Sunday 29th January 2012 - Fruit pruning and winter tidy up

Over twenty people came along to our garden task, the first of 2012. We pruned fruit trees and soft fruit, swept the paths, planted Oxeye Daisies in the meadow and had tea and cake.

Most of our new raised bed tenants came along and were given a Master Gardeners growing pack, with a free packet of seeds. They will receive help and advice on growing vegetables during the coming year.

Sunday 15th January 2012 - Floranova Donates Vegetable Seeds

Thanks to Nick Belfield-Smith of Floranova for supplying us with free vegetable seeds.

Thursday 12th January 2012 - Annual General Meeting

Our Annual General Meeting at The Belvedere Centre was well attended. We reviewed the last year, decided on dates for events and garden tasks and elected new committee members.

Sunday 11th December 2011 - Last Garden Task Of The Year

We held our last garden task of the year and cleared away nasturtiums and achocha (both nipped by frost) and finished tidying the garden for winter. It was also a chance for some of our raised bed tenants to meet one another and talk about what they'd like to grow next year.

Wednesday 7th December 2011 - The Creation Of A Garden

We now have a short film of the creation of the garden, accompanied by 'Urban Oasis' by Dave Sturgess. It's on the home page - hope you like it!

Friday 2nd December 2011 - We Have Allocated Our Raised Beds

At last night's committee meeting we sifted through the applications for deep beds and decided who will rent one next year.

We chose local people and families without gardens of their own and they will each be given the support of a Norfolk Master Gardener.

Sunday 27th November 2011 - Pruning, Clearing, Planting, Weeding

We had another afternoon in the garden, where we pruned the grapevines, swept up the last of the ash leaves, cleared out the runner beans, planted our last daffodil bulbs and did some tidying. See the photos on Facebook.

Once we have a sharp frost we will have one more garden work task (date to be decided, but probably Sunday 11th December), to clear away nasturtiums.

Wednesday 23rd November 2011 - We have Black Bamboos!

We now have two hefty black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra) plants in the garden. They're very easy to spot - the tallest plants in the garden apart from the ash trees and climbers, and they're in the north-east corner by the business units.

Thanks to Ros Newman and Chris Wade for donating the plants.

Sunday 20th November 2011 - Successful Fundraising Gig

Yesterday's fundraising gig at The Belvedere Centre was a great success. It featured Saxobility plus support from Dave Sturgess, Norwich Ukulele Society and Norwich Accordion Band. We made a profit of £314.40, which includes £80 for the raffle.

Thanks to everyone who played and helped out.

View photos of the gig here.

Wednesday 16th November 2011 - Visit by Rob Hopkins

Rob Hopkins, the founder of the Transition movement, visited the garden, which is still looking good in its autumn colours.

View the Autumn 2011 photo gallery.

Tuesday 15th November 2011 - Three Years of Transition Norwich

We had a stall at today's celebration of three years of Transition Norwich.

Rob Hopkins, the founder of the Transition movement, gave a talk about the latest ideas and developments in the Transition movement.

Sunday 13th November 2011 - More Photos of the Garden

The latest pictures of the garden are now on Facebook.

Sunday 6th November 2011 - Reminder: Raised Bed Applications

Don't forget that the closing date to apply for a raised bed to grow your own vegetables in 2012 is 1st December.

To apply, read the Tenancy Agreement and complete a Raised Bed Application form and send it to us by 1st December 2011.

You must be a member of the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group to rent a raised bed - join using our Membership Application form.

Friday 4th November 2011 - GHCG at Norfolk Pro Help Annual Breakfast

This morning James Cleaver from Andrew Morton Associates and our Treasurer Peter Ellington gave a presentation to the Norfolk Pro Help annual breakfast meeting at Park Farm Hotel, Hethersett.

Business In The Community ProHelp organises support from professional organisations, Accountants, Architects, Lawyers, Marketing companies and the like to charities and voluntary organisations. Peter made a 15 minute presentation showing a picture history of the garden and thanking Clare Wilson from Birketts LLP who helped us back in 2008 with our contract for the land with Norwich City Council, James Cleaver from Andrew Morton Associates who gave invaluable help as quantity surveyors, tendering and managing N D Willan during the building phase and Mark Ashurst from ASquared Architects who charged reduced rates for formalising the garden designs.

The presentation was well received and congratulated as a great example of a successful community project. The event was covered "The Business" in the Norwich Evening News.

Wednesday 2nd November 2011 - Visit from Strangers Hall Garden Group

On another sunny and mild afternoon Strangers Hall Garden Group had a tour of the garden, led by Jeremy Bartlett.

