MY CHRISTMAS TREE MOVES TO THE FAMOUS EDIBLE GARDEN

Do you remember the Christmas tree fiasco last year? The one which ultimately led to us giving up the allotment?

(New readers might like to catch up - it began HERE, was illustrated HERE (or at least, it spread out from there) was taken up again HERE, led to an identification of our opposite-end tree HERE, (though this is not the last word) . . . and wandered around in other places. )

This much pot bound!

For a year after that, it stood in the garden; pot bound and getting worse. It was stuck last December; in the months since, it has wedged itself tighter and has only survived because I bought it food pellets. There were moments when it looked decidedly iffy - generally after an extended period of rain when the garden was sodden but the earth in the pot stayed dry, umbrellered by the pine’s efficiently water-proof branches - but it is about a foot taller than it was a year ago and has lots of healthy new growth.

* * * * *

The year before last (for a moment, this will seem like a digression) Dorset Cereals exhibited an edible garden at the Hampton Court Flower Show. At the end of the show, it was moved, lock, stock, raised beds and barrel to a school in Dorset. (The garden, that is. Not Hampton Court.)

I had jasmine in my own garden at the time. (This is not irrelevant.) It had been there for several years with wonderful foliage but few flowers. Disaster struck. It blossomed and covered itself with little white stars. My garden is small and enclosed. All of a sudden, it smelled of bubble bath. The jasmine clearly needed a home with a more open aspect; one where its scent could be sufficiently diffused for it to become lovely instead of overwhelming.

The Edible Garden isn't the only garden at the school and all are approached through a tunnel-pergola. Perfect site for the jasmine. Off it went.

And the Christmas tree? Children at the school have been busy growing food. What about the birds? The birds have houses around the perimeter. And in December? Would they like a tree which could be decorated with bacon rinds and other seasonal morsels?

I asked my friend, Helen Toft, who is a keen gardener and a governor at the school. She thought they would. She thought the children might like to plant the tree and look after it.

This morning (November 30^th) we detached it from its pot (we hadn’t expected it to be iced in!) and took it up to the school.

At this time of year, the gardens aren’t at their best. Crops are over. The greenhouse almost empty. The children indoors. So it was especially generous of Helen to show me round and allow me to take photos so you can see it too.

In the summer, it will be fleshed out and there will be an open afternoon when members of the public will be invited to come and see it all in its proper and productive glory. In the spring, I’ll put a notice on this blog to let you know the date - then any who lives near enough will be able to look around in person. (And eat fresh scones with clotted cream!)

In the meantime, here is a special tour of late autumn skeletons.

Here's Helen, wheeling the Christmas tree into the school gardens.

It would have made sense to take a photo of the pergola as we went through it. Instead, I made a fond re-union with the jasmine in its . . . er . . . winter coat. (Would that describe its leafless state?

This is the bandstand and the pond. When it comes to the open afternoon, there will be a real band playing there!

All children in year six (when they are ten and eleven) have to study World War Two. This is the World War Two Garden - with its Anderson shelter, sandbags and vegetable patches.

And here is the famous Edible Garden. It is also called an edible playground - but that doesn't seem to be the right name for it at all!

Would 'Winter Gardens' be the right name?

Clearly a garden of learning!

Flowers have a place too.

This is the living classroom - with willow walls. It will have a completely different atmosphere in the summer!

But not everything lives - not immediately near us anyway. And there are some things which need to be thought through quietly. Both these are acknowledged and part of the area is set aside for thinking, remembering and reflection. There is even a blackboard on the wall so children who are finding life difficult can come out here for some of their lessons. (When it is warmer!)

And back home? The process of moving plants from pot to pot continues. Our Chinese Windmill Palm will now move into the pot (in the foreground) vacated by the Christmas tree. The pot beyond has Jerusalem Artichokes and tulips in it. Next along is Loveage moved here from the allotment.

Bleak weather. Bright coats. Looking forward to Christmas!

Thanks Helen. Thanks Holy Trinity School. Fare well with your gardens!


The edible garden was designed by Nick Williams-Ellis
Dorset Cereals gave it to Holy Trinity School as part of its support for the Edible Playgrounds project.
Abbotsbury Gardens donated the Living Classroom
The bandstand was purchased with a Lottery grant
Bennett's Water Gardens have given help with the pond.

July 20th 2011 - Holy Trinity School Garden now has a BLOG of its own - click HERE to read it.