“Just a couple of hours”, I say to myself – and an hour or so later, I’m still there… That’s the thing about Abbey Gardens. It’s a lovely place to be on a sunny day. And right now, after the success of Charlie’s greenhouse, there’s lots to plant out and pot on.

Save the date

Mark your calendar and put a note in your diary… it’s our Summer Fair on Saturday 9 June, 2-5pm. We’re delighted to welcome Jamie’s Ministry of Food Stratford who will be doing a cooking demonstration, you can help make our community picnic rug, go on a walk starting and finishing at the garden, make a mini bug hotel to take home, join a garden tour and there’s our ever-popular tea and cake stall.

We’re also taking part in Open Garden Squares weekend, 9 and 10 June, from 10am to 5pm.

Wellies and waterproofs at the ready, we’ve had a behind-the-scenes tour of West Ham Park Nursery. Many of us had wondered what went on in the greenhouses at the side of the lovely West Ham Park; none of us had any idea of the sheer scale of planting for City of London displays and events by a remarkably-small team. We were also shown around the educational wildlife area and the new food growing plot. Many thanks to West Ham Park Nursery for a fascinating insight into its work, some great tips on eco-friendly pest control – and some spare plug plants to take away. Thanks too to FOAG member Alison for organising the visit.

There are all sorts of ways to show off a garden, we’ve discovered at our first event of the season, Wild About Spring…  We’ve had a bug-themed tour by zoologists Petra and Marleen; a talk by garden club leader Hamish to a coachload of community volunteers from Ipswich; a bug hunt; a vast array of baked goods from our talented cooks (pictured above, Erwan’s quiche made with broccoli from the garden); displaying Spring produce on our fabulous honesty stall; sharing the event on social media via Ollie’s tweets from the welcome table – and even showing off the garden in improvised song, by our very own scat man Charlie. A big thank-you to all of our helpers and bakers, to event organiser Jen and to Polly from Avant Gardening who came along to show how you can make a mini-garden on your windowsill using discarded household objects.