Billericay Community Garden

Does anyone have any unwanted mini plastic greenhouses, or parts of them, like the one in the picture. Not worried if it is just a few poles, or has no cover or is missing a few bits. We build our racking for the greenhouses out of the spare bits, see 2nd picture. So if you have any you are not needing, please let us know and we will reuse and recycle. Thank you.
P. S. Plant sales starting at our open day on May 11th, tomatoes, chilis, sweet peppers, aubergines, various flowering plants, pots and much more.

Open Day Blog 13 April 2019
Am sitting at home in my study just catching up on another very successful open day.
This blog is being quickly typed out and hopefully includes all the main items.
...Continue Reading

Hi to all, once again we have an open day on Saturday 13th April,this event we really could do with quite a few extra pairs of hands even if it’s for just an hour, today our main focus will be to start clearing phase 2 of the garden, it’s been a long time coming Our intention for most of phase 2 is to be part of a sensory garden,we have some funding to make a start on paths but first off we need to clear and level the area Please pop in, we could really do with the help Ho...pe to see as many as possible Thanks Team BCG
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Interim Open Day 6 April
Welcome everyone to this blog from Billericay Community Garden’s additional Open Day Sat 6 April 2019.
Thanks for all the help in a busy couple of hours - loads done.
... Ben’s Bed was turned over and rows of onion and garlic bulbs planted, including digging up some of last year’s bulbs from near the VC and moving them down.
Canes (with plastic tops on) were placed along the border and string wrapped around to indicate an ‘active’ bed and stop it from being accidently walked over.
Potatoes were planted out in the neighbouring bed.
Caroline was very busy in CP sowing seeds and potting plants.
A DoE student and mum helped out with planting, digging and tidying up. The collective effort from the D of E’ers is really appreciated. Thanks to his mum as well.
Chelmer Valley Bed (CVB) was dug over. Clumps of snow drops, donated to the Garden, were planted along the whole length. These should ‘take’ ready for 2020.
Big thanks to Lotte, came along to help out which was great. Some very obvious green-fingered volunteering skills there which are always welcome.
As usual the order of the day was peppermint and fruit flavoured tea!
We had a Boar Meeting at the Blue Boar last Wed and kicked around lots of ideas for the Sensory Garden (SG) including -
A circular path, Wheel chair access, Sensory features for touch, sound, sight etc, A bench to relax and enjoy the graden, More growing beds
We also decided to name all individual beds under various headers such as characters from the Jungle Book, Disney cartoon characters etc. The plaques will be designed and located at front of each bed
And finally a mention to John from Ideal Gardens for effort mid-week to complete the fence panels around Crystal Palace, digging over a couple of beds in preparation for today and some initial spec’ing out of the Sensory Garden.
The next Open Day is this coming Saturday where we will be pushing ahead with initial work on the Sensory Garden
So feel free to come along and have a chat, a dig and a dam good laugh!
Cheers. Andy Molloy 07/04/19.
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Open Day 30 March 2019.
The end of another busy day at the Garden.
A massive amount has been achieved.
... A new set of gates have been installed at the front entrance.
The tool shed has had a massive spring clean, all equipment removed, shed windows fixed, equipment re-organised and placed back inside.
3 DofE students helped out today. They installed new fence panels around Crystal Palace. Job well done. Thanks guys.
The long grass growing along the edge of the main beds has a good trim. Thanks to one of our younger volunteers.
Lucy and family very kindly bought some bird food along and replenished empty feeders. Thanks for your help. The bag of bird seed is kept in the VC so any visitors can quickly top up the feeders.
A visitor arrived to collect some pumpkin seeds after seeing the offer posted on social media. That was cool.
Broad beans have been planted out along with canes and netting. Thanks to the parents of DofE students and friends for their help.
The pond got some TLC and large amounts of weed was raked up and removed. All the solar panels and lights had had their wires chewed through, this kit was also taken out from pond.
We had an excellent turn out of regulars, DofE students and new faces. There was at different times up to 18 people helping in the Garden - excellent.
The weather has been superb and helped us to keep on top of things in the Garden which looks in very good condition.
Again. Thanks to everyone for their continued time and commitment.
The next Open Day in 13 April at which we will be laying out the foundations for the Sensory Garden.
We are meeting at the Blue Boar this coming Wednesday 7.30pm to discuss the Sensory Garden. Everyone is welcome.
Thanks......
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Want to grown your own Peggy Pumpkin? We have seeds from our large pumpkin to give away. Available from the garden today. See if you can grow one bigger than us? RHS Hyde Hall have a pumpkin weigh in planned for 5th October.

