More photos from the Lynnside Community Garden

Dear All

The top end of the garden is taking shape beautifully, thanks to a lot of work, thanks mostly due to Graham's tireless efforts.

He has contributed the photos here, taken over the last few weeks. Lovely autumn colours, don't you think?

If you would like to contribute in terms of time and/or money, we will be happy to get back to you. Simply leave a comment at the end of this post with your contact details – your comment will not be published.

It is hoped that the garden can at long last be opened to the public next spring. Watch this space!

Even in autumn, a riot of colour

Hello again
Graham has done a sterling job in selecting robust flowers (bulbs, annuals, perennials) that even after a wet and chilly periods looks stunning on a grey autumn afternoon.
Would anyone like to sponsor a bench, or a fruit tree, or some more planting? Donations are always welcome!

A "wiggly"-shaped central eye-catcher alive with colour.
All photographs in this post: © by Margret Powell-Joss.

Interesting shapes, textures and colours as we look towards the retaining wall at the top of the "top end".

A striking feature is the circular motif of lovely cobblestones.

The "top end" seen from the footpath that connects it to the gate in Dalintart Lane.

Just magic! A riot of colours: yellow and orange calendula, blue cornflowers, pink rocks and gravel, green foliage.

View of the "woodland/wild area". Click on the photo to find the bright red rosehips.

Graham's Biochar® experiment: the raised bed on the left contains a mix of Biochar® and compost; the raised bed on the right contains compost only. Better photos to follow, hopefully.

The Top end of our Community Garden is taking shape

What a difference!
It's taken a while and may take a while yet until we can officially open. Still, there's no denying that a great deal of progress has been made:

Photograph by Margret Powell-Joss

Above: before (November 2008)
Below: after (June 2012)

© Photograph by Graham Scott

Amazing work!

© Photograph by Graham Scott.

Autumn in the Garden

Autumn has officially begun. A few visual impressions:

Artichoke flowers.
The artichoke is a perennial plant and produces delicious flower bulbs.

Recipe for steamed artichoke (one fist-sized bulb serves one):
Clean the bulb, snip off the prickly tips of the outer leaves, cut off the stem and base of the bulb. Place upright in a steamer or in steam tray in saucepan. Add adequate amount of water (we don't want to destroy the pot or pan, now, do we?)
Squeeze juice of half a lemon over the artichoke. From other half of lemon, cut a few rings and place on top of artichoke. Put lid on and steam gently for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool down before starting to remove outer leaves.
While the artichoke cools down, prepare the vinaigrette: two table-spoons of freshly-squeezed lemon juice, a pinch of salt, some chopped or scissor-snipped fresh herbs (anything that comes ot hand including parsley, chives, thyme, a little mint or sage, oregano or marjoram), four table-spoons of extra-virgin olive oil.
Eating an artichoke is a hands-on affair, so make sure your hands are clean before you start:
Dip bottoms or fleshy part of leaves into the vinaigrette. Place fleshy part of the leaf between your teeth, holding on to the tip, and pull. Allow time between morsels to catch the typical artichoke flavour to rise from the back of your mouth.
When you've pulled off and enjoyed the flesh from the leaves, take a very sharp knife and slice off the cover of hairs inside (which would grow into the actual flowers) to reveal the "heart". Pull out any stringy bits left of the stem and make sure none of the "hairs" are left on the heart. Cut it into small pieces and toss into the vinaigrette. Eat slowly, piece by piece.


Zucchetti flower. They're still going strong but the near-frosty nights aren't terribly good for them.

One of the sunflowers in the Sunflower Competition. Not necessarily the tallest but it's got a beautiful flower.

Involving children

Hiya again
A couple of children from the immediate neighbourhood have been helping to plant pumpkins.  

Above: getting ready. Below: sorted – well done!

Here's hoping the small plugs will grow and produce impressive results later in the year.

