We are not to be the host of the cargo bike from OurBike. I feel we were misled as we didn’t realise we were competing with at least one other group. That had not come up when Douglas came down to explain the scheme. We thought we just had to agree the scheme. Well we did, with some reservations. Our …
Spring, magnolia, frog spawn & daffs, Sunday 1 March 2026
Today is the first day of Meteorological spring, covering the three months March, April and May. The year is divided up into four three monthly seasons in this splitting of the year. Astronomical spring begins on the equinox which falls on 20 March this year. It is the day of equal day and night, from when the northern hemisphere begins …
Cargo Bike, Buddleia, and Wood chip, Friday, 20th February 2026
We had a visit from Douglas Leroy from OurBike, a community e-bike company. To discuss whether we would want to be a host for a cargo bike. A cargo bike is one of those bikes with a big bucket in front that can carry cargo, this one up to 100 kg of goods or people. We sometimes see them around …
Rock Stars – Sunday 18th May, 2025
Volunteers are the heartbeat of the garden. The garden can’t run without them. They meet and greet, they do lots of work: planting, clearing up, watering – and keep the place going. So on Sunday, 18 May we had a volunteer session. It was planned to be informative and enjoyable, and to help volunteers get to know each other. The …
VE Day Celebration, Thursday 8th May, 2025
Around 70 people attended our VE Day celebration. It began with Peter Williams telling us about Newham during the war: the evacuation of children, the phony war, the blitz, the prisoner of war camps on Wanstead Flats – one for Italians, the other for Germans. There were anti aircraft guns on the Flats too and barrage balloons. Forest Gate suffered …
Damselflies, Friday 2nd May, 2025
Damselflies are mating over the pond. The male grasps the female around the head. He flexes his abdomen to encourage the female to loop her abdomen round to interlock with him, forming the ‘wheel’ position where mating takes place. They have spent two years as larvae at the bottom of the pond, before emerging as adults. The adults live for …
Pond Irises
The Cherry blossom has gone from our two large cherry trees. First on the white blossomed tree where it had come earlier and then on the pink blossomed tree. The fall on the pink tree was like snow. Outside the garden, under the tree, was a large pool of blossom. I saw it at 7.30 one morning, a pristine, pinky …
Pond Problem, Saturday 12th April, 2025
Our pond has had a green bloom for the last year. The bloom is composed of microscopic algae, tiny single celled plants. When the bloom first occurred last April, I thought the bloom, by cutting out light, might kill off underwater plants. But there was no effect over a month or two, so I forgot about it. A few days …
Spring Growth – Sunday 6th April
There are four pigeons up in the sycamore tree. They are not eating but grooming. They are a pretty bedraggled bunch as if they have been out all night at a party. I can’t get the fourth in the photo. Three scruffs will do. Another pigeon, on the same tree, but some way from the quartet is eating the buds. …
Eclipse
There was a partial eclipse of the sun this morning, starting at about 10 am, peaking at 11.04 and finishing just after noon. An eclipse of the sun occurs when the moon passes between the earth and the sun. I had some eclipse glasses which I shared with garden visitors, as you must never look directly at the sun. I …










