Hello Willowbankers and friends,
This driech sunday some of the keen gardeners (Alistair, Sammy, Anna and Roisin) met to give the land a wee tidy up and plan out for the growing season ahead. We found the garden to be surprisingly tidy, just the odd bit of rubbish! Sadly we must announce that our rhubarb plant is no longer with us, it has eloped....
Anyhoo -
We took some measurements in preparation for our Galgael planning session which will be happening at 3pm on Thursday 17th Jan. We will be heading down to the woodcraft workshop here in order to learn to and build a large storage unit to keep in the garden, a few raised beds and a sign. These sessions will be running throughout February and March on Thursdays. Please get in contact if you can join us! For those who don't know the way, we will be meeting at 2:30pm at Kelvinbridge subway but there will also be folk cycling, so either way, give us a shout if you like!
When over in Cafe Phoenix we met with local councillor Martha Wardrop and art enthusiast Hannah and started to plan the next work sessions, ordered seeds (radish, beans, peas and wild flowers!) and spoke about organising an open day as part of Go Green Week at Glasgow University. This week of events will be running from the 11th til the 17th February. Watch this space for the confirmed programme!
Next Work Session - 20th January - Meet 1pm at Willowbank for planting of Nasturtium and Rocket seeds which will then be kept inside until ready to be transplanted after the last of the frost. Please bring cardboard toilet rolls/plastic bottles which we can use to plant up! If it's dry we hope to paint a sign for the Bug Hotel informing the community of the hedgehog heaven! And GUEST Biodiversity officer Alistair will be bringing along seed mix to fill up our bird feeders. Also on Sunday, our neighbouring Woodlands garden is hosting a clear up session Leave the rubbish times behind you which we hope to pop round and help out at, as they have supported us throughout our first year.
Stay tuned for Gnome creations, willow weaving, wind chime workshops and
hard core gardening coming soon!
Missing Karina's lovely photography skills,
so will add a little inspiration from River Cottage instead -
hard core gardening coming soon!
Missing Karina's lovely photography skills,
so will add a little inspiration from River Cottage instead -
Red Cabbage, Orange, Parsnip and Date Salad:
Ingredients
- 1 medium parsnip, cut into slender batons
- ¼ red cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 large orange, peeled with a knife and segmented, avoiding the membrane and reserving the juice
- 3 medjool dates, stoned and cut into 3-4 pieces across ways
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Spread the red cabbage evenly over a plate, top with a scattering of parsnip and arrange slices of orange and the dates.
- Pour over some of the orange juice, drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle over the thyme, finish with salt and pepper.
