The flower bed took shape after the pile of woodchip had been used up around the garden. The woodchip had been in a pile for two years so the weeds would be under control and so we decided to throw together a flower bed. People offered us plants until the flower bed was overflowing.
I think you’ll agree the style is slightly boho but it works. It is a small haven within the garden to attract pollinating insects.
This year we saw a raised bed being installed into the polytunnel. Community gardeners went along and collected horse manure from a friend with horses. We managed to get enough to fill up one side of the polytunnel.
Roy filled the polytunnel up with seedlings of lettuce and kale and sewed some radish seed. Henry planted out some tomatoes and peppers at the far end of the polytunnel.
We had harvests of lettuce, radish, kale and now have the first signs of aubergine poking through the blossoms. When the first lot of lettuce was all harvested we replaced it with cut and come again lettuce. Some spinach has now been sown in place of the radish.
To be a part of the Big Get Together, a celebration of the life of Jo Cox we held a community gardening day.
It was a swelteringly hot day in June and we celebrated by having a small communal BBQ.
Oh! And of course, we did a bit of gardening…I promise!
The community garden involves people from all different backgrounds
We have involved teenagers undertaking their voluntary work as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award
We have had a lovely gentleman, Roy, who came to the garden this year and has become quite a presence in the garden. He built a structure under which he grew broad beans, peas, onions, kale, beetroot and runner beans.
We also have a small group, funded by Learn Devon, who come up and help school children plant some vegetables
Our community has grown, ebbed and flowed. Considering the small community that is Okehampton we have a very diverse group of members.
We soon outgrew the original tea hut; such fond memories
Our lovely friends at the Woodland Trust helped improve our facilities with an assortment of seats and a picnic table
In November 2014 Fran and Linda attended one of the Eden Project’s Big Lunch Extra camps and were inspired to host a Big Lunch at the community garden. We had our first Big Lunch in June 2015.
The event really helped put the community garden on the map.
A milestone had been reached and a whole new group of people popped up and started helping out in the garden.
With a new team forming there was a burst of activity in the garden.
The lads cleared a pile of gravel to make way for the rescued sensory garden created by the Prince’s Trust gang. It enabled us to clear away the overgrown grass and weeds at the entrance, using up the gravel and the start of making the community garden more welcoming and vibrant.
It’s difficult to see in the first picture that there is indeed a herb wheel! The lads dug it up and salvaged what they could of the original frame. One of our community gardening days saw the compost pile being put to good use as the herb wheel came into action.
The entrance to the garden looks much more vibrant and as a result we don’t get people dropping off rubbish, fly-tipping in the entrance.
The steering committee came up against various obstacles. As any community led project knows there are always life events that result in people having to withdraw from any project and the community garden has seen it’s fair share of changes in the short time it has been running.
In 2014 the committee lost 3 or 4 key members for various personal reasons. It was down to a skeleton crew of 4, on a good day…there was a fear that the project may have to be abandoned.
The wonderful thing about a great project, such as the community garden, is that someone always pops up to to rescue it. And in June 2014 a new Chairperson was appointed and a new wave of engagement followed.
Certain areas had become overgrown and neglect was evident everywhere. Slowly but surely the garden would be brought back into use.
The Children’s Area
The first area to be brought back into use was the children’s area. There was a lot of work to do, the tyres had become full of docks and dandelions, everywhere else was covered in plantain and daisies. A lot of backbreaking work later and the area had a new lease of life with new plants planted in the tyres by our younger members.
The Polytunnel
The polytunnel was an exciting little project. This was undertaken in two parts. Unfortunately it was a bit of a dull, wet day the day the frame was erected. After some head scratching the frame went up. The committee saw another wave of change and it took several weeks before we were able to get a crew together to put on the cover. The weather was a complete contrast to the first part of the job, it was a baking hot day, even at 4pm it remained blisteringly hot, we became concerned that no-one was actually going to show up to help. Slowly our fears were laid to rest as people popped in and did their bit to help. There was a real buzz in the air as everyone mucked in.
Help came in many forms at the community garden.
The cadets helped instate the community composting area, the compost loos and what has since become known as the children’s area.
Waitrose have show us tremendous support having entered us into their community giving programe more than once. We were awarded some funds to pay for an orchard when Waitrose were celebrating their 75th year of being in partnership with John Lewis
Bostock’s Garden Centre supplied plants
We continue to benefit from the generous donations from the kind people of Okehampton.
Okehampton Community Garden 