Keep raking up those leaves from the lawn and borders. From now until the end of March is the time to plant any bare rooted trees, shrubs and roses. For fresh herbs, pot up mint and chives to ‘force’ on the kitchen windowsill.
Sharing with the community several local events and support groups.
The Fusion Choir 29.11.2023 at Dovetail Centre
Scratch (charity) Christmas Toys Collection
Chandler’s Ford Community Market on Saturday 09.12.2023 at Brownhill Centre
Show Off at Christmas 25.11.2023 at Dovetail Centre
Otterbourne Choir Club Love Actuallly 10.12.2023
Eastleigh Operatic and Musical Society (EOMS) Musical Winter Wonderland
The Sleeping Beauty Chameleon Theatre Company at Ritchie Memorial Hall 20-27 Jan 2024
Wessex Cancer Trust
Chandler’s Ford Cancer Support
Chandler’s Ford u3a
For more events, see the events page.
Jobs to do as winter approaches and the garden quietens. Rake up leaves on the lawn. Tie-in long whippy shoots of climbers and wall shrubs. Bare rooted roses can be planted now. Prune bush roses to prevent wind-rock and clear up any fallen rose leaves, especially if they suffered from black spot and rust, to reduce the chance of infection next year.
Plant tulip bulbs now, once other spring bulbs are in, thereby lessening their chance of being infected by the fungal disease Tulip blight. Fix grease bands on fruit trees to protect against winter moth. Spray peach and nectarine trees against peach leaf curl. [Read more…] about November Gardening Tips by Wellie
Chandler’s Ford Community Produce & Craft Market is back.
This Saturday – 4th November 2023 10am to 1 pm
At the Brownhill Community Centre (Age Concern Hall) behind the Co-op, Fryern Arcade
Free entry.
Local handmade crafts
Preserves, local honey, chutneys, jams and marmalades
Dog accessories
Cards
Jewellery
Flowers
Knitted goods
Local Authors…
Come and buy early Christmas presents made by fantastic people.
[Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford Community Produce & Craft Market – Saturday 4th November 2023
Chandler’s Ford Community Produce & Craft Market is back.
Saturday 7th October 2023 10am to 1 pm
At the Brownhill Community Centre (Age Concern Hall) behind the Co-op, Fryern Arcade
Free entry.
Come and drop in and see your local crafters and producers.
Cut herbaceous perennials down to ground level when they have gone over, but leave any decent seed heads over winter for wildlife. Split and divide any overgrown clumps. Replace summer bedding with some bedding plants and bulbs that will give pockets of colour over the winter (primroses, violas, spring bulbs).
Bring in houseplants that were moved outside for the summer, before temperatures start to drop. Lift and divide congested clumps of perennials, once they have finished flowering. Plant spring bulbs such as daffodils, hyacinths and snake’s-head fritillaries. Take cuttings of fuchsias, pelargoniums and salvias.
Raise the cutting height on your mower so that lawns can cope better in the hot dry weather. Feed your lawn with a high phosphate feed which will strengthen the roots for the winter. Mow meadows now to help scatter established wildflower seeds. Water containers, new plants, rhododendrons and camellias. Continue deadheading faded blooms but consider leaving some seedheads for the birds to eat.
Cut back herbs now to encourage new growth which you can then harvest before any frosts. Trim lavender plants now. Keep harvesting vegetables as the are ready which will then encourage the plants to put energy into new vegetables. Pinch out the tips of climbing runner and French beans when they have reached the top of the frame they are growing on. [Read more…] about August Gardening Tips by Wellie
July is the month to really enjoy your garden, and to make a note of what might need splitting or moving in the Autumn. It can be very dry this month so prioritising this job should be top of your agenda followed by dead heading to keep your display of flowering plants looking great for longer.
If tall perennials are flopping a bit, put some stakes around them to help them and tie in and train any new growth on climbing plants. Give your beds, pots and baskets a feed which will help them to stay looking lush and healthy for longer. Prune early-summer flowering shrubs, such as Philadelphus, once they have finished flowering. Cut back flowered growth to a strong lower shoot and thin out up to a fifth of old, woody stems. [Read more…] about July Gardening Tips by Wellie
The Chameleon Theatre Company is an amateur dramatic group based in Chandlers’ Ford. It was established in 1965, and they stage four productions each year – three plays and a pantomime.
The next production is Lilies on the Land. Box Office is open.
Harvest early peas, and prepare for a late sowing to get an autumn crop. Thin fruit, especially apples and plums for bigger fruit,less biennial bearing and fewer broken branches. Sow lettuces and radishes to fill in any gaps between slower maturing vegetables such as brassicas. Net soft fruit bushes to stop the birds taking the fruit. Sow overwintering carrots, such as Autumn King’. Plant out leeks when they are pencil thick. Make a deep hole with a dibber and drop the leek into the hole, if the roots are very long they can be trimmed to roughly 2cm, do not push the soil around the plant, just pour water into the hole and let the earth fall around the plant.