2010 – International Year of Biodiversity – A list of trees, flowers and plants in our Community Garden

Hello again
In the International Year of Biodiversity, it is our pleasure to share with you a list of tree, flower and bird species that have been identified in our Community Garden.
The list of English names has been supplied by our rural regeneration specialist, Graham Scott; your blogger has done her best to add Latin names and provide links to websites so you can see what we're talking about.
Your blogger is no specialist -- any feedback and corrections will be most warmly received. Simply use the comment box at the end of this post.
Catch you later... -- enjoy this magical spring.

Trees

Common Alder (Alnus glutinosa)

Grey Alder (Alnus incana)

Aspen (Populus tremula)

Downy Birch (Betula pubescens)

Oak (Quercus robur)

Sycamore Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus)
Silver Birch (Betula pendula)

Wildflowers

Common Honeysuckle or Woodbine (Lonicera periclymenum)

Dog Rose (Rosa canina)

Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus)

Neophytes
A few remnants of Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum), Rosebay Willowherb
aka Canadian Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) and Himalayan Balsam aka Kiss-me-on-the-mountain aka Policeman's Helmet (Impatiens glandulifera) have survived last year's manual eradication.
Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) presents an ongoing problem and is being manually eradicated because herbicides don't really do the job.

Birds

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) 

Dipper (Cinclus cinclus)

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba)

Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)

Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Swift (Apus apus)

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) -- last Monday, a mother Mallard had ten ducklings in the burn!

Rook (Corvus frugilegus)

Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)

Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)

Robin (Erithacus rubercula)

Great Tit (Parus major)

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
Treeereeper (Certhia familiaris)

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)

The veggies are growing in our Organic Garden

An update from our gardener, Graham Scott:

"Purple broccolli showing new heads, also kale; tatties starting to show, onions and garlic doing well; Jerusalem artichokes showing.

Sourced logs from Glencruitten for [shiitake] mushrooms.

http://www.suttons.co.uk/Shop/Vegetable+Plants/List/?utm_

Mini greenhouse set up soon for tomatoes, pumpkins, melons.

Plant out soon: nasturtiums, sweet peas, re-pot sunflowers.

Herb garden doing well: Mecanopsis (himalayan blue poppy) about to bloom as is Astilbe; rhubarb de-flowered to promote growth.

Planted sweet corn, put in supports for peas.

Taken up planting containers in No.8 Miller Rd. patio, helped by neighbouring child; sown carrots in troughs; will soon plant half tub with beans and nasturtiums. Vertical plastic pipes along wire fence will be planted with strawberries.

As the ongoing environmental (food imports) situation unfolds, the need for locally grown food is again underlined.

Dear All

A wee update courtesy of your "gardener", Graham Scott, as we enter the second year of planting and growing in the organic vegetable part -- the recreation part is under consideration, with work ongoing behind the scenes (quantity surveyor's costing being obtained as I type these lines).

Graham writes:
"... continuing to feed soil [with] seaweed, charcoal, horse and chicken manure, rockdust, liquid bokashi as well as dalek and commercial peat-based composts.

Peas and beans sown and starting to show.
Sugar snap peas were a favourite with the local kids last year.
Tatties: pink, fir apples and Epicure – strictly earlies this year. Plant spares in ton bags.
Onions and garlic went in before the snow.
Jerusalem and globe artichokes went in last month.
Buying in grafted, 'turbo' tomatoes, pumpkins (to get kids to plant), melons – all from Suttons

Sown: nasturtium, sweet peas, sunflowers, limminaria, pansy, several wild flower mixes;
French beans, Chantenay carrots, courgettes, basil, cut-and-grow salad mix.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/digin/
Planting plugged kohlrabi, spinach, brussels sprouts – from Cakebread's

Alkanet or dyers' bugloss (Alkanna tinctoria), from the borage family.
Photo taken on 3 May 2010, next door to the Community Garden,
where a couple of big plants also grow.

Herb garden has rhubarb, Alkanet or dyers' bugloss (Alkanna tinctoria), comfrey, burnet saxifrage, mecanopsis, yellow mullein, various mints, thyme, chives.

