Summer lovin’

The summer is such a wonderful time in our garden with so much growing and going on, but before you know autumn is on the way…

Looking back, though, we’ve had a fab time with our events and activities, kicking off with Common People in May which we organised for CCMAC. The sun shone, there was live music on the Bandstand, and we ran our popular Bake-Off cake and plant stall to raise money to keep our garden growing.

Common People 2019

Our regular Saturday sessions have been a huge amount of fun, rounded off each week with lunch cooked using produce from the garden.

Saturday lunch in the sun

We’ve had barrow loads of fruit and veg again this year! Of course, not wanting anything to go to waste any we’ve been pickling and jam and chutney making like crazy.

Sarah’s Cucumber Pickle

Diana, one of our founder members, ran another of her wonderful workshops making delicious Seasonal Chutney, Courgette Relish and Cucumber Relish. If you’d like to try these recipes for yourself, click on this link.

Diana sharing her chutney making skills

The Monday 55+ sessions have been a lot of fun too. It’s not all about grafting in the garden, at the end of July we ran a Plant Drawing Workshop. A chance to sit back, relax and capture an image of the garden.

Of course, being the school holidays, we had lots of younger people taking part too.

Picture this!

In August, we were lucky enough to get May Webber from Butterfly Conservation to join us for a picnic and give a talk on moths and butterflies, how they are being affected by climate change and ways to encourage them in our garden. A fascinating, fun and informative evening!

We’re now looking towards the autumn and the year ahead, and with next year’s planting in mind will be running a Seed Saving Workshop on Saturday 14 September.

Then on Saturday 21 September it’s our annual feast and although it’s a celebration of our year’s growing it’s also tinged with a little sadness as it marks the end of summer for us.

For more information about events and activities in our garden click on this link or email ccbandstandbeds@gmail.com

If you would like to become a member of Bandstand Beds click on this link.

* Our garden is volunteer led and self-sustaining. Produce and lunch is available for a donation, and this money is used to keep our garden growing.

We are currently raising money to install a composting toilet on site, if you would like to make a donation click on this link or email treasurer@bandstandbeds.org.uk