Morning to all, looking like a lovely day to be in the garden, sunny all day 🌞

For those who have never been or maybe not visited for a while here is a little clip of the garden... 💚

Hi to all, there will be plenty of activity going on in the garden, from chatting over a cuppa, to dealing with seeds and seedlings but our main focus will be on fencing around Crystal Palace ( our larger greenhouse ) and making a start on our new entrance.please pop in if your passing as always we make time for a tour around the garden, and if you can spare an hr or two more hands on site gets a lot more things done in the garden 😁 Thank you from the BCG team .

Interim Open Day 3 March 2019
Hiya Community Garden followers.
We’ve just had another fun packed ‘Pumpkins, Dung and Dalecs’ afternoon at the Garden. Never a dull moment!
... Today we sent a hand-picked team of dung experts to collect local manure and bring it back to the garden.
This was a smelly experience (oh boy) and the heat started rising as we dug deeply into the dung and loaded up John’s van.
The ‘silver lining’ was a quick tour of the equestrian facilities and the horses.
A big thanks to Caroline’s sister for arranging access to the site to collect the manure and her nephew’s horse and other horses for producing it. Am quite sure we’ll be back!
The pumpkin pits dug last week were half filled with manure, topped up with soil and raked over.
This will give the 2019 pumpkins a good start in life and ideally exceed 40kg by September’s weigh in.
We are thinking of having a naming competition with the kids from Billericay Forest School – what do you reckon Lauren?
The remaining manure was packed into the three scary looking Dalek Composters (related to the fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants in Dr Who.) They are actually up-cycled redundant composters and given a new lease of life.
These are strategically placed to guard the entrance to Crystal Palace (CP) and watch over the germinating seeds and plants – woe betide any unsuspecting foragers - foxes, badgers and squirrels, you will obey!
Having completed the dung tasks we focused attention on the next Open Day.
We intend to build a picket fence around Crystal Palace, put up trellis fence panels and complete the general tidy up of the garden.
Of course lots of tea will be drunk over many a conversation – so please pop along.
And finally, we made an executive decision - to rename the small greenhouse ''The Wee Hoose'.
Quick reminder for your diaries – the next Open Days are 23 Mar and 13 Apr.
That's it for now from the Bald Blogger - take care everyone.
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Heated propagators are up and running, tomatoes, chilis, melon, caoe gooseberry, lobelia, salvias, black eyed susies..... Always a fine line between over and under watering.

You gotta love spring

Welcome everyone to this blog from Billericay Community Garden’s Open Day held on 23 Feb 2019.
We hit the jackpot with the weather and made very good progress!
Saturday focused on the continued tidying and preparation of the garden along with much planting activity in Crystal Palace!
... The Head Gardener, John Frid,commented ‘the garden is in an excellent state considering we are only in Feb and the results are clearly evident’ –
- Paths and thoroughfares stand out with a new layer of wood chippings;
- Flower and vegetable beds have been deep dug and are weed free;
- Rubbish and materials cleared away to improve the look and feel of the garden;
- Berry square tidied and weeds cleared.
Even though annual maintenance tasks take precedent now, sowing seeds and growing new plants is equally as important. Caroline has been leading efforts here and is doing a great job.
The small green house is in full operation, all shelf space is crammed with germinating seed trays and the new insulation lagging keep jack frost at bay during the colder nights. So get ready as there will be a lot of planting out during the next Open Days.
Varieties of seeds included - Four o’clocks, Pink Fur Apple, Maris Piper, Cauliflower (Normal / Romanesco), Camomile, Dahlias, Tomato Ailsa Craig and Red Cabbage.
The wild Beds had 163 bulbs planted.
Saturday also felt like a family day as alongside regular committee members (John, Donna, Caroline and Me) it was fantastic to see and get support from other volunteers.
Margaret’s advice and help on the pruning and care of the fruit bushes was well timed.
Lucy and her friend Michelle came along with a pack of kids and they all got stuck in. They helped dig out two pits and then saw up logs and layer them into the bottom of each pit.
All the kids put the Mud Kitchen and swing to good use.
We also had some other visitors who had a tour of the garden and it was also really nice to meet John’s parents again.
We ended up with a final cup of tea and a reflection on what had been a superb day.
Thank you to everyone who helped out!!!!
Quick reminder for your diaries –
Next Open Days are 23 Mar and 13 Apr.
Location of the garden is at the back of Emmanuel Church, Laindon Road.
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Approximately 25 verbena plants planted into the wildlife beds,someone’s throw outs another gain by us,one of the head gardeners favourite’s,and with some help from Teddy