Monday 31st October 2011 - Latest Pictures of Garden

The latest pictures of the garden are now on Facebook.

Wednesday 26th October 2011 - 'Like' us on Facebook

The garden now has 150 followers on Facebook.

Our Facebook page includes galleries of extra photographs that aren't on this website and you don't need a Facebook account to view it.

Click on the Facebook link on the top left of every page - or here.

Sunday 23rd October 2011 - Another Garden Task

Thanks to everyone who came along to yesterday's garden task.

It was another fine and sunny afternoon and we weeded, tied in the tummelberry, made leafmould, mowed the lawn and planted wildflower seeds in the meadow: pignut, crosswort, bird's foot trefoil and lesser knapweed.

The big water tank is now connected up to the gutter by the business units, giving us another source of water for the garden.

Sunday 16th October 2011 - Deadline for Raised Bed Applications is 1st December

The closing date to apply for a raised bed to grow your own vegetables in 2012 is 1st December.

To apply, read the Tenancy Agreement and complete a Raised Bed Application form and send it to us by 1st December 2011.

You must be a member of the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group to rent a raised bed - join using our Membership Application form.

Monday 10th October 2011 - Work To Be Done In The Garden

Yesterday volunteers planted daffodil bulbs, weeded and swept leaves in the garden.

A list of outstanding garden jobs is now on Facebook - please contact us if you complete any of the tasks.

Thursday 29th September 2011 - Visit from Great Yarmouth Library Community Garden

Visitors from the Great Yarmouth Library Community Garden had a tour of the garden, led by Richard Bearman.

Thursday 22nd September 2011 - Latest Pictures of Garden

The latest pictures of the garden are now on Facebook.

Sunday 11th September 2011 - Bulb Planting and More

We had more new visitors to the garden, as a small group of volunteers planted squill, cyclamen and Anemone blanda bulbs and did some clearing up and weeding. We didn't have time to do all the work that is needed, so please come along and help out on the next task, on Sunday 25th September.

Dates for October and November tasks will be decided at our Public Meeting on Thursday 15th September.

Saturday 10th September 2011 - We Have Worms

We added some worms to the compost bins to help speed up composting. Worms usually arrive by themselves but the compost bins are on rather stony ground so we thought we had better give nature a hand.

Thanks to Jo Parlar for donating the worms from her compost heap.

Sunday 28th August 2011 - Herb Cuttings and Migrant Hawkers

We had another afternoon in the garden and took cuttings from the Lemon Verbena and Blackcurrant Sage. Neither plant is particularly hardy, so we will overwinter the cuttings in a frost-free place in case the original plant is killed by the cold and damp of winter.

We also harvested vegetables (including 'Painted Lady' runner beans, pictured left), shared them out and did some weeding.

Migrant Hawker dragonflies sunned themselves on the trellis and Comma and Red Admiral butterflies came to visit the Buddleia flowers on the northern edge of the garden.

Saturday 20th August 2011 - Latest Pictures of Garden

The latest pictures of the garden are now on Facebook.

Sunday 14th August 2011 - Making Hay While The Sun Shines

Grapes Hill Community Garden Group members spent the afternoon in the garden and cut the wildlife meadow, except for two patches of cornfield annuals that are still in flower.

We also put extra wires on top of the pergola to support our fast growing grapevines, weeded, watered and removed bay suckers from our bay trees.

We sampled fruits from our Achocha plants, which we decided taste like pea pods and cucumber!

See photos on Facebook.

Thursday 11th August - More Grand Opening Day Photos

We've added more photos of the Grand Opening to this website and our Facebook page. Thanks to Jo and Dave for the pictures.

Sunday 7th August 2011 - Grand Opening Day

We celebrated the completion of the garden with a Grand Opening Day.

The Hellesdon and Sprowston Brass Band played outside the gates to welcome visitors from 10am, then Will Giles from Norwich's Exotic Garden officially opened the garden at 11am.

There followed a really enjoyable day, with music provided by a variety of musicians, food and drink supplied by The Green Grocers, icecream from Ronaldo's, plants supplied by the Plant-Me plant centre at Snetterton, face painting and sales of greetings cards, hand made jewellery, second-hand gardening and cookery books.

Grapes Hill Community Garden Group members were on hand to provide information on the garden to visitors and we had an information stand with photos showing the garden's development.

We also had a competition with prizes that included champagne, wine, chocolates, a box of garden produce and an original watercolour painting by Vanna Bartlett.

The Grand Opening Day was featured in the Eastern Daily Press.

