Wistow Garden Centre

I managed to find my way to Wistow in Leicestershire where there is a little group of shops including a farm shop and craft shop etc. I love this place and thought I'd take the opportunity to take a few photographs. Most of the shops were closed on the cold january day but the farm shop and the gardens were ready for some picture taking! Here are a few shots that I took...

A Personal Space

On my return to Derby I was able to find two sets of allotments, however, both were locked up and there was noone around in this dreadful weather to let me in! I did manage to get a few shots through the fence though. I was amazed to see the amount of 'make-do' sheds that allotment holders seem to build but then I suppose there would be no point in buying a brand new shed at the risk of it being vandalised. I love the way the allotment holder has the freedom to put their own personal stamp on their plot and whether it be through practicality or the desire to make it look pretty, all the plots work together creating a sociable space which (not so much in the winter months) creates a mini vegetable growing community.
Here are a few examples of sheds I managed to photograph...

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

On my journey around the allotments I noticed a number of recycled elements to each plot. Tin cans, plastic bottles, CD's, pegs, plastic bags and all sorts were being used as bird scarers, plants labels and ties. This made me think about my own project and the way gardeners are happy to 'make do and mend'. Maybe I could incorporate some of these recycled materials that gardeners seem so eager to use. These materials are all durable and have been tried and tested, weathered and knocked about....this could be a great element to add to my work...











A plastic boat acting as a water butt.










Coke cans clash in the wind as bird scarers.













Captain Scarlet scares the birds away.













The trusty peg...used to pin up netting around precious vegetables.













A full sized bath works as a water container.













Recycled plastic bottles used as plant labels.













CD's catch the sun and scare away the birds.

























A plastic bottle used as a post and a bird scarer.

Hatfield Peverel allotments

Here are a few of the photographs I managed to take of the allotments over my christmas holidays...


Bean pole ready for the growing season.


The few surving vegetables after the big freeze.



So as never to forget...


A compost heap withers under the thick frost.


'Essentials' for the keen allotments gardener


A frozen water butt thaws as the tap drips.


Watering cans glistening in the morning sun.

The start of my gardening journey...

So I have chosen completely the wrong time to start my quest into the gardening world...I have found little opportunity, due to the appauling weather to get out and explore allotments, gardens and all that is involved. I did manage to fight my way through the snow one day to the allotments across the field but there was a blanket of snow covering everything in sight! I was hoping to get out today but am, yet again snowed in!
My reasons for this blog are simple...I have started about five sketchbooks already and discarded them all as I am too much of a perfectionist! I have decided that my sketching skills are not up to scratch and so will be attempting to improve them, perhaps in my own private sketchbook which nobody ever has to see! However, I am quite a keen photographer and I always carry a camera with me to record special times and just things I like in general.
The one day that I found over the christmas holiday that had good visibility for photographing, I took advantage of! Although the allotments were eerily quite and the winter had taken its toll on the overall conditions I was still able to get some good shots of the general workings of an allotment...

Articulated and Formed

This is when my work started to become based on my journey into gardening and the study of allotments, gardens, tools and equipment.
There were two main themes within my work: articulation and form.


Articulated Pieces:
These are made up of squares or triangles of ply wood cut out on the laser cutter and sewn between two bits of fabric. The result is a flexible but durable fabric.








Formed Pieces:
These pieces take form as the fabric covers various shapes of bent plywood, creating a solid construction suitable for containers or holders.








So now I wanted to really get to know gardeners and their needs and wants. I wanted go into their territory and explore the ins and outs of planting, growing and cultivating. I needed some allotments...

The Project...

I am a third year Crafts student at the University of Derby.
I love my course and get very excited by crafty, pretty things. I am always making things, which are normally small scale and some type of jewellery or accessory.

My current project is a lead up to the big bad final project, after which is the final degree show and then New Designers in London.
So I'll start with a quick summary of my work so far...I love working with wood and fabric and really enjoyed the print work I did in my second year. I started my project wanting to create my own floral fabric with a hint of vintage style so I created some prints from photographs and drawings of flowers.






Photographs of Flowers, September 2009






















With the printed floral fabric I started embellishing the design on my sewing machine and making simple zip up bags to brush up on my sewing skills. I then decided to introduce another material into my work to make it durable and hardwearing so I started to experiment with ply wood...