Despite the snow, we’ve been working hard at Forest Farm Peace Garden to get ready for the spring’s exciting events. We’ve had a lot of fun digging holes in the snow to prepare the ground for tree planting, sorting out hundreds of vegetable seeds according to our planting plan, and watching the first seedlings of the year grow! Come along to our first Open Day of the year on the 11th March to celebrate trees with us, or learn essential gardening and tree skills at our workshops. Coming up we have:

1. Orchard Open Day – 11th March
2. Orchard Skills Workshops – 26 Feb / 25 March / 22 April
3. Get involved in Forest Farm Peace Garden

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1. Orchard Open Day – 11th March 2012 – 11am to 4pm – Forest Farm Peace Garden
Tree planting, entertainment and activities at Forest Farm Peace Garden.

Join us for this year’s first Open Day, where we will be celebrating trees and how they make our cities more healthy, beautiful and sustainable. Forest Farm Peace Garden welcomes you to our community garden to discover how we are bringing people together to enjoy nature, conserve the environment and grow local organic food.

• Tree planting throughout the day
• Delicious food and herbal tea
• Gardening for wildlife activities
• Buy organically grown seedlings for your garden
• Facepainting and other children’s activities

For more information email info [at] forestfarmpeacegarden.org or call 07587 244 459

***We need volunteers to help out at the Open Day- serving food, helping with activities, etc. Would you like to help out? Get in touch with Natalie, natalie [at] forestfarmpeacegarden.org.***

2. Orchard Skills *free* Workshops, 2012 Programme

We are running a programme of workshops and events throughout the year as part of a project to promote learning about trees, conservation and sustainability. Here are the upcoming workshops- they are free, but please RSVP.

26 February – Winter Pruning
Pruning is an essential skill for anyone who wants to maintain trees – whether in an orchard or in your garden. We have a range of trees on which you will learn and try out the theory and practice of pruning to keep trees healthy and productive. The workshop, run by a tree expert, aims to cater for a wide range of abilities- no previous experience necessary.

25 March – Walking under Medicinal Trees
Medicines made from the bark, blossom and leaves of beautiful native trees have been used for hundreds of years to treat heart disease, high blood pressure, circulatory problems and allergies to name just a few. At this workshop we will be looking at identification of a number of important British medicinal trees, what part and when we harvest and what we herbalists use them for. The workshop will be taught by Foprest Farm Peace Garden’s resident Medical Herbalist, Deborah Syrett, BSc (Hons), MCPP.

22 April – Companion planting
An important aspect of permaculture gardening is companion planting, or interplanting, in which different crops are planted alongside each other in a mutually beneficial way. Understanding companion planting strengthens the resilience, nutritional intake and productivity of your crops. We will plant examples of orchard campanion “guilds” in our newly planted orchard to demonstrate and practice companion planting in a forest garden.

Workshops run from 10.30am to 4pm.
We will provide necessary materials and instruction- come prepared for the weather. There will be some hot refreshments, but please bring a packed lunch. RSVP-ing is crucial as places will are limited. Contact info@forestfarmpeacegarden.org or call 07587 244 459 in order to find out more or to RSVP.

3. Get involved in Forest Farm Peace Garden

Would you like to get involved in the development of a dynamic and growing project with a positive track record of building community, working with marginalised communities and creating a sustainable future? Forest Farm Peace Garden is looking for volunteers to get involved in the committees which work on the vision, strategy and management of the project. Get in touch with the Project Coordinator, Natalie, at natalie [at] forestfarmpeacegarden.org to find out how to get involved.

More information here.

www.redbridge-iae.ac.uk/file.php/1/Docs/Environment_L2_Award_term_2.pdf

Anyone interested in attending should contact the Redbridge Institute, Gearies Centre, Gaysham Avenue, Gants Hill, Ilford IG2 6TD or call 020 8550 2398 to book a place on the course.

I hope you are enjoying the bright and wintry weather, and keeping warm! Despite the brisk and windy days, there’s still lots to do in the community garden and our volunteers are still busy harvesting vegetables and maintaining the garden for the winter. We will continue to be open for volunteers on Wednesdays and Fridays from 11am to 4pm through Wednesday 21st December.

Join us for a hot lunchtime Winter Solstice meal around the fire at 1pm, Wednesday 21st December, before we say goodbye to the garden for a few weeks until we open again on Friday the 6th January. There will be lots to do in the new year- make volunteering at your community garden your New Year’s resolution! Contact mairead [at] forestfarmpeacegarden.org to find out about becoming a volunteer or about our Buddy Scheme for supported volunteering.

**Exciting News – 2012 Orchard Skills Programme** Before we break for Winter, we have an exciting announcement about next year: we’ve received funding from Awards for All to run a year-long programme of workshops and open days about trees and orchards at Forest Farm Peace Garden. We will be running a series of workshops, roughly once a month, focussing on activities and skills such as hedgelaying, gardening for wildlife, medicinal properties of British trees, composting, pruning and more. Several of our open days throughout the year will also be themed around orchard skills, like a tree-planting Open Day in March and a return of the popular Abundance Open Day in October.

Upcoming events are:

>>Sunday 29 January, 10.30am – 4pm: Hedgelaying workshop at Forest Farm Peace Garden Learn the theory and practice of laying hedges to create natural and effective borders which protect and support wildlife.

>>Sunday 26th February, 10.30am – 4pm: Winter Pruning workshop at Forest Farm Peace Garden Learn the skills for winter pruning of trees to keep your trees healthy and effectively manage their growth.

Information on further workshops will be forthcoming in the new year. We will provide necessary materials and instruction- come prepared for the weather. There will be some hot refreshments, but please bring a packed lunch. RSVP-ing is crucial as places will are limited. Contact info [at] forestfarmpeacegarden.org in order to find out more or to RSVP to either or both of the workshops

>>Tree Planting Open Day – weekend of 24/25 March (day TBC) Join us for a day of planting trees at Forest Farm Peace Garden as well as the usual open day activities of hot food, plant sales, entertainment and activities.

**Get Involved – join the Orchard Skills organising committee**

In order to organise this exciting project, we need volunteers to help out to plan it and make it happen. You don’t need to know anything about trees- as long as you like them! We need all sorts of input- design and web skills, outreach and publicity, working with schools to organise tree planting activities, running the open days and workshops… but most importantly enthusiasm and commitment. Get in touch with Natalie, the Project Coordinator (natalie [at] forestfarmpeacegarden.org), to find out about getting involved in the Orchard Skills working group.

**For more updates, check us out on Facebook**

For updates about exciting permaculture, gardening, mental health, refugee/asylum seeker events and projects around London watch our Facebook page. Follow this link and “Like” Forest Farm Peace Garden, and we’ll be able to keep in touch with you!

Redbridge Rainbow Community is celebrating it’s first bithday on 1st December and we would love you to be there! There’s a chance to hear what we have been doing over the last year and what strides we have made in the borough. As it is World AIDS day we wil have some speakers to talk about thier work and the issue of HIV/AIDS. Food and drink will be provided and there will be a chance to network with other local community groups.

When: Thursday December 1st
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Where: Cardinal Heenan Centre
326 High Rd
Ilford
IG1 1QP

See more info on their website or Facebook