by Josey Crane Burrows (Good Food Lewisham volunteer)
As you stand in the Friends of Forster Memorial Park Community Garden and gaze through the woven willow arches onto a vast expanse of green, the feeling of calm is palpable. I met with Theresa Webb - a passionate and inspiring woman who designed the multi-sensory garden space and is one of the volunteers.
Theresa tells me that the garden took three years to come to fruition and is shaped in concentric circles - one circle with a smaller circle inside with crossing paths, which is a traditional design. The garden has wild flowers, edible flowers and herbs for making tea which are grown organically, in harmony with nature.
There’s hope of expanding the space and getting money to plant some arbutus trees - they produce bright red fruits, similar to that of strawberries.
I ask her what the one thing is she’d like people to know about the garden and she says, “there’s much more to it than meets the eye”, she explains that what you see is the result of people coming together, raising funds, clearing the space, preparing the soil, weaving willows into arches, preparing the beds, sowing the seeds, watering and then taking the time to observe and wait - the first principle of permaculture.
As well as weekly gardening sessions, there’s also a walking group:
Walking group, Tuesdays - 10:45 am - 11:30am
Gardening, Fridays - 10:30 am - 12:30pm
If you’re interested in volunteering at the garden, please contact Steven Turner st@zbee.com providing the following information:
· Full Name
· Contact Phone Number
· Email address
· Information about potential availability.
There’s also an active Friends group: Friends of Forster Memorial Park. For more information: https://forsterparkfriends.org/.
If you'd like to be added to our Food Growing WhatsApp group or if you'd like your garden to be featured in this series, please email: goodfood@lewishamlocal.com
