Gardening in the sun

It was lovely to garden in the sunshine on Saturday.  It is ages since I've done anything at the Cardinal Triangle and I was happily surprised at how well the paths were lasting.  I forgot my camera, which is why I'm late posting, but Linda had hers with us, so thank you for this shot where you can see that Frederic is splitting and moving the grasses, Sara, David and I are weeding and Angel is enjoying a well earned rest in the sunshine:

 

 

Where David is, the gravel bed allows for this, and aren't they lovely!

23/02/13 - Weeding at the Cardinal Triangle

As Judith said in her last post we had a working party at the Cardinal Triangle flowerbed. It was quite overgrown and the weather wasn't the best [there were continual light snow flurries but they didn't really amount to much in the end] however we had a reasonable turn out and, as working hard was the only way to keep warm, we got quite a lot done. We even got some help from our friendly local police CSO.



The grasses needed a good hair cut and there were masses of weeds - I don't think I've ever seen so much chickweed in one place, usually it's more dandelions but maybe it was a bit early for them.



We had two car boots [and most of my backseat] full of weeds and cuttings that we ferried back to compost in the yard at Cross Flatts Park.



I also got my first close up view of the new sign - I think it really stands out.

Sara

Hibernation is over!

The weather may still be raw, but we were doing more than looking forward to Spring this week, Linda, for one was getting ready for it.
Monday was painta-coupla planters day:  We've acquired quite a few over the past two or three years and they mostly go on Town Street.  I think these are intended for Old Lane, outside St Anthony's.  Painting them made me

wonder what the people who wanted rid replaced them with.  Parks Department will empty them of rubbish, fill them with compost and put them in place for us -Thank you Parks Dept.  (Masonry paint washes out well, by the way)

Linda is in the midst of putting together our pamphlet for Yorkshire in Bloom's Spring Judges - not an easy task when you have to cover their list of criteria with words that tread the line between not wishing to brag and recognising the need to sell. Thank you Linda.
Saturday was big work party day.  I missed it but Linda didn't so here is a pic from her.  Thank you to everybody who turned up.
Sara said it was a good couple of hours work and if you compare Linda's pic with this you can see the difference yourself, without having to drive down the ringroad.

Here's a thought to finish off with.  The trouble is (and it is giving me the giggles) the only patch I can think of as half way suitable is the border at the edge of the bowling green. And if you don't get the joke then if nothing happens next week, you might just get 'the saga of the bowling green border'.

What a week for signs!

 Here's the one put up in the Cardinal
Triangle.  The garden is looking ready for the attention it's going to get this month!

And here's the other side, facing the oncoming traffic.

Cockburn revisited

Here's seedlings in the sink.

We started in the Art Studio because the access to the chickens is there.

 Here's Peter Nuttal with hen, garden ornaments and stained glass that are part of the enterprise scheme

 and the bees, which were enjoying the sun too:

And then on to the small holding.  This is rhubarb and the view across the playing field to Middleton Wood.

A mixed veg bed, cherry tree and a trio of ex-students that we found in the Art Studio making props for a production of "Alice through the looking glass" and a slice of the poly-tunnel - and a gargoyle and Peter.

The strawberry bed and the full length of the poly-tunnel - isn't it huge!

It was a good visit - we talked again about their producing the Welcome to Beeston sign for the Cardinal Triangle site and their plot on the end of Gypsy Lane.  We agreed they were both projects for next school year, but Kath Clarke says that they will get some designs underway for the sign.

All over, bar the rest!

Three and a half hours and it's gone - until 14th May when the results are out.  Yorkshire in Bloom is behind us and before is the rest of the year.
Three of us spent an hour or so and got a third of the Cardinal Triangle dug, seeded, raked and watered - no photos of course, cos my camera is not working.  It was a beautiful morning and it seems perverse to wish for rain, but we do.
'The Buzz' - the Beeston in Bloom quarterly newsletter is ready for distribution - if you are on Linda's e-mailing list you will be getting an electronic copy. If you are not, we've distributed paper copies to where we can think of.
'Full many a flower is born to blush unseen' is from Thomas Gray (1716-1761) 'Elegy written in a country church-yard'

Welcome to Beeston in Bloom

This month is a big one for us - not only has spring finally arrived, but we have the Yorkshire in Bloom competition and a plant sale in the next two weeks.  Busy, busy!
Here's a taster of what we've been doing recently:

The Parks Department cleared a patch we call 'the Cardinal Triangle'

We put in phormiums for a permanent planter

Next time you go down the White Rose look left as the road veers right and you'll see the daffs are out.  Next weekend we're planting 'cheap and cheerful' seeds for summer.

It's not all planting - we had three goes at the Russian Vine near the Millennium Garden

No job too small - a planter at the Hamara Centre on Tempest Road