Tea & trowels
Gardening & nature conservation just for fun – everyone welcome
Thursday mornings 9.30-11.30
Fortnightly in term time
At no. 59 Gloucester Road
We are chuffed to have a new site starting this year at no 59 Gloucester Road in West Reading.
There is a lot to do to start it from scratch and will be in the future. Our Tea & Trowels group is for everyone who would like to help with growing, site maintenance or nature conservation. You may be very experienced or totally clueless. All are welcome.
This session will be led by Kathryn Clark our Founding Director. We will do some light gardening together and then share a cup of tea or coffee and biscuit. Our community is very friendly and welcoming.
Children are welcome but must be fully supervised by their grownups due to the risk of tools and any rubbish on site.
The session is free to attend, but we always appreciate donations.
What will you be doing?
Initially, we will be:
– weeding
– litter picking
– laying a Hazel fence around the community garden,
– watering trees and plants well with the hose,
– planting seeds for spring.
longer term, we will be:
– laying woodchip around community garden beds (when we have donated woodchip)
– filling community garden beds with soil (when we have donated compost)
– planting up plants in the beds, watering and weeding.
What if I can’t lift or dig?
Please tell the session leader and we can suggest lightweight, low impact activities you can do. There is something for everyone.
What should I wear?
Any comfortable clothes you don’t mind getting muddy. Strong or stable shoes. Bring a coat or thick fleece incase you get cold. Some people like to bring their own gardening gloves or trowels but we have some you can borrow.
I would like to come, where can I find you?
Remember, this is at 59 Gloucester Road, NOT Westwood Farm Wild Woods. The site is in between the Tilehurst and Oxford Road on several bus routes from town and Tilehurst. There is two hours parking on the road.
Let us know if you are planning to come for the first time by contacting us through the ‘contact’ tab. If you have any accessibility requirements you feel able to tell us that would help us to accommodate you.
How are you funded?
We are not funded for this project yet but we would like to be able to continue it. If you are a local business owner who might like to contribute, we would currently value:
– Vegetable plug plants for our community garden,
– Woodchip for our high footfall areas )several grab bags),
– Well rotted manure for our raised planter (several grab bags),
– New hand tools for the community garden (trowels and forks),
– Funding for our team’s time to ensure the longer term sustainability of the group.
