Queen's Wood Organic Garden
Channel: United Diversity
Date: 2010-06-14

Lucy Roots gives us quick tour of Queen's Wood Organic Garden.

Behind the Lodge building is an organic garden often overlooked by wood and café users. It is surrounded by trees but in spite of this has a tranquil quality with flowers, fruit and vegetables growing side by side and bees from the hives gathering pollen.

The garden was started in 1998 when the derelict Lodge building was reclaimed and restored. It was the original garden for the Lodge Keeper, and so the soil had been well nurtured in the past, but had become overgrown with trees and shrubs. Now it is a thriving example of what can be achieved in a small space with apple and quince trees, red, black currant and gooseberry bushes interspersed with vegetable plots. Among these grow forget- me- knots and a variety of companion planting flowers to attract pollinators and pest predators. Around the edge the ivy, bluebells, teasels, wood avens, and herb robert create a woodland edge effect.

The garden is maintained by volunteers who work there on Mondays and Thursdays, from 9am to 2pm. Leave your details at the Lodge café if you are interested in helping. Plant sales are held often at weekends or at special Plant Sale Open Days. The garden has also held workshops on recycling and compost making for school and other groups of children. A booklet on organic gardening is available from the Lodge café - price £1.50. Contact Lucy Roots at jlnew@blueyonder.co.uk for more details.