Click here to download the Treasure Trail.
Chiswick High Road, Devonshire Road, Turnham Green, Saturday 18th May, 10-5pm
Treasure Trail map – download from here … very soon… clues just being finalised….
Seedball workshop, 10am, Union Jacks.
A simpler way to grow from seed. Seedball is an exciting young company which has offered us a selection of wildflower seeds to mix up into specially targeted balls. A hands-on activity… that will help create beautiful wildflower gardens and meadows from seed.
Willow weaving with Sally Beedance, 10am -12noon, Turnham Green (between the Town Hall & Christ Church)
Sally, who runs the Ranges willow plantation at Shepperton which supplied the willow for our herb boxes, will supervise a practical session of obelisk-weaving, and talk about bees, propolis and willows.
Herbal ID – Blindfold herb sniff test, 10am – 12noon
Identify 10 herbs and win a lovely herbal prize. Come early to catch guest workshop hosts Jack and Finn from JacksGap. There will also be herb plants for sale.
Demonstration Bee Hive with Mel “the Bee” McMahon, 10am – 2pm, Union Jacks
Observe the bees at work, ask all the questions you might have about keeping bees, and get some local honey.
Bee cup cakes, 10am – 4pm, Whisk, Devonshire Road
Come and decorate your own cupcake at the local cookware shop
Fancy dress competition, 10am-4pm at Top Hat & Polomo, Devonshire Road
Come dressed as a bee or a butterfly to win great prizes. Go to Top Hat in Devonshire Road to have your photo taken; draw your own name-plate at Polomo
Herbal Bread Workshop with the Slow Bread Company, 11am-1pm, Union Jacks
The Slow Bread Co creates organic bread from locally-milled flour and natural leaven…. in Chiswick. Come and knead your own bread, add some herbs (locally grown of course…) and take home a flower pot of bread to bake for yourself.
Edible Flower Arranging with Thomas Broom, 1pm at Union Jacks
Thomas Broom is horticultural manager at Petersham Nurseries, which is entering the Chelsea Fringe this year with a bang – an Edible Flower Garden. Tom will be teaching us how to arrange our meal in a beautiful bouquet… British-grown flowers, of course.
Balancing a Bouquet with Potpourri, 1.30pm at Union Jacks
Our very own Chiswick florist from Potpourri will demonstrate how to make flowers look more than the sum of their parts.
Herbal muslin bath bags with Hajni, 2pm at Union Jacks
Blend your own bath mixture to relax and detox. Hajni Varadi, masseuse and reflexologist, will help you select the herbs you need to make up your own perfect therapy.
Wild herbal teas with Sam, 2pm at Union Jacks
Expert forager Sam Sender from Transition Heathrow showcases the top 10 local wild herbal teas. From classics like fresh lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) and mint (Mentha spp.) to some of west London’s best kept secrets like coltsfoot flowers (Tussilago farfara), discover the flavours and IDs of the very best vitamin C-packed west London teas.
Living Medicine: Self-care using food and herbs with Alex Laird, 3pm at Union Jacks
Alex, a medical herbalist, will explain the medicinal aspects of different foods and how what we eat can affect our health and resilience to disease. Alex is a co-founder of Living Medicine which aims to re-skill us all in using food and herbs for our everyday healthcare. She runs a herbal dermatology clinic at Whipps Cross University Hospital and works at The Haven, breast cancer support centre in Fulham.
Gin garden, 3pm at Union Jacks
The travelling Gin Garden pops up in unexpected places, working with local distilleries and complementing the botanicals of their unique gin with local herbs, fruits and flowers. Suggested donation £5.
Herbs for sale, 10am until sold out from Cultivate London at Union Jacks
A selection of lovely fresh herbs grown at local (well, Brentford…) charity at very reasonable prices.
ALSO: During the Chelsea Fringe, Hack & Veldt will be serving Fresh Hot Mint Teas and cool summery Iced Mint Teas…. Crown & Anchor will be serving herbal-based cocktails – check out their Pineapple and Basil Daiquiri, minty Pimms Royale, chopped coriander Bombay Mix, and of course Classic minty Mojito.
***
All events except the Gin Garden are free, although donations to cover costs are always welcome. Participants are giving their time freely, so don’t even think about being grumpy with us!
Abundance London is run completely by volunteers from Chiswick and the surrounding area, motivated by enthusiasm and a lack of self-discipline about what is possible and sensible to undertake. We rely on goodwill from the local population, who either tolerate our activities or even encourage us in various ways.
We would especially like to thank:
– The local businesses on Chiswick High Road, Devonshire Road and Turnham Green Terrace who each sponsored a herb garden (with real money!), and their staff who are bringing the boxes in and out each day and watering the plants.
– The local schools who grew the climbing plants for us, and created the colourful butterflies and bees on the herb gardens.
– Capital Gardens/Neals Nursery who offered all the prizes, for the second year in a row.
– Cultivate London in Brentford who hosted us and grew the other plants for us.
– John Laing & London Borough of Hounslow for giving us permission to use their pavements & sorting out the space on Turnham Green for the herb bed.
– Turnham Green Friends for helping to organise the Herbal Knot Garden.
– Bud Murryweather for designing the Herbal Knot Garden.
– Petersham Nurseries who helped source the boxes and some of the plants for us.
– The Ranges Willow plantation at Shepperton, and the Egham & Staines Conservation Volunteers & Spelthorne Tree Wardens who helped us weave the obelisks, along with Marten Penrose of the Special Branch who created the willow sculpture.
– New Reparations payback team who helped us put 100s of castors on the boxes.
– St Mary’s Convent nursing home, whose residents made arty bees for the project.
– All the volunteers who helped plant, dig, weave, screw, lug various bits of this project together.
Sarah & Karen