"garden on the green"
An eight foot high barrier of brambles, weeds, old tree stumps and rather a lot of chucked-over-the fence rubbish, adorned the back corner of the field. Stretching over 30 feet across, it was impassable and too dreadful to contemplate.
Other parts of the field we had struggled to weed, carrying out barrow loads of rocks and rubbish – old tv’s, bikes, cement bags, plastic bags filled with indescribable rotting matter, abandoned toys, flattened footballs, old iron bars, you name it – we struggled to the dump with trailer loads and cars filled to the gunnels. For we had a vision!
In the hearts of those who battled the weeds and rocks was the vision of a garden in raised beds so all could touch the soil – whether at wheelchair height or sitting on the sides. There were gardeners in the streets round about who hadn’t been able to get an allotment or who couldn’t travel to one, and other people who longed to come and touch the soil, grow good food for the café to cook, and simply sit in the stillness of a beautiful place, rejoicing in the healing that comes from being in a garden.
Other parts of the field we had struggled to weed, carrying out barrow loads of rocks and rubbish – old tv’s, bikes, cement bags, plastic bags filled with indescribable rotting matter, abandoned toys, flattened footballs, old iron bars, you name it – we struggled to the dump with trailer loads and cars filled to the gunnels. For we had a vision!
In the hearts of those who battled the weeds and rocks was the vision of a garden in raised beds so all could touch the soil – whether at wheelchair height or sitting on the sides. There were gardeners in the streets round about who hadn’t been able to get an allotment or who couldn’t travel to one, and other people who longed to come and touch the soil, grow good food for the café to cook, and simply sit in the stillness of a beautiful place, rejoicing in the healing that comes from being in a garden.
A community grant made it possible for the brambles to be attacked and destroyed and in the wettest summer recorded, five strong young men wheel-barrowed tonnes of soil and turf to the top end of the field to create a bank ready for the wild flower meadow seed to be sown in the Spring.
As the lads paddled through four inches of rainwater and mud, there arose a broad golden path for wheelchair users, three raised beds, a peace pagoda and olive tree for the Peace Corner, with benches dedicated to the memory of the Methodist Chapel destroyed by Montserrat’s volcano.
As the lads paddled through four inches of rainwater and mud, there arose a broad golden path for wheelchair users, three raised beds, a peace pagoda and olive tree for the Peace Corner, with benches dedicated to the memory of the Methodist Chapel destroyed by Montserrat’s volcano.
One raised bed is filled today with blue and white flowers to create a calm, peaceful corner; the other bed is full of red, orange and yellow flowers for the passion, colour and determination we need to face life!
There are hanging baskets, climbing jasmine and wisteria, a kids’ bench and places to sit and hear the very distant sound of the motorway, reminders that it is indeed good to withdraw for a while from the roar of the world and to be still with God, praying for peace in this troubled world.
But then Christ calls us to “get out there” as soon as we are rested and get stuck into serving his people, building peace and working for justice.
There are hanging baskets, climbing jasmine and wisteria, a kids’ bench and places to sit and hear the very distant sound of the motorway, reminders that it is indeed good to withdraw for a while from the roar of the world and to be still with God, praying for peace in this troubled world.
But then Christ calls us to “get out there” as soon as we are rested and get stuck into serving his people, building peace and working for justice.
