The Rye Community Gardeners are getting ready for the year ahead with a planning session arranged for the end of January and an AGM in April.
The Rye Community Garden is situated at the end of Love Lane. Regular sessions take place every Saturday morning, 10am to noon, weather permitting – everyone is welcome. In the last year we have grown many different fruits and vegetables including rhubarb, berries, apples, potatoes, parsnips, spinach, pumpkins, onions, pak choi, chard and many more.
We have also laid a path, which is nearly finished, to help make the garden more accessible and erected a greenhouse. Both of these projects were funded by generous donations from the Lund Fund and Rother Voluntary Action respectively.
One of the members of the garden, Tim Redfern, who is studying and practicing permaculture, conducted a survey of interested parties to identify priorities for the year ahead. One clear message that came out of the survey was that we wanted to donate more produce to the food bank. Tim is going to talk to the food bank to see what they most need in terms of fresh produce and we will compare that with what we know we can grow successfully. We will also look at more perennial planting and higher-yield crops.
Other specific interests were highlighted – for instance the possibility of creating a herb or wildflower garden. We have made huge progress with compost over the last year. A new volunteer with a lot of experience effectively took on the responsibility and we now have seriously good quality compost to use. A wormery may be coming soon as well. There was also appetite for another regular session as well as the Saturday morning slot. This could be held on a weekday evening and may include workshops – for example on bee keeping, how to cultivate cuttings, and how to compost.
We are also very keen to promote the garden as a community space for everyone to enjoy. We have plenty of chairs there, a table, a fire pit and a composting toilet. There is no mains water but in the pandemic years, we have grown used to meeting out of doors and bringing our own drinks and snacks. If your group would like to use the garden, please contact us via our Facebook page or email us at ryegarden@hotmail.com. Do allow a few days for a reply. Or of course come down and see us on a Saturday morning.
On January 29 we are organising a planning session to start at 12 noon. We will discuss what we will grow over the year, how to use the greenhouse most effectively and other projects we may want to undertake. All are welcome to join. Our AGM will be in April, date and time to be decided and we hope to have a community event in the summer.
Image Credits: Seana Lanigan .