chickenanne Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Has anyone ever opened their garden to the public, or been involved in similar? We're having a garden "day" in the village, with a good few gardens open to the public (not mine, I live too far out of the village - that's my excuse).... and also our very new allotment site. Which is kind of exciting, and kind of horrific, as there isn't a tremendous amout for people to see: the plots are all new (only since mid-April and a very cold spring too). But there are a good lot of gardens open, so it's not like people will be coming just to see the veg patches! All tips, ideas, thoughts etc very (VERY) gratefully received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Every year our road has open gardens (1 ticket for about 6 gardens) and a close neighbour opens her garden a lot - she has before and after photos taken when she moved in and now - amazing transformation! Things that go well are raffle tickets, teas/cakes, plant sales, spare produce sales, seed swaps or give aways, and one of them also sells loads of second hand books. One gardener has vintage cars and so people can look at those too. Its nice if you can chat to the owner. The odd pet walking about encourages chat as do things hidden in borders (eg sculpture); ponds are often focal points too. I've just thought you could organise some sort of treasure hunt - give horticultural (and/or children/non gardener friendly) clues and one answer per garden to win a raffle prize. Numbers will be down if it rains. Spare brollies on hand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chick wiggle Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Ooo my next door neighbour is opening her garden on sunday. its all very good fun, and last year she had a band playing, organised by the 'commitee' and they played in several gardens. Ive been helping her out getting stuff ready and am now looking forward to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted June 18, 2010 Author Share Posted June 18, 2010 Daphne - it sounds like similar to our event - only rather than having a garden open we've got allotments. I'm glad that yours goes well and is an annual event - gives me hope that ours will be OK! The event seems pretty well organised - the gardens that are opening are often "themed" e.g. one lady has pond dipping, another garden has chickens, another has racing car, etc etc etc., which I think is a great way of doing it. It's pretty well organised with plant sales, teas, etc already. There isn't much for people to see at the allotments, and it's right at the bottom end of the road - it's all very new! So I'm concerned people will trudge down there and then think "is this it???" I'm hoping people will just be interested in how it works rather than in looking at specifics..... dunno though. I really like your tips for open gardens generally; I'll defintiely take a supply of umbrellas and picnic rugs I think! A seed swop is a great idea - I have loads of half-packets of seeds which I would be delighted to swap /give away /etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 I'm afraid I think there is a danger of people looking at freshly dug/weed infested plots and thinking although I'd take some pix so that in years to come you have before and afters. If you've got some planting already it'll be better - there's nothing nicer than looking at burgeoning crops Maybe put up some boards/those clipboard things you get in stately homes about a room, about planting schemes (partic if anyone is doing cut flowers as well as veggies or plans exotica), crop rotation/companion planting theory, history of the allotments, something on wildlife (eg insects for pollination), - is there some apiary equipment that could be demo'd?, get visitors to vote for something (eg best shed?!) or guess the seedling (possibly clutching at straws here!!), some stories about allotments in the War? food miles, local varieties of fruit/veg (have you got a produce-based industry nearby or something named after your area?) something on gardening implements, feature on any particularly interesting allotment holder....? I think perhaps you need an incentive to visit the allotments - can't think what it is, but something exciting involving a prize! Can you bury something, divvy a space into spade sized squares, and charge a £1 a square to see if the treasure is buried there (you do the digging not your visitors!) Or if there have been any crops already - guess the weight? Phew, that was a bit of a ramble! I do hope it works out for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted June 18, 2010 Author Share Posted June 18, 2010 WOW! That's loads of good ideas, Daphne! We all have some things in - potatoes look good (as good as potatoes can do!), sweetcorn, peas, onions, etc which at least are something to look at - it isn't bare earth but a lot is at the "baby" plant stage. I reckon I'll get up there early on the day and weed.... nothing is overgrown with weeds, it all looks reasonably tidy, but inevitably at this time of year there is the odd weed seedling. I like the idea of info on crop rotation, planting schemes and the why's and wherefores of different people's layout (everyone's layout varies so that's good!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 another thing could be to ask visitors to donate recipes - have pens/paper at the ready - or eg their best ideas of what to do with a glut of toms/courgettes/runners etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