First flower of Mecanopsis Sheldonii, a true blue "poppy" from the Himalayas;
photo taken on 6th May 2010 in our garden.

Digging up butterbur; still removing shade-inducing branches from trees; lots of tidying up to do round site before growth kicks in (plastic, glass etc.).

Top end 'amenity' (recreation) area:
I have suggested apple, pear and damson plantings, and creating an 'edible wall' – see www.agroforestry.co.uk/ [– this will need to be discussed at a later date].

Between fence and burn – in part to discourage access – planting gooseberries, blackcurrent, worcestershireberries, rosa rugosa, rosa canina, honeysuckle.

Flood no. 9 - the video

As the rain is abating, the floodwaters are receding. Just after 1pm I took a wee 55-second video which I have posted to Youtube for all to see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clwAS85t9v8

Flood no 9 - part 1

Hiya again
We're currently experiencing some heavy rains, but this is really only day two after a long spell of very dry weather so I'm surprised to see the burn overflowing already.
Here is a photo taken at 8:15 this morning:

And here is one taken just a few minutes ago, at 11:56AM -- not long now and the footpath will be fully submerged:

And indeed, by 12:25PM, the water flows across the footpath. The car park below the stone wall is half flooded now, also.

PS:
Just before I took the 11:56 photo above, I watched a boy, maybe twelve years old?, in dark-blue track pants and hooded sweat shirt squatting and standing on the edge of this side of the burn. He had climbed across the tall fence separating the Nelson Road housing estate (West Highland Housing Association property) from the burn and was holding on to the fence with one hand. How he got across the burn to the Miller Road side, I do not know. I actually didn't notice him until after I took this photograph, where you can just see him on the very edge of the picture on the right -- a tiny blue dot:

I shouted to the boy but he pretended not to pay any attention. My heart was racing as I watched him brace himself and then jump across the burn, which now flows in full spate along a narrow water channel.
The boy then very, very slowly clambered back over the fence, which is nearly as tall as he. He ambled back into the housing estate before disappearing around the corner of the house nearest the burn.
I tried to call the police but they're obviously busy dealing with flooding elsewhere...
Can I describe my feeling of helplessness as I watched this boy intent on a thrill?

Test Digs done

Hi all

Test digs to assess soil quality at the upper end of our Community Garden were carried out last Saturday, 13th March, 2010, by two faithful garden members -- your usual suspects ... ;)

The results are now with Community Links Scotland and will help them decide on what's best to go where without causing too much cost.

We'll update as soon as we can.

The Lynnside Community Garden is now a member of Argyll & Bute 'Time for Change' Time Banks

Dear All

It's official – the Lynnside Community Garden is now a member of Argyll & Bute Time Banks!
This means that anyone who is signed up with the A&B Time Banks*) can obtain credit for time volunteered for this Community Garden.

Here's a photo of the certificate dated 22nd February 2010.

*) To sign up as a Time Bank volunteer, please contact Yvonne MacLean, Time Bank Co-ordinator, AVA – Argyll Voluntary Action, Office 1, Dunollie Halls, Dunollie Road, Oban, Argyll, PA34 5PH.
Phone: 01631 569 545  •  e-mail: oban.tfc AT tiscali.co.uk [copy this by hand into your outgoing e-mail, replacing " AT " by @]

Great good news!

Dear All
Now that Glencruitten Gazette Issue Three has been (or is being) distributed among the residents and tenants of the Glencruitten area in Oban (thank you, Kay, for a good editing and publishing job), I am absolutely chuffed to bits to pass on the following piece of good news:

We have been granted funding of £6,500 from the Fairer Argyll & Bute Partnership via the Fairer Oban Lorn and the Isles Working Group (part of Argyll & Bute Council). In the past few months, we have also received donations from MacQueen Brothers Ltd (£400) and the Oban Round Table (£100). We are so pleased to find that our garden project enjoys the support of the community and the council. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

It also means that we can now employ Community Links Scotland to design and oversee the next stages of garden development, including completing the design, sorting out drainage problems, landscaping, furnishing, etc. By next spring we will definitely have a very different-looking community garden. There will most likely be a quiet seating area at the top. The big trees will remain standing in the wedge along the burn, and your blogger very much hopes that the very productive vegetable and flower plot will continue to flourish along the fence to the drying greens of houses 8-12 Miller Road.

