Greener Peebles

They say 'eat a rainbow' - and this week we have done just that! Our brilliant volunteers have literally enjoyed the fruits of their labour, harvesting sweetcorn, beans, rainbow chard, cucumbers, squash, and... drumroll... melon! Yes, after weeks of keeping many a close eye on the two cantaloupe melons growing in Takiwātanga, our fantastic polycarbonate tunnel, this week they dropped into their homemade hammocks and we knew the time had come to share this delicious, ripe, juicy feast! (The less said about the pesky invasive Spanish slugs that have gobbled up all the basil and started on the aubergines the better... well done to Spiderman and team for rooting them oot!) Thank you, clever plants, wonderful garden and all who volunteer in it! Have a lovely weekend everyone! 🌽🫛🍈

Our final Pick Your Own event for this year will be on the revised date of Friday 25th September 10.30-11.30 - we'd love to see you there! 🫑🍏🌶️

That's right...Greener Peebles Apple Day is back! 🍎🍏🍎

All welcome to join us for some scratting, pressing and juice drinking in the community garden.

Please see the poster for details, and do make sure to book in swiftly for the lunch part if you are keen, as places are very limited.

Punks

We were delighted to welcome back our friends from Scottish Building Society to volunteer this week, helping us with weeding, collecting apples, and cutting down the pea plants to ground level (the roots stay in the soil as they are great for 'fixing' nitrogen, which then improves soil quality for future plants, and the rest of the plant is composted) - and of course they took home a cucumber harvested from 'Takiwātanga', our brilliant polycarbonate tunnel that their employer helped to fund!
We also potted on some January King cabbages, removed most of the lovely borage that was obscuring the courgettes (also excellent for the compost heap) and supported some plants for further growth, and special mention to our amazing volunteer who took home all of the garden gloves to wash!
Harvest for our volunteers this week also included braw beans, champion chard, cracking courgettes and cool kale - one of our regular families used their harvest to make a delicious lasagne to take to Tweed Feast at Traquair Village Hall at the weekend - inspiring stuff! 🙌😋🍲

We've been marvelling at the wondrous world of pollinators and other wee creatures in the garden this week.

On Tuesday, we welcomed Kate from Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust who showed us how take part in some citizen's science using FIT Counts (Flower-Insect Timed Count). We learned how to identify the different pollinators, and undertake the surveys correctly so that we can contribute to this important data collection. We plan to complete more surveys before the end of September, and then again next year to monitor.

Grow Kids also got in on the action with their own mini-beast hunt. Viewing the world of many legs, slimy bodies and fluttery wings through the eyes of our smallest gardeners always imbues wonder and excitement, and brings hope. The children learned where they might find the creatures, how to match them to the pictures on their sheets, and used magnifiers to look really closely at some that we (very gently!) caught. We made sure to put them all back where they were found.

It was heartening to see a good number and variety of insects in the garden, but we are far from complacent knowing how at risk they are from the effects of climate change, habitat destruction and pesticide use. We continue to be motivated to focus on gardening practices that support these precious creatures.

(NB for anyone not keen on the slimy beasts - skip the last photo!).

JOIN US on Saturday 5th September from 10am, for a See Me walk through Victoria Park.

We will meet at the Greener Peebles Community Garden at 10am, for a chat, light refreshments, and a chance to explore the community garden. Then a gentle walk (level ground) around the park. Join our community event, bringing people together to walk and talk about mental health.

The idea is simple; people to come together in an outside space and are invited to pair up to walk for about 30 minutes, while sharing stories and opinions about mental health. We aim to tackle the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health conditions.

Andy's Man Club and the Recovery Cafe will be in attendance. Along with a first viewing of the memorial quilt, which is being created locally, to celebrate the lives of loved ones who have died by su***de.

We would love to see you!

Greener Peebles Community Garden is on Kingsmeadows Road, behind Victoria Park Centre, postcode EH45 9BH.

seemescotland.org See Me Scotland

A huge thank you to everyone who came along to our Pick Your Own event last week! Bags were filled with beetroot, onions, potatoes, chard, runner beans, French beans, rocket, kale, cucumber and herbs. Dinner winners all round! Thanks also to our volunteers who helped out at the event.

This week our gardening volunteers continued with some mega weeding and finished planting out the swede, as well as some compost heap and cucumber and squash plant maintenance. A visit to the RePollinate Bee Bed is the perfect way to take some time out during the session or on which to finish it - the bees, absorbed in their nectar drinking, are great subjects for 'papping' - all pollinators are garden celebrities in our opinion! 🐝🌺🧅

Hi everyone, here's our latest Seasonal Summary - find out what's been happening at the Greener Peebles community garden in the last few months, and what's coming up! 🙂🦋🫛

Fantastic opportunity for a volunteer to support this lovely Interest Link group. The Green Wanderers meet fortnightly for activities, which includes a monthly group session in our community garden for growing and nature activities. To find out more about supporting this group, you can contact Rosa, info on poster. Interest Link Borders

A huge thank you to everyone who came along to our Pick Your Own event today! Bags were filled with beetroot, onions, potatoes, chard, runner beans, French beans, rocket, kale, cucumber and herbs. Dinner winners all round! Thanks also to our volunteers who helped out at the event. This week our gardening volunteers continued with some mega weeding and finished planting out the swede, as well as some compost heap and cucumber and squash plant maintenance. A visit to the RePollinate Bee Bed is the perfect way to take some time out during the session or on which to finish it - the bees, absorbed in their nectar drinking, are great subjects for 'papping' - all pollinators are garden celebrities in our opinion! 🐝🌺🧅