The end of summer....but not the end of the project!

So summer came and went. Did you see it? I'll admit that the weather was pretty rubbish. I can barely remember the sunshine but looking back over this blog proves that there was the ocasional lovely day! So as winter draws in so does the Skills Growing Project. I want to say a massive THANK YOU to all those lovely people that volunteered to be part of and take part in the project. It was really great to meet you all. A huge WELL DONE to those of you that found work whilst on the project - good luck to you!

The project will be back next spring so watch this space in 2013! It'll be bigger and better than ever.

And hopefully next year the apple tree will behave and we can join up with The Moss Cider Project!

While you're here, why not look back over the past few months. Go on. Just click on the left hand side to see what happened over the spring and summer. It'll make you smile.

Becky x

Potato!

The last few sunny days in September allowed the volunteers to do some much needed weeding of the garden and also tidy up a little. It also meant we could dig up the potatoes! Tasty! To be honest we all forgot they were there but it was a nice surprise to find a few little ones had managed to grow - ideal for a late summer salad!

It rained on us! But the squirrel had fun!

Summer is back! So is the volunteering!

New herbs and salad (fingers crossed)

So finally the rain stayed away and the volunteering made an awesome come back! Thank you very much and a big welcome to the 6 new volunteers! A really good turn out tonight as an original volunteer joined in as did two members of Rusholme Jobcentre management team! It was great to have such a good turn out. We did double the work in half the time. The benches got a much needed make over; lots of sanding and painting going on. On the growing front, we planted some more lettuce aswell as some dill, cucumbers and basil. Fingers crossed they grow! There was a bit of over zealous watering going on but no more than what the rain will probably do in a few days time! 

Lisa and Laura from the Jobcentre getting stuck in! 

So with the volunteering back in action, what are you waiting for? Get involved! The more the merrier! The next volunteering event will be Wednesday August 1st - I wont be attending but one of the volunteers, Billy, will be organising things and he would love to see you there. Trinity House Community Resource Centre in Rusholme, 5pm! Unless it rains, of course!

Strawberry good!

Fruity! Nice!

Well! So much for the summer! All it ever seems to do these days is rain. The project is still going, but there's only been one chance in June to get out into the garden! And because of this, the place looked like a jungle! After some much needed weeding the planting beds were cleared and we discovered the strawberries! They should be ripe for picking any day now. WOOOOO! 

In other news!!!! Two volunteers have found work! I am super proud to announce this news! Hooray! 

 I need some new volunteers! This project is proving that it helps to do volunteering to gain employment. So what are you waiting for? Trinity House Community Resource Centre every Wednesday at 17:00! All welcome!

Lettuce have a look!

At long last, the sun is back and the rain has stopped! Although, as I write this it is actually raining! But the heat and the rain have turned the garden in to a jungle! The potatoes are coming up well and the lettuce is almost ready for eating! WOOP WOOP!
We desperately need some more volunteers down at the garden though. If you want to get involved we would love to have you come along. Every Wednesday at 17:00 at Trinity House Community Resource Centre in Rusholme! 

Welcome back, Sunshine!

Before

Hooray! The sun came back this evening. All is well down in the garden too. The seeds are starting to shoot (mainly the lettuce but also some peas!) and the netting seems to be child proof so far. 

Just a small group of volunteers today so it was a relaxed affair. Not that it is usually manic - how manic can you get in a garden?! Any way, I just went off on a tangent there, sorry. The grass had turned into a bit of a jungle since the clouds burst at the start of April so Sangeen gave it a mow. Meanwhile Ste and I shake'd and raked! We've sown some wild flowers ready to just do whatever they want to do. Here's some photos of the garden that is slowly starting to come into its own.

During

After! 

On the right is where the wild flowers will grow. If they want. They are wild after all.

If you want to get involved then please feel free to just come on down to Trinity House Community Resource Centre on Wednesday May 9th. If you want to contact me for further information then call 0161 248 2929 and ask for Becky. 

What's with the weather?!?

Well it rained all day so the volunteering event was cancelled! Apologies for that again. Fear not, it has been rescheduled for Monday April 30th at 17:00! See you all there!

It's growing time

This week was very exciting (if a little too exciting for me)! We planted some flowers in the boarder that was dug out a few weeks ago and also managed to plant some potatoes ready for growing and eating! Over in the vegatable planters things were looking good too! some of the seeds have started to shoot up! However, as these planters are in a play ground we had some maintenance to do. The beds had been trampled on. Boooooo. You can't stop kids having fun though! So in an attempt to save the crop we DIY'd some netting. Who knows if it will still be there on the next volunteer day! Fingers crossed the drawing pins did the trick and held down the netting. 

Here's a peek at some of the latest developments!

Forget-me-not

Lettuce shoots! Woo!

The next volunteer day will be Wednesday 25th of April at 17:00. As always, if you want to get involved then just come down to Trinity House in Rusholme. See you there! 

Feel free to contact Becky on 0161 248 2929 if you have any further questions.

 

Why does it always rain on me?

It rained today. A lot. So the volunteer day was cancelled. The sun has actually come out since it was cancelled but never mind! The next volunteer day will be Monday April 16th at 17:00 if you want to get involved!




In the mean time here's some photos of the progress from last week! A new grass patch and a broken flower!

