Issue 25

Compost Corner No13        

A new season and my heart is full of hope. My praise goes to the members of the group who continue to put in the hard work, last year was quite a good year. We had a fairly good harvest from many of our crops. Tomatoes, potatoes and broad beans yielding the greatest harvest, but we must not forget the success we also had from our courgettes, marrows and cucumbers.

We also managed to grow a melon in the greenhouse, but a slug ate it before we could pick it. We must own up to our failures. Namely, runner beans, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. They don´t like the soil, but we will work on this during the coming season. The soil can be improved. We must also not forget to mention the OT gardening groups greatest success, The formal herb bed. All herbs grown from seed by the patients and last summer it really looked the business. We had managed to grow fennel, dill, basil chives, coriander, mint, oregano, rosemary, parsley, thyme, tarragon, feverfew, to name just a few. We even planted a salad bed, including rocket, mizuna, mustard, spinach and chard. The herb bed doesn´t look great at the moment, but most will recover in the spring. Well done to the group on all the hard work. I am very pleased with your efforts. Having said that, the herb garden played a big role in last year´s OCN course. A great success, with many patients completing the course for a second year and, with out-standing performances. I enjoyed writing the course and I was amazed by the standard of the work. The course certificates on the way soon.

Thanks to the Cardigan garden, by the way a very great success last year with our veg. It seems that other wards now want to do their own part of the garden. This is very good news and I wish you all great success.

So what is planned for this year? Well I hope to write and run two OCN course this year. The first is on Garden Design. This has been the hardest course that I have had to write so far, taken months to do, how I am going to top it next year, I don´t know as yet! But is has be a good experience as it has meant that I have had to go back to basic and re-learn forgotten skills. The second course will be a, basic and applied garden skills, at the time of writing, still in progress, but will be ready on time. Added to this I will once again help run the OT gardening group and I am told that the gardening group has now grown to 16 members, plus work will continue in the Cardigan Garden and of course the new allotment project. Not only this, but I will of course do my duties required of me on the ward and escorting patient out into the community. The life of a Health care Assistant, these days!

You may think this is a strange, Compost Corner, but sometimes, that just who I am. I will end on a poem: When the browns, greens and gold´s, of autumn, lie in the gutter, dead. Remember then, the summer bird, with wings of fire a flames. As new life will come from death, love will come from pleasure. Love of life, giving without measure, gives in return, a wondrous yarn, a promise, almost seen. From the decay of autumn, dying, raise the Phoenix of spring.

Alan.T (Cardigan Ward)