Please do come along to our next open day at the garden. There is always lots to do in a very friendly place with tea and coffee regularly served. You are welcome to just come along and have a tour of garden or help with the tasks at hand for as long as you can or wish to stay. The days are great fun and fulfilling as to what we can achieve....Thanks.

Hi Billericay Community Garden Fans,
A quick update on some late afternoon work at the garden.
Earlier today, a large pile of wood and garden chippings was deposited in the car park next to the lawn behind Emanuel Church.
... This was kindly donated by members of www.Arbtalk.co.uk which is a networking site for tree surgeons and forestry workers. So a big thank you.
A joint team from Ideal Gardens and the Garden Committee was rallied to move the massive pile into the garden and spread the chippings over the existing network of paths and trails.
We used wheel barrows, 1 ton bags and a lot of grafting to get the pile shifted. All done now - phew!
As you know from the last blog, we are in the process of having a general tidy up in the garden to remove all unwanted materials, rubbish and re-vamp the front entrance.
The chippings will add a fresh top layer to the paths, fill in any gaps and also improve the overall look and feel of the garden.
Completion of this work will be a very good start to 2019.
Again, thanks to efforts from John Frid, Ideal Gardens, Billericay and Arbtalk.co.uk
Speak soon - The Bald Blogger.
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Welcome everyone to this short blog from Billericay Community Garden’s interim Open Day, 2 Feb 2019.
John and I spent a few hours tackling chores after the successful Annual General Meeting.
I strongly recommend a winter visit to the garden to wander around the curving paths on a journey from the Visitor Centre, past Crystal Palace and across the bridge into the far-side.
... You get a really good idea of achievements in 2018 and of the exciting plans for 2019. Check out the photos below and if you want to learn more, just turn up on a future Open Day – easy!
Clearance of materials and equipment from the area just inside the wooden gate was our main focus.
Old bricks, railway sleepers, pots, gates and fence panels were tidied up for future projects.
Why bother you might ask – we want visitors to experience a positive image of the garden at the entrance and to encourage them to explore the plants, paths and passion (from the volunteers.)
It really is a fabulous place.
Cold temperatures and snow do not stop nature. Rose buds are primed, germinating Limnathes seedlings and bulbs sprouting in the Chelmer Valley Beds, albeit too early, are evidence that spring is just round the corner.
The committee adapts ready for 2019 to make sure publicity and communications through social media and with schools / organisations are covered.
With that in mind, Jacqui, one of the original members of the committee has completed her term and is moving onto new exciting projects. So a big thanks to Jacqui and don’t forget to pop round for a brew and a catch up.
Dates for all 2019 Open Days will be published soon.
Thanks. The Bald Blogger.
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Our AGM is tomorrow morning - come along to learn more about the garden! 🌱🌺🐝🍂🌻

Annual General Meeting
Open to the public
Come along to learn more about the Community Garden, it's volunteers and it's vision for the future

Very relaxing at the garden a great place to go and unwind whether picking crops,digging weeds or just grabbing a chair and chilling �