free outdoor family therapy
We're offering free outdoor 'walk and talk' family therapy sessions to offer practical support and advice to help make family life a little happier during lockdown. Take up has been excellent, but limited sessions are available. Email us to find out more.
shed progress
Men in Sheds had a busy week as their new shed project took a huge step forward. The base was completed and they started assembly. Amazing progress - watch this space over the coming weeks for updates!
in the garden
Great progress on the pond - despite the mud! Building up the sides, re-shaping the edges and re-planting. Thanks to everyone who donated unwanted blankets and fabric.
Brisk, warming work to clear, rake and tidy undergrowth and give the compost a turn. The lawn area outside the gardener's cabin was fenced off to help it recover.
space2breathe - new initiative
space2breathe is a new initiative aiming to provide respite and support for parents home schooling their children via opportunities for walks with another adult and/or opportunities for the children to be supported by a facilitator for up to an hour at any one session. We, at space2grow, are delighted to be one of the community groups involved in this great initiative. The project is looking to recruit a paid coordinator and volunteer session facilitators. If you'd like to get involved please email space2breathefarnham@gmail.com to find out more.
reflections from the acre
In this week's reflections volunteer Rob shares his thoughts....
12 noon. Brr brrrr, brr brrrr br.. "Hello, Natalie! Oh...Lou? She's too muddy to pick up her phone? Ha, pretty normal Natalie, then! Showing her civil engineering expertise, you say? Bla, bluster excuses bla that I'm so late. When are you there till today? All afternoon?! Ah, OK, I'll be over. Hey, I'm 60 tomorrow, so we'll need cake, eh? Bye."
So I get there - by 1. Work is well underway. I sit beneath tree, on bench made by men for purpose of watching, following ancient universal community tradition, in the spirit of teamwork which space2grow allows to flourish in its tender-handed way.
There is much activity in the quagmire round the pond, mud bags being made. There's even a male at work, a teenager, being taught common sense by a pal-since-5 teenage girl. More hysterics happening than handiwork. There’s movement under the pond liner and I wonder if they’ve caught a Heffalump but it’s Natalie, who emerges pulling clumps of mud from her hair.
I'd better try to look busy. I walk to work zone, step gingerly in mud, lift shoe, with a tenth of the acre topsoil attached to it. I retreat to figure out a mud pack strategy, criticise their production process and maybe be able to delegate quagmire jobs by stealth. Which just shows I'm still in the grip of delusions of patriarchal grandeur.
A mum with her two little cool dudes has turned up and teamed up with the dogs to aid our engineering efforts, enjoying the mud.
Suddenly the Miracle happens. A most beautifully decorated cake arrives, just two hours or near since my birthday declaration. We do a speedily engineered demolition project on the cake.
space2grow is a great place to go. I have been going in my unreliably random way since October. I love it. The welcoming embrace of the space, free and easy atmosphere, the hands-in-soil work in a glorious garden world with a big sky view over Bishop's Meadow, through the door in the wall. I am very much looking forward to the Spring, learning much more with others about planting from seeds and growing. And getting better at pruning!
A dear friend gave me a silver maple leaf for my birthday to hang out to spin in the wind and catch the sun. Cut-out words in it, by Audrey Hepburn, read "to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." Perfect words for our time and for the fruitfulness which many people will discover behind that door in the wall, I feel certain
If you would like to share what the acre means to you please email info@space2grow.space - we love hearing everyones reflections.
As always, we are working hard to ensure that space2grow remains a Covid safe site so please email info@space2grow.space prior to your visits, bring your own food and drink, take any rubbish home and please adhere to social distancing.
Thank you and see you soon!
