Stonehill Community Garden - July News

Goodbye to Rachel - This month we say goodbye to Rachel, our Project Coordinator for the last two years.  Rachel says: "I've had a wonderful time over the last two years helping the garden develop and meeting all the visitors.  The garden has come on such a long way and I am grateful to all those who have supported the project.  Here are some of my favourite photos from the last two years at Stonehill"

Hello to Naomi - We are lucky enough to welcome Naomi to the team as Fundraiser for Stonehill. Naomi says: "I'm so excited about the project and the potential for it, I can't wait to get going".  You will catch Naomi at the garden on some Wednesdays.

Supporting the garden - All support to the garden is appreciated, and that doesn't have to be always attending and gardening on Wednesdays.  Our produce is sold for donations from the garden on Wednesdays, we always welcome unwanted garden tools or plants and seeds, and if you can help spread the word about Stonehill, take a leaflet or like us on Facebook.  We are a Charity which relies on donations and grant funding to stay open, and any support is welcome.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Polytunnel update - Polytunnel number two has recently become a tropical forest garden, planted on one of our courses, incorporating plants such as Medlar, Quince and Almond trees, among others.  The planting will be interspersed with tropical annuals such as aubergines, tomatoes and chillies.  Please feel free to visit any Wednesday.

Support - There are many ways in which you can support us, both at the garden and away from it, get in touch if you would like to get involved.

Our produce is sold every Wednesday from the garden - we're there between 10am - 4pm.

Stonehill Community Garden - May News

We are recruiting!

We need a fundraiser to join our team; this is an exciting role for someone with fundraising experience.  One day a week, this person will join our small team and be fundamental to the successful running of the garden.  If you have any questions, please get in touch on info@stonehillgardens.co.uk.  See full details here.

New courses in Eco building and Growing Food

• May - Advanced Edible Horticulture - FREE - Learn about orchards, raised beds, fruit production, compost, ponds, wildlife in the garden, urban food production and how to set up a small enterprise.  Suitable for beginners.  Book here.

• 11th - 15th June - Eco building - FREE - Build a building from scratch in 5 days - foundations, timber frame, walls, green roof and plastering.  Suitable for beginners.  Book here.

• June - Urban Food Production - FREE - Learn about woodlands, management of trees, reading the landscape, designing food production systems.  Suitable for existing gardeners, or attendees of our Advanced Edible Horticulture course.  Progression possible to more advanced courses in the future.  Book here.

Polytunnels update - Our first Polytunnel is now built and covered!  We've started planting and sowing already in it and you are very welcome to help on Wednesdays.  We also need to start constructing our second Polytunnel, so all hands to the deck on Wednesdays.

Support - There are many ways in which you can support us, both at the garden and away from it, get in touch if you would like to be involved in a small or big way.

Stonehill Community Gardens - January News

Happy New Year - come and make some new friends at Stonehill this year.  We re-open this Wednesday 7th February!  Having closed for December and January, we re-open this week.  With lots of projects in mind for 2018, there will be plenty to keep everyone busy this year, not least our two new polytunnels for produce suited to warmer climes.  We will start building the tunnels this Wednesday and we'd love your help.

2018 Workshops - book now and learn a new skill

Sat 17th Feb 10am - 1pm - Grafting Fruit Tress - £15 including taking your own fruit tree home

Sat 3rd Mar 10am - 1pm - Composting including warmers - £15

Sun 18th Mar 10am - 1pm - Year Round Crop Planning - £15

Sun 24th Mar 10am - 4pm - Introduction to Permaculture - £30

Sat 7th Apr 10am - 4pm - Designing Edible Spaces - £30

Bursary places available - please contact us

Funding Update - Whilst we didn't receive the £1,000 from Aviva for our Sensory Space, we did receive a £100 donation towards the project.  Rachel will be seeking further funding to develop the sensory garden.  We have received £1,000 from the Doris Field Charitable Trust in Oxford, which will help us continue to run our open Wednesday sessions.  If you know of any funders who may want to support our garden, do let us know.

Funding for Groups to visit the garden for FREE - Thanks to the grant from Oxfordshire Community Foundation, we have funding for 20 groups to visit the garden for free - if you know a group who may benefit from a relaxing or educational point of view, please get in touch.   Feel free to pass this on to anyone in a local group.