View photos of the event in our latest gallery.

Saturday 6th August 2011 - Wildlife in the Garden

List of wildlife seen in the garden (100 kb PDF file) added to site. Please let us know of any more sightings.

Thursday 4th August 2011 - Evening Planting Task

On a rather damp evening six of us planted up the border by the Business Units with shade loving plants such as Woodrush (Luzula), Pachysandra and Epimedium. See our updated plant list for details (100 kb PDF file).

Monday 25th July 2011 - Latest Pictures of Garden

The latest pictures of the garden are now on Facebook.

Saturday 23rd July 2011 - Another Garden Task

We spent Thursday evening in the garden, weeding and tying back plants. The vegetation is very lush after all the rain.

And on Friday night we had a 'thank you' barbecue for GHCGG members and people who've helped to plant up and look after the garden. View photos on Facebook.

Tuesday 19th July 2011 - Heart and Leaf Sculpture Added to Garden

Patrick Goodall has now installed his 'Heart and Leaf' sculpture in the garden, opposite the entrance. The design is based on the group's logo, originally designed by Danny. See photos on Facebook.

Saturday 16th July 2011 - Follow Us on Facebook

Don't forget that we have a Facebook page, which includes galleries of extra photographs that aren't on this website. Click on the Facebook link on the top left of every page - or here.

Wednesday 13th July 2011 - Photos Added For Sunday Evening's Event

See here and on Facebook.

Sunday 10th July 2011 - St. Benedict's Street Fair and Evening in the Garden

Our stall at the St. Benedict's Street Fair was a great success. This was followed by a very enjoyable evening of music, food and drink in the garden. Thanks to the bands, The Green Grocers for doing the catering, to all the volunteers who helped out and to everyone who came along.

See photos of the Street Fair in our latest gallery and on Facebook.

Photos of the evening in the garden will be added soon.

Saturday 2nd July 2011 - Garden Open to the public

The garden is open to the public daily from today. Summer opening hours are 9am - 6pm.

Yesterday we prepared the garden for opening, weeding, cutting the lawn and installing Patrick Goodall's benches. See photos here - and there are more on Facebook.

Friday 1st July 2011 - Visit from Green Party Councillors

A group of Green Party councillors from different parts of England and Wales had a tour of the garden, led by Jeremy Bartlett.

Thursday 23rd June 2011 - Garden Tour

We had a good turnout for an evening tour of the garden led by Jeremy, including weed identification and tastings of some of the edible plants.

Thursday 16th June 2011 - Plant List Updated

See the latest list of plants in the garden, which we've just updated.

Sunday 12th June 2011- View Latest Photos

See our latest photos of the garden on Facebook.

Thursday 9th June 2011 - In the Garden and On the Radio

We had another evening's garden task, with some new visitors, including an EDP photographer. We did some weeding and practised putting up gazebos for our upcoming events.

Earlier in the day the garden was featured in Future Radio's Community Chest programme.

Saturday 28th May 2011 - Old Photographs of Grapes Hill

We've added a gallery of old photographs of Grapes Hill to the site. Thanks to Peter Salt for providing the pictures.

Friday 27th May 2011 - Mulched and Watered

Yesterday saw our first proper rain for weeks and we experienced some of it as we finished mulching the garden on our second evening task. We also dug up the daffodils in the deep bed (to be dried prior to replanting in autumn) and tasted some salad leaves.

Earlier in the day Martin and Patrick built the compost heap.

Wednesday 25th May 2011 - Bumblebees in the Garden

Our ornamental sage with violet-purple flower spikes, Salvia 'Mainacht', is proving a great hit with bumblebees. These include the beautiful Tree Bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum, which only arrived in the UK ten years ago, and is spreading north. See Facebook for a photo and the BWARS website for more information on bumblebees.

Saturday 21st May 2011 - Another Shopping Trip For Plants

We went to Taverham Garden Centre and bought three trolley loads of plants for the garden. These included some small shrubs, a fourth grape vine and a range of herbaceous perennials. See our plant list for the new additions.

Many thanks to Stuart Clancy at Taverham Garden Centre for giving us a generous discount on our purchases.

This is our last major purchase of plants for now - but of course a garden is always evolving...

Sunday 15th May 2011 - Weeding, planting, watering and mulching

We weeded, planted more perennials from Robin Tacchi Plants, watered and mulched with compost from Shrubbs Farm, Edgefield. See the photos on this website and on Facebook.

Wednesday 4th May 2011 - Our first evening task

We held our first evening task in the garden, weeding watering and harvesting our first crop of radishes, which were shared amongst the volunteers.

