As gardeners know, one of the challenges in cultivating an abundant harvest is our changeable climate. Earlier this year, we fell behind on our planting schedule because ofthe exceptionally low temperatures, yet, over the summer our main concern was making sure that plants (and people!) were all well hydrated. Despite the slow start to the year, we are pleased to report that our open day in May was the most successful ever! The next Open Day is on Saturday 28th September (it’s a match day so Watford Grammar School for Boys have kindly offered us the use of some of their car parking). Come along from 10am-3pm to celebrate Harvest time at the Community Market Garden. Featuring light refreshments, children’s activities, storytelling in the yurt and of course our wonderful garden produce including winter pansies, primroses and Christmas flowering bulbs. If you would like to receive this newsletter regularly, please email rpalmer@wnht.org or phone 01923 210 680.

Thanks to the generosity of Watford Girls Grammar School, we now have the beginnings of a sculpture trail in the wooded area. The school has provided us with funding for artistic projects for a number of years enabling service users to learn new skills and to express themselves in different ways. Ideas were put forward by service users and then Joanna, the artist funded by the school, came up with some designs. Over a three day period, a team of service users – with support from Joanna and Kathryn – created our first two sculptures.

The first, created out of plants and garden materials, depicts someone in a sleeping bag. For many of our service users, sleeping rough has been part of their story and so it’s a poignant portrayal of the reality of homelessness. The second is of a face split in half; one half expressing joy and the other sorrow. A ladder rises up out of the eyes for plants to grow up. This sculpture expresses the need for us with to deal with both positive and negative emotions in order to be able to move on in our lives.

CREATIVECORNER

With a huge decline in butterfly numbers recently, it is important we do what we can to help, for example by planting nectar-rich plants such as buddleia, verbena, the perennial wallflower, lavender and marjoram. We are pleased this year to see so many butterflies around our plants demonstrating that the Community Market Garden is a bio-diverse environment. Large roads in our towns create barriers for butterflies and have disrupted the habitats of these beautiful winged creatures. The Community Market Garden, with its nectar-rich plants, performs an important function helping to preserve these vital pollinating insects. Did you know that one in every three bites of food comes from plants pollinated by pollinators such as butterflies? It is therefore essential that we take steps to conserve this fragile and vibrantly beautiful creature.

WILDLIFE WATCH JOIN THE TEAM!

AddressWatford New Hope Trust 67 Queens RoadWatford WD17 2QN

Phone 01923 210 680

Web www.wnht.org

Email info@wnht.org

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WATFORD NEW HOPE TRUST IS A REGISTERED CHARITY (1080784) AND A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE (03969063)REGISTERED OFFICE: CANSDALES, BOURBON COURT, NIGHTINGALES CORNER, LITTLE CHALFONT, BUCKS, HP7 9QS.

This year we have planted the Three Sisters – a wonderful combination of beans, sweetcorn and squash or pumpkin. These three foods are traditionally grown and consumed together by many Native Americans. The corn is planted in the centre surrounded by beans which then use the corn as a trellis and the squash is planted around the base to smother the weeds. The plants work well together – just as we aim to in the garden! We were amazed at how quickly the sweetcorn shot up with all the sun and the rain! We’re grateful to a group of children from Breakspeare School in Abbots Langley who made us a stunning sign for this new venture. We recommend making a Three Sisters Soup, such as this one www.food.com/recipe/three-sisters-soup-410371

RECIPEThree Sisters Soup

We’re looking for more volunteers to join the garden team.

We need people all year round – even the winter months – to help with planting, pruning and propagating. We also need volunteers to help with creative activities, such as knitting, sewing, writing and woodwork. Come and visit the garden and see how you can get involved!

To meet the garden’s staff team, please visit www.wnht.org/garden

Recently our Mental Health Floating Support Worker ran a workshop at the Community Market Garden to encourage our service users to think about the positive mental health benefits of a healthy diet. Eight service users worked together to cook a delicious minestrone soup on an open fire (using produce from the garden, of course!), served with focaccia bread baked in our very own clay oven. Recipes for other cheap and healthy meals were given out as well as tips on how to relax. It was a fantastic day – in fact so good that we decided to run another one shortly afterwards!

ABOUT USWatford New Hope Trust (WNHT) exists to serve homeless and vulnerably-housed people by providing accommodation and opportunities to rebuild damaged lives. Founded upon Christian values, which are at the core of our operation, we support people regardless of faith. We house up to 60 people every night and help over 600 people every year.

“GATEKEEPER” RESTING ON OUR BROAD BEANS