Forest Garden Planting - Our Trees will be going in the ground on 14th February 2018 11am - 2pm.  Please join us to dig in!

There are many ways in which you can support us, both at the garden and away from it, get in touch if you would like to be involved in a small or big way.  Our Honey, Fruit and Vegetables are sold every Wednesday from the garden.  We're there on Wednesdays 10am - 4pm.

Stonehill Community Gardens - Merry Christmas from all !!!

Christmas and Winter Opening - We will be closed for 2 months, December and January, over Winter whilst it is cold and the garden goes to sleep.  Our last open Wednesday of 2017 will be Wednesday 28th November, and we will open again on 7th February 2018, after which we will be open every Wednesday once more.

2018 Workshops

⦁ Pruning Fruit Trees - Sat 27th Jan - 10am-1pm - £15
⦁ Grafting Fruit Trees - Sat 17th Feb - 10am-1pm - £15 inc taking your own fruit tree home
⦁ Composting inc wormeries - Sat Mar 3 – 10am-1pm - £15
⦁ Year Round Crop Planning - Sun 18th Mar - 10am-1pm - £15
⦁ Introduction to Permaculture - Sat 24th Mar - 10am - 4pm - £30
⦁ Designing Edible Spaces - Sat 7th April - 10am-4pm - £30

Ideal Christmas presents!!  Bursary places available - please contact us

Please vote for us!! - We have submitted our Sensory Garden space project to Aviva and voting is now open!  Please use this link to vote for us and share with your friends.  Everyone gets 10 votes and if we receive enough votes, we will get £1000 towards our sensory garden.  The space will include planting for all senses and a quiet space to sit and enjoy the surroundings - something we know a lot of our visitors will use.

Funding for Groups to visit the garden for FREE - Thanks to the grant from Oxfordshire Community Foundation, we have funding for 20 groups to visit the garden for free - if you know a group who may benefit from a relaxing or educational point of view, please get in touch.  Feel free to pass this on to anyone in a local group.

Forest Garden Planting - Our Trees will be going in the ground on the 14th February 2018 11am - 3pm.  Please join us to dig in!  There are many ways in which you can support us, both at the garden and away from it.  Get in touch if you would like to be involved in a small or a big way.  Our Honey, Fruit and Vegetables are sold by donation every Wednesday from the garden.  We're there on Wednesdays 10am - 4pm.

Stonehill Community Gardens - Wildlife Event Wednesday 25th October

Wildlife Event - Wednesday 25th October 11am - 3pm

Beautiful UK butterflies - come along to our event tomorrow to learn how you can encourage butterflies and other wildlife into your garden.

⦁ Build a bug house and take home with you

⦁ Birdhouse building kits available

⦁ Animal print identification
⦁ Build a hedgehog house & take home with you
⦁ Plant lists for wildlife

⦁ Pond dipping

⦁ Why wildlife are needed in the garden

Everyone welcome - free to attend.  Garden produce will be on sale

Aviva Funding - please vote for us - We have submitted our Sensory Garden space project to Aviva and voting is now open!!  Please use this link to vote for use and share with your friends:

https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-3968

Everyone gets 10 votes and if we receive enough votes, we will get £1000 towards our sensory garden.  The space will include planting for all senses and a quiet space to sit and enjoy the surroundings - something we know a lot of our visitors will use.

Funding for groups to visit the garden for FREE - Thanks to the grant from Oxfordshire Community Foundation, we have funding for 20 groups to visit the garden for free.  If you know a group who may benefit from a relaxing or educational point of view please get in touch.  Feel free to pass this on to anyone in a local group.

Forest Garden Update - We have identified some exciting species to be planted in our Forect Garden, from almonds to medlars, to local apple variety 'Milton Wonder'.  Tree planting will be the the first step - dates coming soon.  Sign up here.

Winter opening hours newsletter coming to you soon.  There are many ways in which you can support us, both at the garden and away from.  Get in touch if you would like to be involved in a small or a big way.  Our honey, fruit and vegetables are sold by donation every Wednesday from the garden.  We're there on Wednesdays 10am - 4pm.

