Christmas Get Together

We were delighted to have two families join us yesterday for a tidy up, a bit of Christmas cheer and an update on our FUNDING DRIVE FOR THE URBAN FOREST TRIBE!

You will remember that Paula and the Tribe got accepted into the AVIVA MATCHED FUND to raise money for their new Outdoor Learning and Wellbeing Space – every pound that the Tribe raises being matched by another pound from Aviva. THERE ARE ONLY 12 DAYS LEFT NOW to fund raise – so please tell everyone you know. Just one pound will help – if you can spare £10, even better. GO HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO DONATE.

While the ‘workers’ were removing the now dead nasturciums (anti slug protection…) from the planters and digging over our new vegetable bed, Paula and I got the fire going in the fire pit ready to roast some chesnuts. Sadly these were not a great success as I had left them too long and they were already all dried up. It had not occurred to me that chestnuts would stale that quickly – but we will definitely know for next time.

Meanwhile, the others were digging up our potatoes! These were the ones we had planted in September and which said they would be ready for Christmas. And indeed they were , even if somewhat ‘petite’. However, as I discovered, their size was also partly my fault… I am not doing very well!

When they shot their green shoots up, as they did, I should have layered them with more soil, and more soil still when they shot more green shoots. That would have forced them to concentrate their efforts on growing their tubers large and fat. Well, we have a nice new bed all ready for planting so we shall try again. Meanwhile, as you can see, the carrots and beetroots have been growing slowly. We pulled up about half of them, leaving the rest to keep on growing – and making a note to prick out the excess on the next round to prevent the current ocvercrowding!

And those potatoes may have been small but the good thing about that was that they cooked very quickly over the fire – and were DELICIOUS!

And they were then replaced by a tray full of home made mince pies. As you can see, these are being seriously assessed by the adults….

But consumed with enthusiasm by the younger members of the party!

And then celebrated with a war dance!!

So a very happy Christmas to everyone – and we will look forward to lots more gardening and tasty crops in 2026.