Stories From the garden

Skipping around King’s Cross: Remembering 10 years of urban gardening.
Paul Richens Paul Richens

Skipping around King’s Cross: Remembering 10 years of urban gardening.

My name is Paul Richens and I was the Global Generation’s gardens’ manager for about 10 years. My background was a lifelong family interest and practice in growing vegetables and natural history but due to mostly living in small flats I developed an interest in growing organic vegetables in containers of one shape or another.

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Voices of the Water Fellows visit Raybel Charters
Lily Baldwin Lily Baldwin

Voices of the Water Fellows visit Raybel Charters

Last Monday I went with Silvia, and voices of the water fellows Cassie, Lucy, Ellie and Maedeh on a trip to Sittingbourne to visit Raybel Charters, an old Thames barge sitting on the water at the top of Milton Creek, where the river borne emerges out of the ground and flows into the Thames. After a winding bus ride on a rail replacement service, we arrived, slightly car sick, half an hour late and freezing cold into the Sittingbourne train station carpark.

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the first generation: stories from Yvonne Riddiford, a volunteer
Yvonne Riddiford Yvonne Riddiford

the first generation: stories from Yvonne Riddiford, a volunteer

My last visit to London was ten years later in 2016 when I was 91. The last Skip Garden had just been created. I was given the job of sorting seeds by Paul Richens, the Gardens Manager. The site looked extraordinary. At first glance it looked like quite a mess but when I looked closer I could see what a creative mess it was...

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Weaving ‘Wassail’ and ‘Finding the Mother Tree’ at the Story Garden
Sophie Swain Sophie Swain

Weaving ‘Wassail’ and ‘Finding the Mother Tree’ at the Story Garden

On January 18th, we were honoured to celebrate the tradition of Wassail at the Story Garden with new friends and members of the weekly Gardening Club.  ‘Washeil’, is an Old Norse salutation meaning 'be in good health' or 'be fortunate'. The earliest mention of wassail dates back over 1000 years, to the English Middle Ages (500 to 1400–1500 AD).

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After School Club Makes a big splash!
Linda Royles Linda Royles

After School Club Makes a big splash!

Water is a very attractive thing for children – ok maybe less so in the dead of winter. But the words ‘pond repair’ had been on our gardening to do list for some time and we were looking for a fun activity for the after-school club children to bond, have fun and stay relatively warm. Of course, let’s reinstate the old pond! 

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