Our Secret Garden is nearly ready. We are having two planting and digging days on Thursday the 25th and Saturday the 27th March. Please come along and help make a difference to your community.
We are on the D'Eynsford estate off Kimpton Road. If you walk down Kimpton Road from Camberwell Church Street (By the KFC) you will see us. It's about 15 metres on the right.
There will be free cakes and tea, and everyone is welcome, especially children.
With many thanks to the Walworth Garden Farm for all their help and work. Above is a photo of some of the crew and below a picture of the very shy artists who have designed the amazing new entrance.
So It has been a long time since there have been any updates but work is galloping along.
We won a bid from Southwark Council's "Cleaner, Greener, Safer" fund for £25,000. We felt on the estate that since we had got such a large amount of money, much more than we expected, we should open the garden to all residents in Camberwell. The place is big enough and should be a respite to the sirens that wail along Camberwell Church Street!
During last summer and this winter we have been consulting with residents on the estate and co-ordinating with Southwark Council to get the best out of this large amount of money. We were worried that the garden would end up looking like a corporately build place with no input from us.
Luckily we found Walworth Garden Farm from up the road who, with a team led by Tatiana, have been doing a fantastic job.The work is in progress and should be completed by the end of March.
We have a stunning new entrance which has been designed by a local artist (who has also created a storage bench for the garden too).New pathsare being laid to create a woodland section at the beginning of the garden. The second section will get a new gazebo, seating, shed and more flowers than you can imagine. There will be a herb garden and a specially designed raised bed for children, using the granite slabs that originally bordered another part of the garden.
The final part of the garden is the working section of the garden. Fruits and vegetables are grown here and the greenhouse will provide us with seedlings and all kinds of produce. The section has had new raised beds made which are wheelchair accessible, the wall along one side has been made safe and there will be a new compost bin area. To get the new garden off the ground we are having two planting and digging days.
Please come along on Thursday 25th March from 2pm-6pm or onSaturday 27th March from 10am - 4pm to help plant all the new flowers, bushes and trees.
As well as this we will be putting up the new shed, the new willow gazebo and filling in the raised beds. There will also be some planting of seeds in the greenhouse and much, much more.
Children as always will be welcome and we have new tools specially designed for small hands, and gloves to protect them too. (don't worry, we have adult sizes as well!).
Someone I am sure will provide us with cups of tea and cakes.
After the initial planting sessions, the new opening times will be:Thursdays 2pm - 5pm Saturday 10am - 2pm. Once we have enough volunteers who can commit to opening at other times we will do so. So if you want to volunteer, please get in touch.
You can email us at: deynsfordgarden@gmail.com or call Tom on 7701 5633 or 07939 250935.
From the beginning of April 2011 we will be open on Thursdays from 2pm until 5ish (sometimes later if we are enjoying ourselves / having too many cups of tea, sometimes earlier if it is raining).
Quite often there are people in on other days of the week and you are more than welcome to join in.
Come and join in. We would love more residents to get involved. We would especially encourage children and their parents to come along so that the children can learn more about where food comes from. We are planning to have workshops and activities throughout the summer so that everyone can learn more about gardens and food.
Where is it? The garden is located by the entrance to the estate on Kimpton Road. It is a green gate and fence very close to the KFC.
Who are we?
Our estate in the heart of Camberwell has over 370 houses and flats, including sheltered housing for the elderly and a home for people with learning and physical difficulties. We have a wide mix of residents with varying cultural and ethnic backgrounds young and old, as well as people with mental health issues who are out-patients at the nearby Maudsley Hospital.
The idea of a Community Garden arose as a way to generate greater community cohesion on the estate, and as somewhere to relax and enjoy ourselves, as well as making new friends.
The garden is situated on a previously derelict site, between Mary Datchelor Close and Camberwell Church Street. We started work on it in March, pulling up the weeds and preparing the soil. There is a lot more to do. Please come along and get involved.
