remembering Her Majesty
We were very sad to learn of the death of Her Majesty The Queen. Like all of us who enjoy the space2grow garden, Queen Elizabeth II loved being outdoors, especially at her Scottish estate, Balmoral. It’s said she was most relaxed there, walking in the countryside with her family and spending time with her dogs. We send our condolences to His Majesty King Charles III and all the members of the Royal Family.
FADEG returns
We're delighted that FADEG (Farnham Art and Design Eduction Group) returned to the acre this summer.
As well as offering a beautiful meeting space, our pollarded willows have provided inspiration for artists young and old as part of The Big Draw Festival.
This year FADEG will be presenting their 14th community Big Draw as part of the Festival of Crafts at Farnham Maltings on 16-17 October. The project explores our current and future relationship with trees through expressive gestural colour. Drop in to see the work of local artists and children and be inspired to take part yourself and add to the growing wall-mounted forest.
donations to the acre
This month we said goodbye to our Church Lane neighbours, Miro and Manuela, who kindly gave us all their potted plants before moving. Look out for the bright splashes of colour now dotted around the garden. Thank you and good luck in your new home.
Thanks also to Waitrose Farnham for donating some plants, including herbs which have been planted around the bay tree at the end of the big bed.
And a big thank you to our friends at Hortus Loci for their generous donation of wellies, fleeces and gardening gloves. Very welcome as the temperatures start to dip.
We are always very grateful for donations to the acre. If you have something you think we could use, please get in touch via info@space2grow.space.
in our garden
With the welcome arrival of some much-needed rain, the garden is looking lush. There's been plenty of activity around the talking shed, clearing the pathway and repairing the door. Thank you to men in sheds for their help and to Janet for bringing carrot cake!
Lots of harvesting still going on in the veg patches and with autumn rolling in, the apples are coming along nicely - we've even spotted a ripe fig!
in the news
Thanks to the Farnham Herald for helping spread the word about our next Parenting Puzzle Nurturing Course, which starts on Monday 26 September. Email info@theparentingspace.space to find out more and book.
reflections from the acre....
Graham Mollart reflects on returning to holding FADEG’s (Farnham Art & Design Education Group) meetings at space2grow.....
"Crossing the Bishop’s Meadow has long been one of my favourite walks from home into Farnham so when, several years ago, I saw interesting clearance and structural work going on in the mysteriously overgrown acre next to St Andrews Church I couldn’t control my curiosity. One day I ventured in and was enthusiastically told about the plots aims and to get creative people involved.
We started holding our planning meetings in the talking shed, or outside when sunny, including for our annual community Big Draw. Under the umbrella of the national organisation https://thebigdraw.org/ between 100 and 300 local people and visitors, from 2 to 92 year olds, draw with us in community centres, schools, and at the Farnham Maltings ‘Festival of Crafts’. In 2021 Philip Ryland, our guest artist, and myself, independently took photographs of trees on the plot as resources for our ‘Tree’ themed draw.
I am also a member of Farnham World Craft Town committee and can see that, as less government money goes into the arts and community, meeting points where our various groups come together are the crucial way forward. Just as space2grow is a fertile green piece of earth it also cross pollinates the ideas and actions of so many local people. space2grow is an essential part of Craft Town with natural crafts and Farnham men in sheds, not to mention the great craft of gardening.
Beyond all that there is nowhere better to just sit with some tea and cake and feel what a beautiful world we are lucky to live in."
If you would like to share what the acre means to you, please email info@space2grow.space - we love hearing everyone’s reflections.
And one more thing … to help keep our wild garden beautiful, please make sure you take all your rubbish with you and, ideally, bring any food or drinks in recyclable containers.
Thank you and see you soon!