Stonehill Community Gardens - September News

We would like to share our mixed fundraising news:

Our Crowdfunder wasn't as successful as we would like and didn't meet our target, although we did raise just over £300 and would like to give a massive thank you to all those who contributed.  If you missed out and would like to contribute, we still have our own Stonehill Fruit trees for sale at £20 each and honey available to buy each Wednesday at our garden sessions.  Order your Stonehill Fruit Tree now (Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry, Gage, Damson, Quince available).  We have however, received a small grant from Oxfordshire Community Foundation - thank you! ... as well as a grant from Awards for All Lottery funding.  These funds will enable us to complete many activities on site - see below.

Funding for Groups to visit the garden for FREE - Thanks to the grant from Oxfordshire Community Foundation, we have funding for 20 groups to visit the garden for free - if you know a group who may benefit from a relaxing or educational point of view, please get in touch.  Please feel free to pass this on to anyone in a local group.

Forest Garden designers in the making - Would you like to design a Forest Garden?  Do you know about Trees or edible shrubs and perennials?  We now have funding for the plants for our Forest Garden and need to get them ordered.  We would like to invite you to our tea and cake design sessions.  Below are some pictures from our recent Forest Garden Design course - the designs from which will be the start of our discussions.  Sign up here.

Polytunnel and Shelter - As part of our lottery funding, we will be constructing a large polytunnel for year round growing, and a shelter for our outdoor kitchen using natural materials.  We will be building a roundhouse timber frame and using innovative methods of building with natural materials for the walls.  Take part in our workshops.

Corporate Volunteering - A division of Amey joined us at the end of August and they worked like troopers!  Everyone pitched in with various tasks around the garden - including moving our self-watering polytunnel into place - pictures below.  If you're looking for something local and different for your corporate volunteering hours, we have the following activities available this Autumn, on a first come first served basis:

⦁     Polytunnel construction

⦁     Woodland walk creation

⦁     Raised bed construction

We need people power and you get to enjoy a day outdoors, within nature and learning new skills.    Contact us here to enquire.

Apple Pressing - Thank you to Abingdon Carbon Cutters for running an Apple pressing day at the garden recently!  Only 50 bottles available at £3 - buy on a Wednesday at the garden or contact us.  Grown and pressed at Stonehill.  We will be closing for some of this Winter whilst it is cold, and will be confirming dates in our next newsletter.  There are many ways in which you can support us, both at the garden and away from it, get in touch if you would like to be involved in a small or a big way.  Our Honey, Fruit and Vegetables are sold by donation every Wednesday from the garden 10am - 4pm.

Stonehill Community Gardens - August News

We had a wonderful event last Wednesday despite the weather, with over 30 visitors.  A huge thanks to members of DAMASCUS, Styleacre, Archway Foundation, Abingdon Carbon Cutters and more for showing your support.  We sold over £100 worth of our veg and honey, herb plants and pick your own bags, we enjoyed fantastic good produced by all of us from the garden, had music from Hannah, fascinating talks on our bees by David Busby, garden tours, tumble winners and we launched our Crowdfunder Campaign!!

Crowdfunder Campaign - Now live, there are lots of exciting perks to entice you to support us, and great gift ideas from workshop places to afternoon tea and seed pack.  You can support us from as little as £3, and if you don't want a perk, there is a donation button where you can donate anything from £1 upwards.  Visit our campaign page now.

Corporate Volunteering - If you're looking for something local and different for your corporate volunteering hours, we have the following activities available this Autumn on a first come first serve basis:

⦁     Polytunnel Construction

⦁     Woodland Walk Creation

⦁     Raised Bd Construction

We need people power and you get to enjoy a day outdoors, within nature and learning new skills.  Contact us here to enquire.

Compost Toilet officially opened!! - A massive thanks to Graham and other volunteers for completing the Compost Toilet ready for our Harvest Meal event.  It is a pleasure to use, and needs no power or external water to operate.  Thank you to Oxford Wood Recycling for supplying the sawdust!  There are many other ways in which you can support us at the garden and away from the garden, so do get in touch if you would like to be involved in a small or a big way.  If you haven't been to the garden for a while or have never been, come and see how much its grown - we're calling it the 'vegetable jungle'.  We're there on Wednesdays 10am - 4pm.

Stonehill Community Gardens - July News

The event is FREE and will be a celebration of everything we have achieved this year.  Don't forget to bring your plants for our plant swap!!

