Joint Island centre’s gardener, Terry Over, shares his gratitude for task teams.
Rachel and I have just arrived on Iona to embark on being the Island Centres Gardeners for five months. We have the opportunity to weave some tender loving care into what nature is so beautifully shaping.
The Abbey Garden is voluminous in a growth of sweet rocket, fronds of fennel and that magical all giving plant that is comfrey – all under-storeyed with blue hardy geranium and the tactile foliage of alchemilla mollis.
To sit amongst it is to surround yourself with the sights and sound of a proliferation of bees and invertebrates bouncing from flower to flower; and always with the awe and wonder of the Sound of Iona and the Burg on Mull filling the backdrop.
I love resting in the sunken-ness of the Peace Garden directly outside the west of the Abbey entrance. It is an embracing comforting space with much botanical interest to be sought among the joints in the stone walls and pebble boundary.
The flower bed is full of dandelion and the interesting ribwort plantain which at this time of year has the delicate creamy white circle of flowers climbing up the spike. Good to admire their shapes, colours, textures and herbal properties of both plants but we would like to remove them to make way for herbaceous plants that could provide all round interest and cover the bare soil which would better resist the seed infiltration from the surrounding wildflowers, of which there are enough to appreciate outside of the Peace garden.
A daunting task for just two gardeners but for both of us the most important aspect of our role here is the engagement with the guests, visitors and volunteers. We want to provide an opportunity for others to dwell in the soul lifting art of gardening that brings us so much release, comfort, nurture and connection to our natural environment.
An opportunity to work alongside one another in common task, to share openly, observe the detail of nature at close hand, delve deeply in to environmental topics, and encourage behaviour changes towards a more sustainable and organic way of gardening.
So, this week we introduced a Gardening Task Team for the 9:30 to 10:00am slot when guests are invited to join in the work tasks of living in community. It has been a real joy to engage with four Abbey guests as we pull “weeds” together and change the world one conversation at a time.
The hardest bit has been getting them to stop so they can attend their morning session on time, but seeing their delight in purposeful joy is so rewarding. This is the highlight of my day and we look forward to a season of gardening task teams and nourished souls.
USA North East