Red Cross garden was looking v nice last time I saw it (end of July) but I forgot to take any pictures. Here are some interim ones of the week before. The flowers I bought were all recommended for their long flowering season and are doing really well. I think it makes things nicer for everyone come in and out, certainly the people working there – and a lot of the beneficiaries stop to chat. Maybe gardening is a nice, casual way for people to start up conversations.

There’s also some garlic I dug up (which Mourad planted). These are the biggest bulbs and look proper, we’ve got lots of tiny ones at home.

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It’s really helped that it’s been so wet. The rain has helped everything establish. I just need people to dead-head as I’m not there much in the holidays.

I also realise I don’t know what to do about harvesting veg! In my garden, I let everything bolt because it looks nice! But here it seems like we should really try and eat it. But it will RUIN the display…

I started planting this a couple of weeks ago. It has rained almost all the time ever since, so it has started off really well.

There are already some nice fruit trees, a big buddleia and some bits of veg left over from before (onions, jerusalem artichokes etc).

I planted perennials at the end of the L, that will hopefully get better every year. The long bit of the L is mostly annuals, so in the beneficiaries can take it over again when they’re ready – or the Turkish centre can use it to grow veg in. (I like flowers more, we’ve got lots of veg already but….). It’s got Sweet Peas in it, and then lots of chard and some purple sprouting broccoli I got from Sian. (I know this is veg but I’m growing it for ornament). Also the Rose, some crocosmia, lots of herbs, more flowers.

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There are also pots holding down the gazebos – but they are in the shade nearly all the time – so hard to make very bright. This one gets the most sun.

It’s really fun to do, and it’s a nice way to talk to people when they’re packing up their parcels. There are lots of butterflies already and people seem to like it.

I think there’s lots more I should do but I don’t have much time – I underestimated how much time it needs to keep going but maybe that will slowly sort itself out. If it was one’s proper garden, there are all sorts of bit that need sorting – like the sheds and greenhouse and the pots, but at the moment, we will all have to squint and only see the bits that are beautiful.