The Garden in July - The garden is teeming with flowers and life and vegetables bursting at the seams!  We'll be enjoying a lot of it at our Harvest Meal event on Wednesday - join us from 4pm to 8pm to celebrate the year, all we have achieved and all we have to look forward to.  Here is a picture of just some of the marrow and squash picked this week!  We will have produce for sale at our event, so bring your shopping bags and come ready to fill them with edible goodies.  Stonehill honey will also be on sale.

Corporate Volunteering - We have our first group of corporate volunteers coming in August.  If you have Corporate Volunteering hours to use up this summer, consider coming to Stonehill to help us - we need people power and you get to enjoy a day outdoors, within nature and learning new skills.

Crowdfunder Campaign - We will be launching our crowdfunder campaign at our event - we're counting on your support to get us through the next couple of months whilst we wait to hear on funding applications in progress.  There will be many exciting ways in which to support us, with lots of goodies on offer.  There are many other ways in which you can support us, at the garden and away from the garden, so do get in touch if you would like to be involved in a small or a big way.

We hope to you on Wednesday to enjoy some food together.

Stonehill Community Gardens - June News

The latest update and events at Stonehill:

Hugelkultur (hill culture) now built in the garden - picture above of Stage 1 of the construction process.  We are now picking harvests each week, and these are available to buy by donation.  Pop down on a Wednesday and see what's available - our honey is also sold each week - beautiful taste and great for hayfever sufferers.

Save the Date!!!

Wednesday 2nd August 4pm - 8pm

August Harvest Meal Fundraising Event

. Various stalls and local organisations

.  Tasty Garden Produce Meal

.  Raffle and cake stall

.  Live Music

.  Herb plants for sale

.  Plant swap

.  Launch of Crownfunder Campaign

.  Bird box kits

This free event will be a celebration of everything we have achieved this year, and a change to support us going forward in various ways.  We will prepare a delicious meal from our garden produce and enjoy live music.  If you would like a stall at the event, please contact us.  Please share this event info with anyone - it is on Facebook.

Demain Film - The film showing was really successful.  45 people came and got inspired by the amazing projects going on around the world (we enjoyed cake too)!!!  Thank you to Abingdon Carbon Cutters for organising.  Highlights included the edible projects all over Detroit and a Permaculture Farm in France.  If you get the chance to see this film, we would thoroughly recommend it.  As well as good and growing projects, it looked at democratic systems, alternative economies, waste, education and more.

25th June - Roundwood Timber Building (postponed until later in the year)

Join the waiting list now by contacting us.

If you have Corporate Volunteering hours to use up this summer, consider coming to Stonehill to help us.  We need people power and you get to enjoy a day outdoors within nature and learn new skills.  Contact us to enquire.

We hope to see you at the garden soon - open every Wednesday 10am - 4pm.

From Richard, Rachel and the Stonehill team.

Stonehill Community Garden - May News

Welcome to our Spring Newsletter!!  The garden has really been taking shape over the last few Wednesdays, thank you to all our fantastic volunteers for their involvement and hard work.

Planting Plan - We currently have a central path up the centre of the garden, with beds of varying shapes on either side of the path.  Longer term, the central path will be paved for accessibility, with raised beds on either side of the path.  For this season we have created beds in the ground to enable us to plant as much as possible.  The fruit cage will remain and we will try various experimental growing method: growing in straw bales, mushroom growing, Hugelkultur raised bed, trialling bio-dynamic planting times.  We are currently fund raising for the costs involved in making our garden accessible, and consulting people with different access needs.

Please feel free to give us feedback on any of our plans.

Crops growing this year - globe artichoke, asparagus, runner beans, french beans, broad beans, beetroot, broccoli, savoy cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, courgettes, gooseberries, kale, onion, peas, potatoes, radish, raspberries, rhubarb, salad leaves, sorrel, squash, strawberries, sweetcorn, turnips, edible and non-edible flowers.

Plant Donations Needed - Do you have any spare of the following?  Rhubarb, gooseberry bushes, jostaberry bushes, loganberry bushes, globe artichokes, asparagus, strawberries.  Please let us know if you do, and / or feel free to bring any down on a Wednesday 10am - 4pm.