Sew, what's knew?

Yep! Another terrible play on words for a title! But it's apt. Wednesday, under the glorious warmth of the March Sun, involved sewing seeds ready to start growing! How exciting! 


Time really flew on Wednesday, the sun was setting before we knew it but we managed to sew in some beans, parsnips, parsley, lettuce, chives and beetroot! We cannot wait until that all starts to grow! Here's some photos of the makeshift labels used to remind us of what we've planted. 

On Thursday myself and and one of the volunteers (a very brave Ste) visited the amazing Hulme Community Garden Centre to have a look around and get some ideas. We were shown around by the lovely Hélenè, who also donated some seeds and plants. We also bought some flowers, bulbs and potatoes ready to plant next week. Woo!


The next volunteer day will be Tuesday the 3rd of April, so if you want to get involved feel free to come on down or phone Becky on 0161 248 2929.

Here comes the sun...do do do doooo

Week two of the project and what a lovely evening it was! Even the sun came out to volunteer with us.

After a quick catch up, we got together to look at how confident the group felt towards applying for work or moving into employment with the clever use of a confidence thermometer (this week it was with a photo of a thermometer rather than an embarrassingly bad drawn one by myself the week before). 

Tyre painting

Then it was all hands on deck to get some tyres ready to get growing veg out of. Spare tyres and free paint are way better than plant pots! Stay tuned to see what we can manage to grow out of them. 

Lawn mowing - the first of many

Meanwhile Sangeen and Geoffrey tackled the grass and did an excellent job of cutting the lawn for the first time. The whole garden was done in an hour with sheer speed and efficiency! Great work!

After a brief stint of weeding (and some added stinging nettle drama) we called it a day just as the sun was setting.

It was a really lovely evening and once again, a massive thank you to Anna, Mary, Geoffrey, Sangeen and Billy. 

The next volunteer event will be Wednesday 28th March at 17:00. If you want to get involved then feel free to come to Trinity House CRC in Rusholme or call me on 0161 248 2929.

Team Lawn doing a great job in the basking sun

Also, if you do want to donate anything at all to the project (from tiny seeds to giant hoes*) then please please please do. We would really appreciate it.

Sunset over the garden

* Tee hee hee. I couldn't resist.

The first volunteer day! Yay!

The volunteers have just finished on their first day out in the garden and it was ace!


Throughout February the project recruited 6 amazing volunteers who are all super keen to get stuck in and get growing*. Today was hopefully the first of many days out in the garden!

1st of many Bees

Weed tackling!

We started out at Rusholme Jobcentre Plus, had a little ice breaker and discussed how confident we were feeling in moving into employment and then headed over to Trinity House Community Resource Centre in Rusholme. As soon as the tools were out and gloves were on there was no stopping us! In just a few hours the planting beds were free of weeds (hopefully for good - we'll see if those pesky weeks have returned the next time we are in the garden), the garden was cleared of litter and we even managed to plant some bulbs!! (Crocosmia were kindly donated by John who works for Stretford JCP). We discovered a tiny family of toys amongst the weeds (I took a photo but have no idea where it went), Anna saved a caterpillar (photo also missing, sorry!) and Ste found the first Bee of the summer. A tiny bright Robin also landed on the garden once we had cleared the weeds and rubbish! Hooray!

Clearing weeds and planning 

The Bee!

THE FIRST BULB OF THE GARDEN!

Making way for the first bulbs!

As we only had a few tools today - 3 trowels and one spade - we focused mainly on clearing spaces and thinking about what we want to see in the garden. At the end of the session the volunteers got together to discuss what skills we felt we got out of today and how that can be put on a CV or application form.


It's safe to say that everyone involved is super excited about the potential in the garden. We are hoping to start planting seeds and bulbs next week and hopefully we will start growing fruit and veg that we can take home and cook into something tasty!


A massive thank you to Anna, Mary, Ste, Geoffery, Billy and Sangeen - the lovely volunteers! Also a huge thank you to Chris and John who work for Jobcentre Plus and are both keen to keep up volunteering with the project. And of course, a big thank you to Matthew at Trinity House for giving us the opportunity and equipment to do the project.


The next volunteer day will be Wednesday March 21st at 5pm - if you want to get involved then please contact Becky on 0161 248 2929. If you want to donate any bulbs, seeds, planters, tools (we are one trowel down due to the unfortunate incident of Tool vs Soil - the soil won....booooo!), compost or fertiliser please please please do!


*Ha ha ha ha, it's a pun.

In the beginning.....

The first blog entry - Okay, so I have zero experience in blog writing so please bear with me! This is just a really quick introduction to who I am and what the project is! I currently work for Rusholme Jobcentre Plus and I am a Local Project Manager for Action for Sustainable Living too. I had this idea to build links with the jobcentre and its local community by.......


The Idea - to give those living in M14 who have never had a job or have been unemployed for a while, a chance to grow skills to put on their CV. It's aimed at those claiming out of work benefits from Rusholme Jobcentre Plus but any one in the local community who wants to get involved is more than welcome!


The Plan - to create a community garden in Rusholme that volunteers can work on together to grow their own fruit and veg! But also focusing on what skills volunteers will gain and how this can be reflected on a CV or job application form.