Now that winter is here, the garden has largely been put to rest. Our cleared vegetable beds have either been rotavated in preparation for future plantings; mulched with several inches of manure and seaweed in the case of the asparagus; or covered and left well alone for the earthworms and other creatures to work their magic with regard to our no dig trial beds. Elsewhere, in readiness for the coming seasons over in one of our ornamental beds, Sara has been creatively splitting and replanting our zebra striped Miscanthus grasses; along with the tall, straight stemmed, purple flowering Verbena bonariensis; and the white flowering, interestingly twisty, goose-necked Lysimachia clethroides. Meanwhile, our herb garden is very well organised now, under Barbara's attentive watch, and planted out in anticipation of what promises to be a very productive year ahead.
However, whilst the weather grows ever colder and the warmth of our log burners begins to beckon, the creative endeavours in our indoor art and craft spaces continue apace. Linda, our resident occupational therapist with many years’ experience working locally in mental health services, guides and structures each project to utilise and extend the skills of our participants whilst fostering a supportive and inclusive social atmosphere. The rich rewards are evident to see in the pieces produced, that range from brightly painted greeting cards, to sculpted papier-mâché decorations, and for Christmas everyone is working together on three giant, colourful canvasses.
Looking ahead, Zena and Joe are running our ever popular Christmas wreath making workshops on the 7th and 8th of December, with tickets available online through Eventbrite. If you're popping in, we've also got some handy bundles of kindling wood available for a small donation. Whilst on the 15th we'll be having our annual Christmas lunch for all our regular participants, with the last of this year's potatoes roasted in our fabulous pizza oven. We'd like to wish you all a very happy festive season and New Year, and we look forward to seeing you in 2022.