Events over Spring

• 17th May - Demain Film Screening - 6pm open garden, 7pm film showing, 9pm film discussion, 10pm finish.  A film showing community initiatives that are helping change the world.  £3 donation - no need to book.  Refreshments available.

• 31st May - Family Day - 11am - 2pm.  Pizza, (self-watering) poly tunnel building, meet the chickens.  FREE to attend and take part (pizzas small charge).

• 10th June - Introduction to Permaculture Course - 10am - 4pm.  £10.  BOOK!!

• 25th June - Roundwood Timber Building - 10am - 4pm.  £30 per person including pizza lunch.  BOOK.

Abingdon Green Gym Visit and How Your Team Can Contribute - We had a visit from Abingdon Green Gym on Saturday 22nd April and they worked like demons!!  We were so impressed by their achievements in 3 hours, and their willingness to help.  Thank you so much.

If you have a Corporate Volunteer hours to use up this summer, consider coming to Stonehill to help us - we need people power and you get to enjoy a day outdoors, within nature and learning new skills.  Contact us here to enquire.

We hope to see you at the garden soon - we are open every Wednesday 10am - 4pm.

Stonehill Community Garden - February News

With harvests being shared between volunteers, sold and food for our August harvest celebration.  Our first planned crops are nuts, mushrooms, rhubarb, savoy cabbage, lemon sorrel, spring greens, watercress and gooseberries with more to come. There is still plenty of time to make suggestions and share seeds with us.

If there is something you'd like to see us grow, let us know.  And if you have any seeds to share, feel free to pass them on.

Courses and Workshops - Here is a reminder of the courses and workshops we are running this year - £15 including refreshments.  Full day courses £30 including refreshments and a pizza lunch.  Bursary places available for un-waged - please contact us.  Book now by emailing info@stonehillgardens.co.uk

⦁ 19th February 10am - 1pm - Fruit Tree Grafting

⦁ 19th March 10am - 4pm - Introduction to Permaculture

⦁ 2nd April 10am - 4pm - Design your own Edible Space

⦁ 21st May 10am - 4pm - Introduction to Forest Garden Design

⦁ 18th June 10am - 4pm - Timber Frame Building (roundhouse construction)

⦁ 16th July 10am - 4pm - Straw Bale Building

⦁ 13th August 10am - 4pm - Cob Building

⦁ 24th September 10am - 4pm - Wattle and Daub Building

⦁ 15th October 10am - 1pm - Composting including Wormeries

Stonehill is your community garden space for the people of Abingdon, Drayton, Steventon and surrounding area.  Come and enjoy it, get involved and meet new people - everyone is welcome at our Wednesday work parties 10am - 4pm.  If you know of a group or individual who would like to get active outdoors, learn some gardening / woodwork / cookery skills, feel free to share out details.  We welcome all abilities on our workdays.

Survey

Please take 2 minutes to answer this survey to inform how the garden should be used and designed - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/F7997LV

Visit our Facebook page for photo's and more.  See you all soon.

From Richard, Rachel, our 3 chickens soon to be named and the wider Stonehill team!!

Stonehill Community Gardens

More and more people are looking to grow their own fruit and vegetables and we are very lucky to have some wonderful projects in our area.

In 2015 Edible Abingdon (contact carbon.cutters@gmail.com) started growing produce for the community on a strip of land in Abbey Meadow between the Ice Cream kiosk and the river, and this year they expanded to grow vegetables and herbs using old-style recycling bins in a wonderful sunny site beside Old Station House.  It has been a great hit with residents, and the public, who are encouraged to pick the produce and have really enjoyed the fresh vegetables.

Edible Abingdon's aim is to encourage more people in the community to grow some of their own food, to show that lots can be grown in small spaces and to reduce dependence on fossil fuels by eating less imported food.  Growing your own produce is good for you, there are more nutrients in fresh food, it's cheap, all you need are seeds and compost, and it's fun and children see where food comes from.

Stonehill Community Gardens is just off the Drayton Road down Oday Hill, and they are creating a vegetable garden and holding garden-themed events.  It is a garden for everyone and it is open every Wednesday from 11 till 3 for everyone keen to be outdoors, to learn and share skills and make friends.

 More information from Rachel at info@stonehillgardens.co.uk