The big grant came in due to the initiative of a local resident (M.P.-J.) and two very hard-working ladies (M.E. and J.H.) at the Council's Community Learning & Regeneration Centre, who wrote and submitted the proposal at extremely short notice. Thanks is also due to another hard-working lady (G.H.) at the Oban Volunteer Centre, who made sure that projects to improve the welfare and wellbeing of the local population (youth projects, garden projects, island community projects, etc.) were taken into consideration when it came to allocating moneys that have to be spent by the end of the current fiscal year, i.e. end March 2010.

Someone has been working on the garden quietly and without much credit, growing vegetables and flowers and keeping the weeds in check while we were waiting for some substantial funding to push things along. Graham will be more than pleased to tell you all about his projects to make the productive soil even more so, such as biochar, EM Bokashi and so on.

That's it for now. Do come back soon!

Rubbish in the burn – and lifted

Hiya again

When the rain stopped two days ago, your Blogger went to have a look at the state of the burn and found it full of rubbish -- chockablock!It doesn't help that there's a culvert or duct running below the concrete platform of the footbridge, where everything gets caught. But why anyone would toss a traffic cone into the burn is beyond me, or a big MDF panel.This morning, some members of the Oban Employability Team came in to lift the rubbish…… the platform of their small pickup was almost full by the time they were done!

How much effort and energy went into clearing this rubbish. Shame on anyone who uses the burn as a rubbish dump.

Flood no 7

Hiya
Scotland has seen some massive flooding in the past few days, and our hearts go out to those who have lost their homes. Here's hoping that no-one will lose their life.

Here, at Lynnside, the garden is flooded yet again today. The heavy rains and a high tide pushed inland by strong winds have conspired to flood not only the garden but also the lane that runs along its bottom end.

Today, 11:38AM
11:48AM12:01PM

As I type these lines, the bottom part of the garden and the lane are fully submerged and the water is running down the car park.
Having watched the rising water, it is quite clear to your Blogger that the obstacles underneath the wee bridge are choking up the burn. But the flooding is exacerbated by the fact that this is just about high tide in the harbour and all of the Black Lynn backs up, especially when the wind pushes the tide inland.
Nonetheless, the Council should do something to give the burn more space -- deepen the riverbed, widening a catchment basin further upstream, ...
The Council does not regard this as a matter of priority – anyone can tell by the dire state of the Black Lynn further downstream, by the car parks and super markets, where it is choked up and infested with shopping trolleys and all manner of large-scale rubbish.

Growing, weeding, "burning"

Hiya again
Summer is taking its course; the rain and warmth have pushed everything: vegetables, flowers, weeds.
Each rainfall uncovers more rubbish; yet another builders bag is filling up fast.
The butterbur along the burn is growing riotously, as are cleavers and balm. The weeds are also growing inside the concrete bed of the burn. With intense rainfall looming, they will slow the flow of the water and may cause flooding again.Kids from the neighbourhood -- definitely NOT the children from the islands who stay at the Glencruitten Hostel -- have been throwing loads of rubbish and plant material into the burn. Some of us from the garden group will have to work really hard to rake and fork it all out again to make sure the debris does not choke up the low passage under the footbridge......whose left bank is being undermined by the onslaught of water -- something will have to be done about this sooner rather than later:
But not all is doom and gloom: the sweet peas are looking spectacular just now.Notices about biochar, Scottish Orchards and EM Bokashi have been posted on the fence and are attracting lots of attention.