This is a busy month. Last weekend, we had the Garden Trail and the Green Fair. And at the end of the month, 28 June, we have our 10th anniversary celebration.
At the Green Fair, I had a stall selling my local crime series, Jack of All Trades, and my children’s books. Next to me was Community Energy Newham. They install solar panels in community buildings like libraries and schools, and had installed over 200 panels in Woodgrange Infants. I had to get them to repeat the number as it seemed way too many. I listened to the music from Foresters and Dogjammers, Newham Voices, Xine and her opera and French chanson, and a drumming band. I spoke to Nate Higgins the new and very young, Chair of the Council, learning quickly, I am sure, that once in office, you can’t just complain but you are there to be shot at.
I was intrigued by the stall where they made regular bikes into cargo bikes using scrap metal, as cargo bikes are a good way to ferry goods around but very expensive as we found out when we were half promised to house one a few months back.
During the Garden Trail I helped out at 130 Field Road. The garden was designed by Dan Pearson, a garden designer who was in vogue in the noughties. There were lots of plants I had never heard of. I had a list, though not always helpful, as you have to know what plant is being referred to. Fortunately, the visitors were pretty knowledgeable, and some helped me more than I helped them. It rained on and off but there were more visitors than I thought there would be. This garden is in the borough by the skin of its teeth, in spitting distance from Waltham Forest. Somewhat out of the way, but still got 90 visitors.
In the community garden, we have lots of flowers, everything having livened up with all the rain we have had. May was pretty dry, but this month we have had 93 mm of rainfall so far. That’s more than twice the monthly average of 43 mm in just 12 days. All our barrels are full.
In the wildflower bed, we have California poppies, wild carrot, red poppies, white campion, corn marigolds, hedge mustard and ox eye daisies, with quite a bit more to come.
The flax has reached its maximum height. Some of the plants are flowering, small blue blooms. I was hoping they’d all flower at once, so everyone would remark on the bed. But not as yet.
The plane trees on Earlham Grove are just getting over what I call their broccoli phase. That’s when you get a cluster of leaves on the pruned stumps. But once twigs grow then the canopy fills out. We’ll be there by the end of next week, and they will look like real trees.
This morning in the garden, we had a carers get together. There were carers themselves, and council workers in their field, and the local MP, Uma Kurmaran, whose constituency covers Bow, Stratford and Forest Gate. She and the council officers had not been in the garden before and were quite impressed with its planting and facilities. It was a time to chat, network, and enjoy oneself. Caring can be lonely and stressful.
There’s bees in the giant scabious, and lots of snails about. Hot weather makes them dormant, but the downpours we have had in the past couple of weeks has brought them all out. Every day, I remove snails from the flax bed and throw them in the buddleia.
There’s a single walnut. Will it mature? Nearby is a handsome stand of feverfew, quite a bush of white daisy like flowers. A friend of mine swears by it for his migraine.