Transition Town Tooting

Tag: OpenGardenSquares

  • A lovely Tooting Community Garden Open Day

    Our Open Day on Sunday 14th June was full of contrasts. A damp and quiet start with a steady trickle of visitors, good conversations and storytelling with Aesop Grimm gathered pace in the afternoon as the sun came out. We cooked delicious treats prepared by the Tooting Field Day group on the charcoal fire, while fanSHEN’s The Apple Cart was performed all around us, with the Furzedown Oak sculpture underway and our plastic bottle greenhouse being raised by many hands (it was great to have tall visitors for some of the key jobs…). 

    By the end of the day all was quiet again, and the morning felt a very long time ago, a different time and place. That’s what is great about the social and growing microclimate of the Community Garden!

    To share our own first reactions, we’ve posted a slide show below. We’ll return to some of the themes of the day again – the garden as a place for nature, to be outdoors, for learning, for creativity, for growing and cooking, and for enjoyable company of all ages. 

    Enjoy the photos and come and visit again or for the first time. We’re open every Sunday between 11:00 and 1:00 for our welcoming sessions at 5 North Drive, SW16 1RN.

    And for the diary, the free July Field Day is on Saturday 12th. Details are here online.

  • Tooting Community Garden Open Day 15th June – What We Enjoyed.

    On Sunday 15th June the Tooting Community Garden took part in the Open Garden Squares Weekend.
    Usually open on Sundays between 11 and 1 when anyone is welcome to come along, on the Open Day we were open all day long with a whole host of events including storytelling, human snail races, cycle for a song, broad bean harvesting and ‘guess the seed’.

    It was a fabulous day with visitors spending time in the garden.

    Here some of those involved with the Tooting Community Garden share their thoughts on putting on the open day event. We asked them two questions:

    How did it make you feel?
    What did you take away from the event?

    Here are a few of their comments, in the box below – click on the plus sign to zoom in, or see all the ‘bubbles’ by opening this link: Link to Garden Open Day Feedback
     


    Feedback from participants was collected on the day and we will be sharing that soon.

  • Open Day in the Garden 15th June

    On June 15th, as part of the Open Garden Squares weekend, TTT presents the Tooting Community Garden Open Day & Father’s Day Fete at the Community Garden, 5 North Drive, not far the Lido. Come and discover for yourself this hidden garden paradise. It’s free, naturally, and there are events for all ages including story-telling, paper making and games.

    Or maybe you would just like to come and experience this reclaimed semi-wild growing space, chill out and picnic or get some gardening advice from those involved in the projects we run with community volunteers and local schoolchildren.   

    There will also be the usual garden session from 11 till 1 for anyone interested in getting involved. 

    All welcome, whatever you fancy.  

  • Community Garden Open Day, Sun June 9th

    The TTT Community Garden was open to the public as part of the Open Garden Squares weekend last Sunday.  Regular garden volunteer, Jenny Teasdale, reports.


    It was a time of excitement and reflection when we opened the garden to celebrate our second birthday, linking up with Open Garden Squares weekend and the Chelsea Fringe.  All the volunteers had been busy bees preparing for the big day and what a big day it turned out to be with nearly 100 visitors, young and old, enjoying the garden with us. People came out of curiosity and community, exploring the range of spaces we have created over the last two years, including the vegetable beds tended by volunteers and local school children, the new herb garden, the secret garden, the willow house and the play area. It was great to see young children taking such delight in throwing themselves into the tall grass, before settling down to hear a story from Emily in the secret garden or printing plants with Chuck under the holm oak.

    I know I speak for all our volunteers when I say that we came out of the day with a strong feeling of community and a desire to open up the garden more often for special events. We are already planning another story session, a composting workshop and some harvest days, and will be creating a new wildlife and wild flower space in the coming months.

    Everyone is welcome to come along to the garden on any Sunday this summer between 11 and 1 whether you are interested in getting involved or just curious to see this fantastic space.