January’s always a bit of a bleak time in the garden and the one just gone felt like a particularly slow, cold start to the year. But once we were into February our Bandstand Beds volunteers suddenly sprung into action. At the beginning of the month we cleared a mountain of leaves, netted off our…Read more …
In its short life since it began in 2013, Bandstand Beds has grown from strength to strength, and this year it has really become established. As well as looking after the beds at the Bandstand and The Spinney (opposite the nursery) it has been our first growing season in the new community garden on Windmill…Read more …
When we last held a tree planting party it was so cold that by the end of the morning we were all huddled in the polytunnel, teeth chattering and clutching a mug of soup to try and warm our hands. Not this time. After a crisp start, this soon became a beautiful, sunny autumn day.…Read more …
On Saturday 19 November, Michel from Social Landscapes led us in the final of three workshops hosted in Bandstand Beds community garden on Clapham Common. Over 20 enthusiastic gardeners from across London attended and learned about making compost heaps, worm composting and the different minerals and mineral ratios involved in generating healthy soil and compost. …Read more …
There was a really fantastic turnout of more than 20 enthusiastic gardeners for the second of our autumn workshops with Michel Thill form Social Landscapes to discover what veggies can be planted to grow over winter – and our trusty cat Bob came too. Bob After starting off with a brief introduction to one another…Read more …
Our first of three gardening workshops on 15 October with Michel Thill from Social Lands was very well attended and began with the questions: ‘What is a pest? Are there pests in nature?’ Of course in nature everything is part of the ecosystem, working together to create the overall environment. But in the garden pests…Read more …
Bandstand Beds’ Jane joined several other community gardeners in Regent’s Park Allotment Garden for a seed savers course, run by Capital Growth and London Freedom Seed Bank, to find out why we should save seed even though we can easily buy them from garden centres or online? Here’s what she discovered… Different people save seed…Read more …
The garden is starting to look ready for Autumn, the beans are finished and the squashes which have been romping across the community garden are ready to come out. The last of the tomatoes will be harvested this weekend, and today we took some green tomatoes off to make into chutney. I used Pam Corbin’s recipe for …Read more …
Each time the Bandstand Beds team organise an event they worry whether it will be as good as the one before. Last year’s feast marked the opening of our community growing space on Windmill Drive and, despite the dreary weather, lots of people came along to see the new garden and enjoy the great grub…Read more …
The nights are drawing in and there’s a slight chill in the air, and what better way to say goodbye to summer than with a community harvest celebration. And that’s just what Bandstand Beds and The Spinney nursery are planning with our Common People Feast on Saturday 8 October, from midday until 4pm There’ll be…Read more …