Monday 25th April 2011 - Planting herbs

We planted over 200 plants, supplied by Norfolk Herbs.

We also weeded the wildflower meadow, prepared more deep beds, sowed seeds - and watered. See the photos here.

Saturday 23rd April 2011 - Latest Pictures on Facebook

See photos of our new bay trees (planted 20th April) and other pictures of the garden on Facebook - here.

Sunday 17th April 2011 - More Perennials Planted

On a beautifully sunny day we planted some lovely perennials from Howard Nurseries, including some day lilies (Hemerocallis), ornamental grasses, hostas, Rudbeckia, heucheras and bronze fennel. We also replanted daffodils from one of the deep beds and weeded out the bindweed growing in it. See the photos on this website and on Facebook.

Sunday 10th April 2011 - Chamomile Path

Today we planted our chamomile path, using plants donated to us by the Sustainable Living Initiative. Thanks to Mahesh Pant for providing the plants.

Wednesday 6th April 2011 - Evenings in the garden

Now the evenings are lighter, every fortnight from Wednesday 4th May 2011 we're going to have an evening task. From 6pm to 8pm we will be doing a variety of jobs in the garden, including weeding, sowing seeds and planting out our last plants, such as tomatoes and courgettes. Come and join us - dates are listed above.

Wednesday 6th April 2011 - Garden featured in Eastern Daily Press

We are featured in Wednesday's EDP2 section in an article by Stacia Briggs entitled 'How communities are creating their own green spaces'.

Sunday 3rd April 2011 - Another Successful Planting Day

Today we planted herbaceous perennials, shrubs and climbers from Robin Tacchi Plants at Garboldisham. These included several lovely clematises, hardy geraniums, bamboo, flowering quinces (Chaenomeles) and two chocolate vines (Akebia). The plum tree is now in blossom and the 'Ice Follies' daffodils we planted in December are in full flower.

See photos on this website and on Facebook.

Sunday 27th March 2011 - Planting Woodland Wildflowers

Today we planted woodland wildflower plants under the ash trees, including primroses, wild garlic, wild strawberries and bluebells. The plants came from British Wildflower Plants at North Burlingham. See the photos on this website and Facebook.

Thursday 24th March 2011 - We Have a Lawn

We spent yesterday and today laying turf on our lawn area and watering it in. Patrick's log structure is also complete.

We will have to wait a couple of months for the lawn to establish before it can be used, but it should be nicely settled in by our garden opening on Saturday 2nd July 2011.

View the photos on this website and on Facebook

Thursday 17th March 2011 - More Planting

This morning four members of the group sowed a wildflower meadow beneath the apple trees and a couple of patches of cornfield annuals. We also planted the Rosa Mundi rose near the entrance to the garden. See the photos.

Wednesday 16th March 2011 - See our Planting List

We now have a complete list of the plants in the garden. This will be updated as we add further plants to the garden during the spring.

Monday 14th March 2011 - Public Meeting at Belvedere Centre

At last night's public meeting at The Belvedere Centre we agreed the format of our update newsletter and publicity postcard, planned more Garden Work Days and welcomed a new committee member.

Sunday 13th March 2011 - Garden Work Day

Over twenty people, including volunteers from Norwich Community Green Gym helped weed, move soil and plant fruit (Japanese wineberries and blue honeysuckles), shrubs and our first vegetable seeds. Thanks to everyone who helped, provided tea, soup and cake and donated seeds (and a tree!).

View the photos on this website and on Facebook: gallery 1 gallery 2.

Sunday 27th February 2011 - Garden Work Day

We enjoyed a sunny day at the garden and spread about 20 tonnes of soil, did more weeding, laid slabs, put up wires to train fruit and planted more shrubs. And we sampled some very fine beetroot and chocolate cake from The Greenhouse.

View photos. Thanks to everyone who came along.

Wednesday 23rd February 2011 - Soil Delivery

Two truckloads of soil have been delivered to the garden and will be used to top up soil levels, especially at the north (bottom) end of the garden, after which we can finish planting.

Sunday 20th February 2011 - Master Gardeners visit garden

Norfolk Master Gardeners visited the garden on Sunday, as part of their training day at The Belvedere Centre.

Monday 14th February 2011 - Dates announced for garden opening

We will be opening the garden to the general public from Saturday 2nd July 2011 and will celebrate the opening a month later with a Grand Opening Day, provisionally arranged for Sunday 7th August 2011.

