I always see gardening as escape, as peace really. If you are angry or troubled, nothing provides the same solace as nurturing the soil. – Monty Don
When people come for a Wellbeing Centre session or course at Dutch Farm, they often comment on the difference they feel as they walk through the gate. And as they wander into this green oasis and notice the birds singing, the trees and plants reflected in the pond and smell the freshness of the air, more often than not they mention the feeling of peace.
We wondered if our visitors felt the same. And while we were pleased they seem to have eaten some of the algae, we suspect they're the reason there aren't nearly so many tadpoles as before they came! Ah well, let's just hope they don't find all of them. It would be good to have some frogs; they're an important part of our pond's life.
When we were next at the barn we saw two of the ducks had returned. A curious pair they are too. We kept fairly still and they came very close, hoping for some scraps perhaps. They didn't find scraps but we did discover that they eat dandelion seeds, which is handy if you don't want too many dandelions!
Meanwhile back at the growing - our Volunteer team has grown, and just in time as May has been keeping them all very busy. A mixture of vegetables, herbs and flowers are well on the way: peppers, radish, carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, sweetcorn, cucumber, chives, sage, thyme, cornflowers and cosmos - to name but a few!
We're also growing companion plants to help keep the gnashing beasties away: nasturtiums, and marigolds, and sunflowers in between our outdoor tomatoes.
And they'll bring a lovely splash of colour to what we already have.
Of course we couldn't do any of it without our pollinators - here are just two of them.
More Barn Transformation news next month!