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Emma’s honeyed pumpkin with chickpeas and spinach
Emma is a key volunteer at the Bandstand Beds, especially as she is water rota co-ordinator! She cycles past the beds each morning on her way to work, a housing association where she joins up environmental improvements. She is loving learning about growing crops with Bandstand Beds. First class member of Bandstand Beds! This is…
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A year at Bandstand Beds
Here at Bandstand Beds,we often talk about the growing season, which runs from the beginning of April until the end of September. We usually kick things off with a seed sharing and sowing session in the garden, and this year were thrilled to partner with Heathbrook Primary School by holding a Good to Grow 22…
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Bandstand Beds Feast 2022
Each year we like to mark the end of the summer with our feast, and this year was no different. For the second time in a row we made the feast a ‘car free celebration’ and on the 24th September brought community organisations together to celebrate the year’s harvest. Preparing for the feast We start…
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Summer pruning
By the end of July, the plum and damson trees at our community garden are laden with fruit – ready for making jam, chutney or picking for a snack on a hot day. Therefore, we thought it would be good to welcome back Patrick McCabe, to host a follow up session from the pruning workshop…
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Common People 2022
On Saturday 4 June we held our first public event of the year, Common People. This free annual event at Clapham Common’s iconic Bandstand began back in 2014, with the aim of bringing people together and celebrating the local community’s talent. The day featured live musical performances on the Bandstand and stalls held by local…
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Composting Workshop 2
Back in October 2021 we held an inaugural composting workshop for our newly constructed bays beside our community garden. As follow-up, on Saturday 7 May Dan Priddle facilitated a second workshop for BBA gardeners and members of the local community to come along and learn the art of composting. What is composting? Composting happens when…
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Good to Grow 2022
Each year we join community gardens across London and nationwide by joining in Capital Growth’s annual Good to Grow celebration. The aim of this event is to kickstart the growing season, so what better way to do this than with a seed sowing and sharing event? And for this year’s BBA Good to Grow event…
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Keeping a garden diary
At this time of year there’s a lot of work going on at the BBA garden with the preparation of our raised beds for seed sowing and planting out. There’s a good deal of heavy lifting , earth moving and sweating involved and at times the task list looks to be a daunting prospect. Yet…
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Mastering mushrooms
At Bandstand Beds we’re always looking to widen the range of produce we can cultivate and so on a sunny Saturday last week we gathered learn how to grow oyster mushrooms. What are oyster mushrooms and what’s the challenge? Oyster mushrooms are large fan shaped fungi. In the wild they are usually found in wooded…
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Hugelkultur on the Common
By the children’s playground on Clapham Common, near The Spinney, there are three large plane trees. In the last few years, the area beneath them has been covered in bark and designated for wildlife. As the bark breaks down into a growing medium and seeds blow in on the wind, the area is slowly springing…