There's a lot to do before opening. We need to plant up the garden, build compost bins, lay turf, sow a wildflower meadow and then allow time for plants to establish before opening up the garden.

Come and help us on one of our Garden Work Days.

Sunday 13th February 2011 - Garden Work Day

We had another successful work day in the garden, planting rhubarb, weeding and putting soil in the five smaller deep beds. View photos.

Friday 11th February 2011 - Water Tanks Connected

The water tanks at the back of 12 Valentine Street are now connected up and starting to collect rainwater from the roof.

Friday 4th February 2011 - Garden Construction is Complete

The sealed gravel surface of the sitting out area was laid yesterday and the water tanks are in place at the back of 12 Valentine Street (though they still need to be connected up). The hard landscaping phase of garden construction is now complete.

View the latest pictures in our Garden Construction gallery.

Wednesday 26th January 2011 - Now on Facebook

We are now on Facebook - visit our page here or by clicking on the Facebook logo at the top of any page.

Sunday 23rd January 2011 - Tree Planting Day

We planted fruit trees and bushes in the garden. Thanks to Norfolk County Council for a Landscape Conservation Grant which has paid for our fruit trees.

View the latest pictures in our Tree Planting gallery.

Monday 17th January 2011 - Annual General Meeting

We held our A.G.M. at The Belvedere Centre.

One of the actions from the meeting was to draw up a set of rules for those individuals and groups wishing to rent one of our raised beds. More details will follow soon.

Saturday 15th January and Sunday 16th January 2011 - Bindweed Removal Weekend

Thanks to everyone who took part, including volunteers from Norwich Community Green Gym, who joined us on the Sunday. The garden is now ready for our Tree Planting Day on Sunday 23rd January 2011.

View photos from the weekend's tasks in our Bindweed Removal gallery.

Friday 14th January 2011 - Transition Norwich Blog and visit to Reads Nursery

Three members of the garden's Planting Sub-committee visited Reads Nursery at Hales Hall, near Loddon, to choose fruit trees for the garden. We will return to buy the trees next week, nearer to our Tree Planting Day. Our 'shopping list' includes apples (including some Norfolk varieties), pears, cherries, a fig, a medlar and a quince. The trees will be a mixture of standards, fans and espaliers.

The garden also features in today's post on the Transition Norwich Blog.

Wednesday 12th January 2011 - More garden construction pictures

View the latest pictures in our Garden Construction gallery.

Wednesday 3rd January 2011 - Garden featured on 'Norwich Scoop'

Our upcoming events are advertised on Norwich Scoop (a new local online newsletter for Norfolk people thinking globally). Visit the Norwich Scoop website at www.norwichscoop.dreamhosters.com.

Tuesday 28th December 2010 - Post-Christmas Garden Work Party

In early December we discovered that the topsoil that was stored for us on Mousehold Heath and delivered in November is full of bindweed roots.

Eight of us spent the morning removing the roots. It was good to get outside after all the snowy weather and heavy Christmas food!

We will have two more work parties in January - see Upcoming Events, above. View photos in our Bindweed Removal gallery.

Wednesday 15th December 2010 - Work resumes on garden

Work resumes on garden construction, with the trellis about to be fixed to the wall at the back of Valentine Street.

You can view progress in our Garden Construction gallery.

Tuesday 14th December 2010 - Fundraising Christmas Cards

A final reminder that our two Christmas Card designs are for sale - this year's 'Robin on Flowerpot' and last year's 'Partridge in a Pear Tree'.

Both cards cost 40p each, £1.50 for five or £2.50 for ten.

Postage and packing costs 50p for every ten cards. E-mail us (stating designs and quantities) or phone Fran on 07729 540 482 to order.

Both designs are by group member Vanna Bartlett. Last year's design is based on Danny's GHCG logo.

'Robin on Flowerpot' (left) and 'Partridge in a Pear Tree' (right).

Click on either picture for a bigger image.

Saturday 4th December 2010 - Bulb Planting

Members of the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group spent the morning planting daffodil bulbs in the garden. Read more...

Friday 3rd December 2010 - Bulb Planting to go ahead

Bulb planting will go ahead as planned tomorrow. A site visit this morning found that the ground where we will be planting has been protected by the snow so isn't frozen.

If you wish to attend, please wear stout footwear (e.g. walking boots) as the ground is uneven and covered in snow, wear warm clothing and bring gardening gloves and a trowel if you have them.

Wednesday 1st December 2010 - Update on Bulb Planting

In spite of the cold, snowy weather we are still hoping to do some bulb planting on Saturday 4th December. But we will inspect the garden beforehand and will update this website late on Friday with further news.

