Another month has flown by at Gardening Leave - the days are shorter and the afternoons seem to melt away but the glaziers are making great progress taking out the glass in the Stovehouse which is very exciting!

We had another Volunteers Training Day this month and as the weather was fine, we sat on the terrace and put the world to rights.  It’s very important that our Volunteers meet up regularly so that they know they are all part of the Gardening Leave family.  We would be lost without them and it’s great to welcome Morven as a new Volunteer.  She served in the Royal Navy and I hope that she will enjoy spending time with us at Auchincruive.

Thanks to Stevie, Merlin, and Ritchies of Kilmarnock our terrific printers, Issue 1 of The Bullet, the Friends of Gardening Leave Newsletter made its first appearance this month.  The response from the Friends of Gardening Leave has been better than I had dared to hope and plenty of them have signed up to receive the Spring issue by e-mail which is a great help.

The Bullet will be an important tool for us to use when we are spreading the word about what Gardening Leave is, who it helps and how people can get involved by donating time, money or both….  If anyone would like to receive a copy, please can you contact Evelyn?  admin@gardeningleave.org or 01292 521 444.  Being a Friend of Gardening Leave doesn’t cost anything, you just have to promise to tell at least 2 people every month what we are about - it’s that easy!

The Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation (www.oswaldstoll.org.uk) kindly hosted Gardening Leave’s first Trustees Meeting in London which felt very grown-up.  It was good to see nearly all the Trustees at the Meeting and the veterans who work at Pryors Bank Café in Putney (www.pryorsbank.co.uk)  produced a delicious lunch too - many thanks to All.

On the Friday I went to the annual Forum of the Walled Kitchen Garden Network  (www.walledgardens.net) at Hampton Court where I met lots of other people who are concerned with preserving and using walled gardens, and listened to speakers from France, Belgium and Germany.  A great day and so good to spend time with other people who are involved with preserving some of Britain’s walled gardens - they really are magic places and I hope Gardening Leave can be part of saving some of them for future generations to enjoy.

I was very, very proud that Jimmy, one of our veterans completed the 10k British Military Fitness Run near Manchester and in the process raised over £600 for Gardening Leave.  Huge thanks to Jimmy for braving what looked like filthy conditions as well as the motorways, all for Gardening Leave - you really are an Inspiration to us all.

Dewi Winkle, a retired Major in the Parachute Regiment has set up a company called 3xtri which manages sporting events.  They are happy to offer charity places for Gardening Leave for triathlons, duathlons and aquathlons.  If like Jimmy, you would like to raise money for Gardening Leave, you can register at www.3xtri.com - Good Luck and Thank You in advance!

The Friends of Auchincruive kindly helped us to pay for a smart new pair of gates at the entrance to our area of the gardens which will help to reassure veterans that Gardening Leave is a ’safe place’ and they should help to keep the dogs in too…..!

Pamela has been very busy in the garden - some of the benches have been stripped and re-painted, the winter hanging baskets are finished; the VC poppy seeds have been saved and are drying out; lots of spring bulbs have been planted and the lettuces and onions to keep the kitchens at Hollybush supplied are still on the go.  The cloches are in place although we are still waiting for the first frost and the compost heap, bigger and better than ever, has been put to bed for the winter.

Happy Days,

Anna.