Friends of Abbey Gardens

The wild flower mix has been coming into its own and giving colour to the edges of the site.

Diggers have been up and down the street and a shiny big blue container has been dropped next to the garden. Work has started on the brand new DLR station.

Elizabeth Whitbourn (English Heritage field adviser) and Alan Cathersides (English Heritage Senior Landscape Manager) came for an quick visit to see Abbey Gardens. Elizabeth asked Alan to join her and have a look at the grass that has been growing and give his opinion on why it does not grow on the east side of the site.

According to Alan he does not think there is any problem with the soil on the community garden side. The soil itself is finer then on the other side and the rain helped form a tuff and thin top layer which is hard for the seeds to penetrate. all it needed is a gentle rake to break the surface and make it easier for the seeds to take root.

It was also good to hear Alans opinion on the contaminated soil and on growing vegetables. In general he was less concerned as plants would simply not grow should the contamination be too strong. Or they would grow and die early. The plants that do grow are usually safe to consume. Traditionally potato plants have been used to cleanse the soil.

The tomato plants that have been popping up all around the site are growing nicely and soon we can have the first harvest. Apparently it is quite a common site to see tomatoes growing as the seeds travel easily and do not necessarily get digested. The roots are not going deep and should not penetrate into the lower soil (below 30cm) which is the original and slightly contaminated soil.

Also some good advise on fruit trees and how to grow them without damaging the remains. Nina and Karen had suggested to grow fruit trees along the long south facing wall of the site. If a paving stone is placed around a meter into the ground it will stop the roots to go down and instead grow sideways. The deep roots are needed for stability of the tree and will get suppressed. However since the tree is supported by the wall this is not a problem. Same would go for the fruit trees that were proposed at the west end of the site which grow around a metal frame work.

It has been a real pleasure to see how the transformation of the site has inspired people and attracted visitors. Even though no gardening has happened as yet the promise of the future garden is capturing peoples imagination.

Lucy Harrisons local newspaper ‘The Stratford Grapevine’ launched in Stratford station. Abbey Gardens is noted on the cover ‘network’ drawing. Many interesting local links and stories inside.

Here some flickr photos and a link to a Newham web newspaper with some more info.
Also check the TFL site where you can download a pdf copy of the paper.

This is where we met Lucy ->click here

Photos by: LoopZilla

Apologies for the bad image…. (the only one I dared taking)

Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie from Somewhere.org presented their final proposal for the arts commission for Abbey Gardens entitled ‘What will the harvest be?’. The meeting took place at the Modus Operandi office and was joined by, Sharon Swift, Andrew Smith and Mark Perkins from Newham, Elizabeth Whitbourn and Jane Sidell from English Heritage, Dasha French and Andreas Lang from the Friends of Abbey Gardens and Ceri Lewis from Modus Operandi who chaired the meeting.

A link to see the details of the proposal will appear as soon as the material is available.

See more images on the ABBEY GARDENS FLICKR PAGE

WHAT WILL THE HARVEST BE?
WALK & TALK WITH US…
FOLLOWED BY A PICNIC WITH THE FRIENDS OF ABBEY GARDENS

On Saturday July 12th 2008 artists Karen Guthrie & Nina Pope (somewhere.org.uk) will be leading a walk from Abbey Gardens around some of Newham’s other green spaces followed by a picnic at Abbey Gardens:

3.00 pm Abbey Gardens (Bakers Row)
3.15 pm West Ham Park
4.15 pm St Mary’s Allotments
5.00 pm The Greenway
5.30 pm West Ham Allotments
6.00 pm Abbey Gardens - Picnic

Please join us for the walk to hear more about the artists’ proposed projects for Abbey Gardens and meet Newham residents with green fingers. Following the walk there will be an informal gathering for a picnic with the Friends of Abbey Gardens, which you are very welcome to join. Feel free to bring along some food (especially home-grown!) Elderflower drinks will be available made with flowers gathered on the site.

Everyone is welcome - Picnic starts at 6PM at Abbey Gardens
Should you wish to join the walk from 3.00pm -6.00pm please email: artists@somewhere.org.uk and let them know you are coming.

For more information on the project see: http://somewhere.org.uk/abbeygardens

CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS

We look forward to see you on Saturday.
Click to download walk flyer pdf -> poster-for-walk.pdf
Click to download picnic flyer pdf -> abbey-gardens-picnic-july12th-2008.pdf

Nick Ely from Newham Parks came round to sign the ‘key agreement’ with us. Dasha French of 21 Bakers Row and Andreas Lang of 19 Bakers Row are now official key holders of the site. It also means the the site has formally been handed over to Parks and a brand new relationship starts.

Note the very green Newham Parks pen used for the occasion.

Nina and Karen came round and we had a look on site. In general the seeds did not take well and the grass and wild flower seeds are struggling to come up. The north eastern side of the site is very barren and the top soil is compacted and rock solid. It looks like no attention had been paid to the fact that the seeds need to be raked into the ground. A real pity and waste of seeds.

Having said that - some plants are popping up. Karen’s informed eye spotted lots of vegetables. Especially a complete colony of tomato plants - growing nicely in the corner of the site.

The updated version of the feasibility report by Newham Council which is quite a nice document capturing the progress so far and all the levels of involvement by the different groups. To download the 8.6MB pdf file click -> feasability-report-july-08.pdf