Wednesday 17th November 2010 - View work in progress

Work continues on garden construction, with much of the hard landscaping now complete. The railings are being installed this week.

You can view progress in our Garden Construction gallery.

Tuesday 16th November 2010 - Public Meeting at Belvedere Centre

Last night's public meeting at The Belvedere Centre was well attended. One of the main outcomes was the formation of a planting committee, which will plan how we will plant up the garden.

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 - Garden receives more funding

We are pleased to announce that the project has received a boost in funding from the Greater Norwich Development Partnership as part of the Dereham Road Bus Rapid Transit project. This will allow us to complete the hard and soft landscaping, including items that we were unable to pay for in the first phase of the project funded by Big Lottery Community Spaces.

The new funding will allow us to complete the raised beds, install the rainwater harvesting system and add trellising to grow more fruit trees and berries around the north and west borders of the site. It will also pay for the essential galvanising of the iron railings and complete the shortfall of funds to pay for the decorative gates. Finally it should cover the cost of the remaining soft landscaping.

Items that will still need funding are the bee hives, pedal powered fountain and rent on a nearby secure garage to store equipment. Any local sponsors or businesses willing to help with further funding can contact us. We would also be happy to receive donations or temporary loans of art works, sculptures etc that are in keeping with the design and ethos of this Community Garden project.

Saturday 2nd October 2010 - Fundraising Gig by The Ouagadougous

The Ouagadougous played at our third fundraising gig, at the Belvedere Centre in Norwich. Another enjoyable evening, which raised £275 for the garden. View photos of the event.

Wednesday 15th September 2010 - No more tarmac!

Today the layer of tarmac covering the garden site was stripped off.

You can view how garden construction is progressing in our Garden Construction gallery.

Monday 13th September 2010 - Construction starts this week

Work starts this week on the construction of the garden, which will include removal of the tarmac, construction of gates and railings and hard landscaping. This phase of the work is expected to take around nine weeks.

The work will be carried out by local construction firm N D Willan Building Contractors.

Once hard landscaping is complete, we will be able to start planting out the garden. We hope to involve volunteers from the group and the local community in the planting process.

Sunday 5th September 2010 - Co-op donates vouchers

Many thanks to the East of England Co-operative Society for the donation of vouchers, which we use to buy prizes for our raffle at the fundraising gig on 2nd October 2010.

Tuesday 31st August 2010 - Contractor chosen

We have now chosen our preferred contractor for garden construction. Thanks to all the bidders for their hard work.

Monday 9th August 2010 - Contractors invited to tender

Tender documents have been issued to contractors today, inviting them to quote for work on construction of our garden, which is due to start later this year.

Saturday 7th August 2010 - More site clearance

This morning members of the group cleared vegetation from the walls at the back of Valentine Street, ready for work to start on garden construction next month.

Thanks to everyone who took part.

Thursday 5th August 2010 - Garden awarded a fruit trees grant

More good news! Norfolk County Council have awarded us up to £550, which is a 100% grant toward 20 fruit trees and planting accessories as part of their Conservation Grant scheme. Many thanks to Jason Kidman for alerting us to this grant when we met at the St Benedict's Street Fair in July, and for approving our application.

Monday 2nd August 2010 - Garden awarded grant towards gates

We have just accepted a grant from Norfolk Community Foundation Grassroots grant fund of £2000 specifically to pay toward the £3000 gates. Combined with the £250 received from the John Jarrold Trust we now only need a further £750.

Any local businesses willing to sponsor this final amount will be recognised by signage on or near the gates and in all our publicity.

Friday 30th July 2010 - Garden featured in Eastern Evening News

Earlier this week the garden featured in an article in the Eastern Evening News. See Community garden gets cash boost.

Monday 26th July 2010

Committee meeting held at the Belvedere Centre, Belvoir Street, Norwich.

Sunday 11th July 2010 - St Benedict’s Street Fair

We were fortunate to have another hot and sunny day for the St. Benedict's Street Fair, which brought a real buzz and carnival atmosphere to the Norwich Lanes. Our fundraising stall was very popular - especially the strawberries! We made a profit of £112.18. View pictures of the event.

Thanks to Caroline and Peter Brimblecombe for sponsoring one of our fruit trees.

Tuesday 6th July 2010 - Latest news on our gates and railings

Rackham Engineering Ltd have started work on our iron railings.

Many thanks to the John Jarrold Trust for a contribution of £250 towards the garden's iron gates. We have applications pending with the Norfolk Community Foundation and the East of England Co-operative community fund to cover some of the remaining £2750 we need to raise.

