Gardening shouldn’t be all work and no play…though you may think so when you read blogs, magazines and take advice on what you should and shouldn’t be doing on a daily basis.
Runner Beans
Granted without the work there may not be quite so many rewards but still, there has to be some pleasure in it too. In an ornamental garden the enjoyment may come from relaxing in a chair with a cup of tea, surrounded by flowers, lawn, pots or grasses. You might just close your eyes for a few moments, listen to the insects as they work, breath in the floral perfumes and smile as you feel a fleeting bit of warmth from the sun on your skin. That’s worth every bit of wet and windy weeding or winter wheel barrowing.
In a vegetable garden your pleasure may arrive from all of the above, but mostly it comes from harvesting and eating the food you’ve grown.
Recently Millennium Community Garden celebrated their hard work by holding a summer barbecue for all the gardeners and their families, with much of the food harvested from the garden they’ve built and sown this year.
Three bean salad
The get together was a great opportunity to celebrate, show off and feel deservedly proud about everything they’ve achieved. It was a chance to show their spouses and children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews what they’ve grown, and learnt this year.
From March to the end of June and funded by Kilkenny VEC fourteen adults arrived at the garden every Monday morning full of humour, interest and surprisingly (given the morning it was), enthusiasm. Over the subsequent weeks come rain, hail or shine, we covered all the elements of the Fetac 3 Outdoor Vegetable Crop Production course, preparing, filling and sowing the beds. The garden is based in a buzzing inner city community centre that also sees toddler groups, after schools club and many other activities run from it.
The group are hoping to pass on everything they’ve learnt to local children. They wasted no time as they started by running a three week nature themed summer camp for various ages at the beginning of the summer holidays.
So that’s how one group worked played this year in their community garden. How do you enjoy yours? I must admit to having a sun lounger in my veg patch (though the chances of using it have been rare this year!) Do you enjoy quiet contemplation or inviting friends around to share food, wine and company?
4 Comments
What are the orange bell like flowers in the image?
Hi Pat, if you’re talking about the flowers on the teepee structure they are runner bean flowers. Very pretty and scented too 🙂
Hey Dee, great photos and it sounds like a lovely day was had by all and as you say they should be proud of their great achievement. I relax in my garden by just sitting on the patio with a good coffee or tea and soaking in the sounds and scents. With my four year old it gets more adventurous as we look for ‘buzzy bees’ and ‘flutterby’s” and then he plays on a swing that his Dad made – simple pleasures!
Sharon
xxxx
The simple pleasures really are the best Sharon, children can open our eyes to so much we might otherwise miss too 🙂