The garden at Artemis House is enormously important to my clinic, patients and students – and to me! It is laid out in a spiral, representing a journey through a woman’s life, starting at birth with a beautiful rose arch and ending in paradise by the tranquil pond. There is a narrow gravel path to follow as you slowly walk around the garden and as the path unfolds the planting reflects the herbs that are most helpful for that time in a woman’s life.
We aim to grow as much as possible in the garden to produce home grown and home processed herbs for the dispensary. To maintain this garden requires an enormous amount of work, knowledge and passion and each winter I review planting schemes, deciding which which herbs we need more of for the practice, which beds and borders need attention, and looking at new garden projects – all of which requires considerable amounts of labour to carry out!
To help us keep the garden looking its best, this spring and summer we are looking for volunteers to come and work alongside our regular gardeners. A passion for herbs and plants is essential, but no previous gardening experience is necessary as a herb garden does not always follow the same rules as an ornamental garden (our definition of a ‘weed’ is slightly different for starters!).
We will be gardening on Mondays, but the number of days volunteered and the work to be done will be arranged in advance with us, you can give as much, or as little, time as you are able.
The work involved includes
- weeding herb and vegetable beds and paths
- sowing seeds, pricking out and potting up seedlings
- watering and feeding beds and borders
- deadheading roses and flowering plants
- collecting herbs for drying and processing
- making tinctures and glycerites
- pressing tinctures and glycerites
Please note we are not on a public transport route so you will need to be able to drive yourself to and from the garden.
To be added to the list of garden volunteers please ‘buy’ this item, or email us at admin@annemcintyre.com with your availability. Thank you!
