Raised Beds

Following on from the raised beds post previously, we have now finished them.  All the programs have been working hard to assemble Raised Beds that were purchased for the garden. When the wood arrived it seemed like a daunting task as there was just so much of it and we did not know where to start.  We made a plan and once the first one was completed, it was like factory production until all 9 were built.  They then were all painted with a protective preserve and lined.  The next stage was filling them up and we used sand for the bottom half to help with the draining then filled them with soil.

Now it was time to get planting, we decided that each program was going to get 3 beds each to plant what they wanted. Each group came up with ideas and within the groups they planted their bed to how they wanted.  The groups decided to have mix of Vegetables and Flower in the beds which was great as we can use the vegetables when cooking there was a good range Broccoli, Potatoes, Spring Onions, Carrot and Lettuce.  All the groups wanted the beds to look good all year round so they ensured that there were year round shrubs and flowers put in.

These beds took a few months for the groups to complete as we were not able to do these all the time, they now look brilliant in our garden.  By doing the raised beds it has helped service users develop communication skills with each other and community resources.  Practical skills have been developed in different way through learning to use the tools when building the beds to planting the plants.  The whole project has given everyone a sense of achievement and provided valuable knowledge and skills for the service users to carry forward.