computer failure prevents me from doing anything more than a quick update at the moment, but I'll be adding a bit more detail and photographs as soon as I can. Anyway, Bob has got in a couple of rows of potatoes now, and some pink fir apples are going in soon. Over the weekend, James, Anna and I dug over about another row of couch grass clogged earth, we're getting there slowly but surely. As a security measure, I also put reflective film over the inside of the shed windows so that people can't see in to see if there is any good stuff to nick. The reflective film is good, from the outside it looks just like a mirror (i.e. you cannot see into the shed through the windows), but from the inside you can still see out. Other security measures include strong wire mesh over the windows, toughened glass, hinges that are bolted rather than screwed in place, and a good combination padlock. I guess its only a matter of time before the shed gets broken into, lets hope never, but at least we'll have made it difficult to anybody who wants to mess up our project.

All that has got me thinking about allotment insurance, which I think comes free with membership of the South West Counties Allotment Association (clicky here). Note to self: I'll have to look into joining, if I've got it right it only costs £3 per year.

Finally, the grass mats have arrived. The ground around the shed needs levelling and they can be laid, making it much easier for those with mobility impairments or those in wheelchairs to get about. Pics will follow when we've got that done.

Here are the details of our training day...

‘Digging for Health’ Training Day

Monday 28^th March 2011 9.30am – 3.30pm

The Community Room,

Sandringham Court (Magna Housing),

Dorchester, DT1 2BL

PROGRAMME OUTLINE

Coffee will be available from 9.30am, with the training starting at 10am.  There will be a very flexible approach to the day, which will include the following:

·         Introductions and aims of the day

·         Thrive and Social and Therapeutic Horticulture

·         The benefits of gardening                      

·         The role of the activity provider

·         Safety consideration and adaptations

·         Making tasks inclusive and achievable

·         Support and information

·         Self-assessment tools

·         Conclusions and questions

We've lost our wheelbarrow...

...well, not quite lost it. But the guy in the next allotment came along and claimed it as his. Hmmm.

Apart from that, the sun was almost shining today, which is why we were at the allotment and the three of us put in about 6 man hours, MJ (still co-ordinated and in his Yak Hat), did a good job levelling the ground around the shed, so that it is ready to receive the grass mats when they arrive (early next week I think); James and I spent our time digging ground a couple of rows wide, removing about a bag of couch grass roots. Bob will be along next Tuesday to plant up the rows with pototoes.

Here's a couple of pics - James collecting couch roots, MJ contemplating a hummock.

Well, Bob did say he wasn't Steven Speilberg....

Here is a short video, shot by Bob 'Well, I'm not Speilberg!' Christian, showing the plot, one frosty morning (well today actually), just before the shed went up.

And here is another one, the shed in construction:

It was a big day down on the allotment...

Well, it was a bit late, but it turned up eventually. Now we have somewhere to store the tools, drink tea and shelter from the rain. Looks good, doesnt it!

New ideas...

I had a useful and constructive chat today with Gwynne James, an occupational therapist (OT) and lecturer at Bournemouth University, who has agreed to become our informal 'Consultant' to the project. She brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge with working on horticultural therapy projects. We talked about many things, including the possibility of 'Digging for Health' being the focus of undergraduate OT placement and the subject of research studies. We also talked about an existing horticultural therapy project (clicky link), and noticed that it had been awarded a Green Gym licence (another clicky link) and had obtained funding from EcoMinds (yet another clicky link) who have produced a report on the values of ecotherapy (that's the last clicky link for now). I've contacted the BTCV (who run the Green Gym licence scheme) to see if there might be any scope in us pursuing the idea of a licence.

Why can't we be on the radio?

Today's Gardener's Question Time (Friday) answered the usual gardener's questions, but also went on to describe the Prudhow Community Allotment, a therapeutic garden. If you want to see a few pics, or listen to the program, go here (although I don't know how long this link will be live). For a more detailed look at the Prudhoe Community Allotment, have a look here. Phenomenally successful project! This picture has been borrowed from this website (hope thats OK?).

What has Japanese poetry got to do with allotments?

At a recent short creative writing course, we were doing exercises in writing haiku, short Japanese poems that follow a three-line, 5-7-5 syllable format. One of the students, Hattie, who is also linked to this allotment project and will be writing a Masters degree thesis on the values of horticultural therapy, wrote the following haiku (thanks Hattie!), that describes the project and what we are trying to achieve. I think its rather good, what do you think:

Your eyes remain black.
Spring sun shines onto your wheels,
the seeds are growing.