30 November 2009, by Maren Kooperman

The Park Garden team invited the community and workshop guests for tea, coffee and freshly made scones in the original garden to raise awareness of our manifestation project. The aim of the project is to create an inviting space for visitors along with a more sustainable way of working with the resident deer population. We have already received the amazing gift of a gazebo for the garden, which we used at our tea break for the first time. It creates a beautiful all weather space which visitors can use for meditation or just for sitting and enjoying the surroundings.

Co-founder Dorothy Maclean

Other areas of the project are still in the process of coming to life and are being made possible by donations large and small. The first of the areas will be a beautiful handcrafted deer proof fence made by community artists using natural materials. This will incorporate four gates designed to represent the elements of earth, air, fire and water. The creation of the fence will enable us to restore the garden to its original open plan design, allowing everyone to be in close contact with the plants. The new protected space will also make it possible for us to grow more vegetables for the community, increasing our sustainability.

Another vision for the original garden is to feature living water flow forms in the corner of the lawn, bringing the quality of living water to the garden. Flow forms emulate the swirls and vortices of a mountain stream enabling water to reoxygenate, revitalise and rejuvenate, bringing it back to its more natural state.

Our original garden teabreak was great - so many people came to enjoy being together and it was a beautiful November day. We wanted to bring everyone into the garden to make the manifestation project more visible by answering questions and raising awareness of what is happening during this new phase. It was a wonderful way to celebrate a place that is such a big part of our community heritage.

The cream on top of this beautiful small event was the £170 we recieved with gratitude, manifested through generous donations and also by the sale of our homemade jelly. Thankyou to everyone who came and supported us and special thanks to Park Homecare, Elisabeth, Lisa, the Park Garden team and Park Kitchen for support and for making it happen.

If you would like to support the Original Garden project, please contact Lisa Sutherland.

For more information on the project, click here.