We would welcome any other donations from local businesses or individuals.

Tuesday 6th July 2010 - Tenders welcome for landscaping work

Technical drawings for the tender documents have been made by Mark Ashurst of A Squared Architects. These are now with Andrew Morton QS to draw up a schedule of works.

Any landscape contractors who are interested in receiving an invitiation to tender for the £50,000 work should contact us.

Monday 5th July 2010 - Mile Cross Community Festival a success

We had a fundraising stall at the Mile Cross Community Festival and Classic Car Show in Sloughbottom Park, Norwich.

We sold bric-a-brac and home-grown plants, met many members of the public and found new supporters for our garden. We made a profit of £80.

Thanks to David Smith for agreeing to sponsor one of our fruit trees.

View pictures of the event.

Saturday 3rd July 2010 - Successful Lottery Bid

We are pleased to announce that our lottery bid for £50,000 has been accepted by the Big Lottery Community Spaces fund. We are now in the process of putting together tender documents and are looking for a suitable landscaping contractor to work on the hard landscaping. Read more....

Tuesday 15th June 2010

Committee meeting held at the Belvedere Centre, Belvoir Street, Norwich.

Sunday 16th May 2010 - Garden featured in Eastern Evening News

Several group members assembled this morning for a press photograph for the Eastern Evening News (see top right photo on this page). On Tuesday 18th May the newspaper is going to feature an article on the group's appeal for funding for a pair of iron gates for the entrance to the garden.

Wednesday 12th May 2010 - Help needed with iron gates

£3000 is needed to complete security for proposed community garden.

We are appealing to local companies and businesses to fund the cost of some rather splendid iron gates to secure the garden at night time. Having been awarded £9,400 in January, specifically for iron railings, we were approached by three Norfolk engineering companies. Having looked at all three quotes we have decided to appoint K Rackham and Son Engineering Ltd who come with some excellent references. Examples of their railings can be seen all over Norwich including the Cathedral Close and many city parks. Read more...

Saturday 1st May 2010 - Inanna's Festival sponsors a fruit tree

Thanks to Inanna's Festival for agreeing to sponsor one of our fruit trees.

Food producing 'Druid Trees' include apple, hazel, elder and heather.

Apple is the sacred tree which rules the half of the year from Mayday to Hallowe’en and provides many wonderful things to eat and drink. Hazel is the sacred tree for the moon-month 5th August-1st September, and has nourishing and delicious nuts and a variety of magical and medicinal associations.

Inanna's Festival, 2 St Andrew's Hill, Norwich, NR2 1AD. Telephone: 01603 626133.

Thursday 22nd April 2010

Committee meeting held at the Belvedere Centre, Belvoir Street, Norwich.

Friday 9th April 2010

Fiskars are donating funds, tools and materials to community garden groups. Please visit the Fiskars Orange Thumb website here and nominate Grapes Hill Community Garden.
If we win we will have the assistance of a team of Orange Thumb volunteers and Fiskars garden tools.

Saturday 13th March 2010 - Successful second fundraising gig

Our successful second Fundraising Gig at the Belvedere Centre in Norwich raised £235.90 for the group. Curly Blows It Dry played some very danceable music, and were supported by John Brown and Urban Oasis.
View photos from the evening.

Tuesday 9th March 2010

Saturday's upcoming gig is featured in South Norwich News.

Sunday 7th March 2010 - Site clearance takes place

Members of the group spent the day clearing litter and bushes from the site. We had to do this work before the start of the nesting season, so that site work can be carried out during the spring and summer without disturbing nesting birds. Thanks to everyone who took part.
View photos.

Friday 26th February 2010 - Garden wins a Norwich EcoAward

We were extremely pleased to win an award at yesterday's Norwich EcoAwards 2010 ceremony, in the category of Eco Community Group.

The award was made by the Sheriff of Norwich, Professor Tim O'Riordan, at City Hall in Norwich.

Four members of the group attended the ceremony.

Friday 29th January 2010

Good news! We have just received £9,400 via Norwich City Council for the installation of secure railings and a gate for the garden.

We are now looking for a local business to bid for the work. Interested parties should contact us on 07729 540 482.

The money is provided as part of RESPECT funding provided to Norwich City Council by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in recognition of Norwich's work to tackle Antisocial Behaviour as a RESPECT Action Area.

We are also in the final stages of submitting an application to Open Spaces Lottery fund to pay for the construction of the garden itself having recently completed local consultation on plans drawn up by City Council architect Lara Hall.

