Rooting for Andover - Summer update 2025

News from the Rooting for Andover team

What a blooming brilliant summer it's been for our community garden! The school holidays kept us on our toes with a flurry of fun, learning, creativity—and just a little bit of apple juice (more on that later!).

🌿 Plant, Grow & Learn – Holiday Highlights

Our weekly Plant, Grow and Learn sessions were buzzing with activity over the holidays. We had fantastic attendance from families and young garden explorers. The kids got stuck in with making bug hotels, windchimes, seed bombs, and even tried their hand at butterfly spotting!

These sessions tied in beautifully with our Summer Holiday Challenge, where children explored the garden to identify fruit and veg, tried out our brand-new rubbing plaques, and let their imaginations run wild inventing their very own super bugs. We've loved reading their entries, full of creativity and garden magic—and we’ll be announcing a winner very soon. 🌟

A huge thank you to Hubbub for their generous support, which made these events possible!

🍏 Our First Ever Apple Day – 30 August

Apple Day was a core-blimey kind of success! With a generous donation of apples, we brought out the traditional fruit presses and got to work making fresh apple juice. It turns out apple pressing is harder than it looks—many of us discovered muscles we didn’t know we had! 💪

Big thanks to Test Valley Borough Council for their idea and support in making this fruitful day happen.

🔥 Volunteer BBQ – A Well-Earned Treat

Our amazing volunteers are the heartbeat of the garden, and we were so pleased to host a little get-together to say thank you. The BBQ was fired up (we may have cooked enough to feed all of Augusta Park!) and it was lovely to just sit, chat, and enjoy the garden without our usual gloves and wheelbarrows. Thank you for everything you do!

🎃 What’s Next? Halloween Fun Incoming!

We’re already planning our spook-tacular Halloween event, so keep your eyes peeled for more details coming very soon. Costumes, pumpkins, and garden ghouls may be involved…

🪴 Sensory Garden – Exciting Developments

We’re thrilled to announce we've been awarded £2,684 of funding from The National Lottery to develop a brand-new sensory section in the garden! Work has begun near the orchard entrance to level the ground, and infrastructure will go in over winter. Come spring, we’ll be ready to plant and grow this special new space. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates!

🏆 We’re Award Winners!

We’re absolutely delighted to share that we’ve won Sovereign Network Group’s Community Garden of the Year Award! 🏅 We were up against some tough competition from across the South of England—from Cornwall to Kent—and we brought home a magnificent trophy and £200 to reinvest in the garden.

The funds have already helped us add plants to our new fernery (tucked behind the bog garden) and buy some lovely spring bulbs. A blooming brilliant win for our little garden!

🎨 Calling All Local Artists!

We’re on the lookout for a local artist who might be able to help us create a beautiful mural in the garden. If you or someone you know might be interested, we’d love to hear from you!

🧤 Gardening Sessions Update

As the evenings draw in, our Monday evening sessions will be winding down soon. But don’t worry, Tuesday and Saturday sessions are still going strong! Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just fancy a chat and a cuppa while pulling a few weeds, everyone’s welcome.