After the extremely dry summer last year and the very cold temperatures we experienced back in December many plants are looking a little (perhaps an understatement for some plants!) dead. Plants I have noticed that have suffered are Pittosporum, hebes, Penstamon,Salvias, Rosemary, Bay and Choisya.
Have you been to Fryern Funtasia today? I hope you have enjoyed this event. This morning I went to Fryern Recreation Ground for a quick visit and this place has brought back some very fond memories. I used to go there with some of my friends and our children, but now our children have left home and my friends were elsewhere, so it did feel quite different and I even felt a tiny bit meloncholic. However it was wonderful to see some friendly faces, beutiful owls, really fluffy dogs, and lots of happy children. It was very lovely to see many local groups such as Scouts, Girlguiding, Boys’ Brigade, Lions Club, Stroke support group, Churches Together….. local businesses such as Peter Green and Gair Gas and many others.
The weather can be very changeable, it can be warm and sunny during the day, but the temperatures can still really drop over night.
Plant out second early potatoes in the first two weeks and main crops in last two weeks of April. Carry on sowing vegetables directly into prepared soil including carrots, turnip, peas, broadbeans, spinach and lettuce. Sow tender courgettes, cucumbers and pumpkins indoors. [Read more…] about April Gardening Tips by Wellie
Knitted postbox toppers are appearing around Chandler’s Ford. Have you seen them? These have brought a lot of smiles.
Chandler’s Ford u3a is celebrating its 25th Anniversary by erecting 25 toppers in Chandler’s Ford. Thank you Jill Mayes for sharing these photos.
[Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford u3a Celebrating 25th Anniversary
March can be a busy time in the garden, as Spring begins you will notice the busy activity of bird in your garden building their nests. To help them out tie up bunches of tiny twigs, moss and stringy plant material around your garden.
Hedgehogs and frogs begin to come out of hibernation this month, make sure there is availability of water and food for them.
Lift and divide overgrown clumps of herbaceous perennials that were not split in the Autumn. [Read more…] about March Gardening Tips by Wellie
Wellie’s gardening tips are written a month in advance and the weather outside at the moment is extremely wet and windy, but also very mild. It will be interesting to see which plants, especially the more temperate plants that will survive after the minus temperatures we had in December. In the 20 odd years that I have been working as a gardener, 2022 was the first year that the leaves (especially some of the oaks) had not all fallen by Christmas. The suggestions below are just that – suggestions, and are all dependent on the weather.
Plant bare-root roses, shrubs, hedging and ornamental trees, as long as the ground isn’t frozen. Remove and bin hellebore foliage marked with black blotches, to limit the spread of leaf spot disease. Deadhead winter pansies and other bedding regularly, and remove any foliage affected by downy mildew. Check for rot on stored bulbs and tubers, and ensure dahlia and canna tubers haven’t totally dried out. Continue pruning climbing roses, while they are dormant.
MARY’S STORY
Oh, I’m so tired. I’m glad I’m able to ride some of the time on Eysl, our donkey, though I do have to walk some of the time, to give him a rest too. I hope we’re nearly there. My back aches and I’ve had some pains – I wonder if that’s the baby coming. I haven’t mentioned those to Joseph – I don’t want to worry him. He’s already worrying about where we‘ll stay when we reach Bethlehem, what with so many people on the road going for the census, like us.
I’m tired and I’m afraid. I’m afraid of what people say about me being pregnant and unmarried. Afraid that the shame will mean we can’t find anywhere to sleep tonight. Afraid of what having the baby – the Son of God – will mean for the family. Will Joseph and I be able to have a normal family life? I’m afraid of what the future holds for us all.
I do love Joseph. I already did, when we got betrothed. But then when I had to tell him I was with child, I was sure he’d want to walk away. He told me he thought he might, but without making too much of a fuss. But he didn’t, he said he’d stand by me and the baby. He told me he had a dream where an angel told him to take me as his wife, that what I’d said was true – that the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that it’ll be a boy and we’re to call him Jesus. And that he’ll save people from their sins. I’m not sure how that last bit works – but we’ll see. I wonder if it’s what the prophets foretold all those years ago. Could he be the Messiah? My little baby? [Read more…] about Mary’s Christmas Story – In Her Own Words
Belief in angels is common to many religions, and some recent research also shows some atheists admitting to believing in them. They are important in the Islamic tradition as well as Jewish and Christian faiths. Angels feature in popular culture, films, songs, and street art including works of Banksy. Some people believe in ‘guardian angels’ and others think of them more as messengers from God.
At this time of year Christians think of the angels who brought messages to Mary and to Joseph, and those witnessed by shepherds; first a single angel bringing the good news of the birth of Jesus and then many, singing of peace on earth.
In these unsettled times, news of joy and peace are much needed and so Churches Together in Chandler’s Ford have combined to bring a little joy into our community this Christmas through the knitted angels that you will find popping up around the streets and public places in mid-December. [Read more…] about Christmas Angels – Churches Together in Chandler‘s Ford