Wednesday 13th January 2010

Thanks to everyone who commented on the garden plans.

The final deadline for comments was Tuesday 12th January 2010 and we are now in the process of submitting a lottery funding application to pay for building the garden.

Wednesday 16th December 2009

Read about us on the Evening News 24 website.

Sunday 29th November 2009

Fundraising Christmas Cards are now available, price 40p each, £1.50 for five or £2.50 for ten.

Postage and packing costs 50p for every ten cards. E-mail or phone Fran on 07729 540 482 to order.

The design is by group member Vanna Bartlett, based on Danny's GHCG logo.

 

 

Monday 26th October 2009

Lara Hall, our Garden Designer, has prepared an Initial Sketch of the garden design, funded by a £500 lottery grant.

Saturday 24th October 2009

The Belvedere Centre proved to be an excellent venue for our first fundraising gig on Saturday 10th October and led to further enquiries from musicians willing to play for us in the future. There was a healthy mixture of SweetBeats fans and members of our local community who had a second opportunity to look at the draft plans and offer suggestions.

Many thanks to The SweetBeats for playing at a much reduced fee, allowing us to raise a total profit £450. Over £100 of this was raised from the sale of plants and raffle tickets so thanks again to all who donated plants and prizes. Donors included The Greenhouse on Bethel Street and The Green Grocers on Earlham Road. A final thank you to Dave Sturgess and Patrick Goodall of Urban Oasis who kept us all entertained in the interval.

Saturday 10th October 2009

We had confirmation that the Lottery would fund us £500 towards our plans for the garden, which will be managed by Groundworks UK.

Saturday 10th October 2009

Successful first Fundraising Gig by The SweetBeats.

Monday 5th October 2009

General Meeting at The Belvedere Centre, where three new committee members were elected, bringing the total to seven.

Friday 2nd October 2009

Grapes Hill Community Garden and The SweetBeats gig feature in the October 2009 edition of "VoluME" digital magazine, which can be downloaded from the BBC Norfolk website.

August 2009 Press Release

The latest news on the Grapes Hill Community Garden, issued as a Press Release.

25th July - 2nd August 2009 - Love Parks Week

Please nominate Grapes Hill Community Garden for Love Parks Week on the Fiskars Orange Thumb website.

If we win we will have the assistance of a team of Orange Thumb volunteers and loads of great Fiskars garden tools, to help rejuvenate our site.

Friday 24th July 2009

Grapes Hill Community Garden website launched.

Saturday 11th July and Sunday 12th July 2009

Peter and Fran Ellington attended a weekend course at the Agroforestry Research Trust in Totnes, Devon to get some ideas on planning, designing and maintaining a forest garden.

We hope to incorporate these ideas into the final design. The course included a visit to an established forest garden.
See photos from this event.

Friday 3rd July 2009

Paul Wade from Norwich City Council confirmed that he has successfully bid for funding through the Safer Norwich Partnership for City Care to supply iron railings and a gate for the site.

We now have to apply for planning permission to erect these and find either the money or willing volunteers to put them up.

Tuesday 30th June 2009

Meeting on site with a garden designer who has agreed in principle to get involved.

Thursday 18th June 2009

Members of the Grapes Hill Community Garden committee met with Big Lottery Open Spaces facilitator Marya Parker to discuss how to go about meeting the requirements of our application for a Community Spaces grant of £50,000, which has been passed at the first stage.

We learnt that we need to employ a qualified garden designer or landscape architect to draw up plans to scale with quotes for the work. We need to appoint an accountable body and we are approaching Norwich City Council to see if they will take on this role. We also need to appoint a lead professional to manage the project.

Sunday 14th June 2009

Several members met at the Bowthorpe Heritage Community Garden just off Toyle Road in Norwich. Madge Roberts showed us around the garden and talked to us about their experiences. We gained lots of inspiration and thoroughly recommend a visit to this site.

Wednesday 10th June 2009

Fran presented an update to the West Pottergate Tenants and Residents Association on the progress made since presenting the idea to the group this time last year.

Tuesday 9th June 2009

Several members gathered to watch the DVD 'A Year in a Forest Garden' by Martin Crawford of the Agroforestry Research Trust. This was in response to suggestions made at our awareness day in February.

Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th May 2009

Three members attended the Norfolk Master Composters' course run by Norfolk County Council and Garden Organic at the Swaffham EcoTech Centre. See photos from this event.

Sunday 22nd February 2009

The Community Awareness and Fun Day was a great success. See photos from this event. Our special guest was Bob Flowerdew.