Madder Harvest

the madder is spreading madly so I did a little harvest to limit its progress.  Now wondering what I can dye with this precious colour.   

 

Barclays’ Team Challenge

When a small garden signs up to host corporate volunteers, it’s a skills lottery.  Someone who looks after huge amounts of money cannot necessarily distinguish a dandelion from a dahlia or knock in a nail.  We need to find jobs that suit all levels of aptitude – from writing labels and digging holes (most people can do that) to designing furniture. With Barclays, we had a very skilled and focused team – heralded by one person bringing his own drill.  A community garden’s dream.  They were so efficient that we ran out of jobs and they got to go home early.  We had perfect weather which may have helped – as well as plenty of tea and some good home-made cake.  Of course.

We had a variety of tasks for the team – who got on with them so efficiently we ran out of things for them to do.

Pallets before being turned into benches.

Sanding our pallet furniture.

Pallet table and two new benches made, sanded and weatherproofed.

The flax patch prepared, sown and protected.

Our bee bank planted with pollinator-friendly perennials.

New shelves made from scraps and fitted into the alcove.