and I can't do it alone.

As the saying goes…It takes a village.
My aspirations for garden sharing during Imbolc and thinking to the future for Lenders and Tenders.

“I can't do it alone” is something I often hear from garden owners, even the most passionate gardeners. The same goes for garden sharing, often partners, adult children and neighbours get involved in making a Patch-Match happen.

As the saying goes…It takes a village… to share a garden, too.

‘It takes a village’ is a potent phrase as a relatively new parent. I’m in a new area with a limited support network, but I also realise that in search for my own ‘village’, I also need to help build ‘villages’ for garden sharers too. So I hope future collaborations will make things more efficient and most of all beneficial for both Lenders and Tenders.

Garden sharing might not be at the top of your priorities until the spring, where I commonly see a lot of sign ups, but whilst it’s dreary and cold outside and we’re nestled in our warm cosy homes, although it doesn’t feel very festive there’s about to be a celebration of this quiet time. Things are still above ground, but very different below.

I recently stumbled across the word Imbolc via a parenting network. The Celtic festival, Imbolc celebrates emerging life on the planet. Originally a Pagan festivity, it’s a time to show appreciation for this period of quiet before spring bursts into life, something we can all quietly do, especially when garden ideas are only nascent possibilities at the back of our minds.

The literal translation of Ibolc means in the belly or in the womb. It makes me think back to entering my 2nd trimester (the point when most pregnancies are announced). It was early 2022 and it was bitterly cold, yet I decided to have my ‘baby moon’ at the Newt in Somerset during when, what I know now was Imbolc. I felt a sense of burgeoning energy underfoot. Confidently cut back pruned blanched branches at the Newt had yet to show buds but there was an imminent feeling that the plants and seeds were slowly preparing to release into new life, waiting to burst out with potential in the spring to come.

Pruned beauty, at the Newt. Fruiting trees give stark sculptural winter aesthetic whilst their leaves wait to emerge.

It’s at this time of year I also get excited about the potential of all of the garden spaces that garden owners have, and especially the gardens that aren’t used sitting quietly, patiently waiting to be Tended. Although there’s positivity in possibilities, sometimes there’s a sadness to a garden space. Sometimes the garden owner has long needed the garden Tended due to a loved one passing, or a breakdown of a relationship, but this is where I hope garden-sharing can bring new joy to both to the garden owner and the person about to Tend to that garden.

“I can’t do it alone”…It's often what I hear from garden owners. Some just don't have the time, inclination or interest, some may only use their garden for entertaining a few weeks over the summer period, but it’s at this time that gardens harness all that stored energy and sprout forth weeds and overgrowth in spring which before long, I often hear feels insurmountable very quickly.

One of the common answers I see from the Lenders’ questionnaire on signing up

I must also confess, in the past 17 months that I have been caring for my infant daughter, where I was previously able to juggle Lend and Tend responsibilities and other work, I have been absolutely not been able to spin all of the plates I used to. Working from the moment she is asleep, until the wee hours is unsustainable. So, I too cannot do it alone anymore either.

I have been hoping that with the seeds of Lend and Tend I have sown, over the past 10 years an answer may sprout and I’m delighted to say at this time of Imbolc I have news to share.

I still very much need you, my village to help me in your communities to spread the word, within your allotment societies sharing the seed of garden sharing with those folks on waiting lists, in your favourite cafes and community centres and together hopefully we can get more people matched up with gardens and new friendships growing. Perhaps we can get wider organisations involved in making beneficial changes to our environments and to our neighbourhoods. Garden sharing can be radical. In welcoming people to a new community, in combating the epidemic of loneliness, filling fridges with fresh food, climate action or just simply spreading joy with jam and sunflowers. Garden sharing is a simple act, but essentially an act of kindness.

If you could do me one kind favour? If you go to a local community spot with a notice board it’d be a real help if you could put this poster up. The PDF is easily printable and shareable.

The poster is available to download here

In other news, I previously talked about an answer finally sprouting! In the most perfect time, I have been offered support in that of two like minded people who are also passionate about garden sharing.

In a this new collaboration we hope to finally launch a Lend and Tend app and find opportunities to bring Lend and Tend members, greater engagement and support whilst making the world a bit better via garden sharing.

So without further ado, I’d like to introduce Mark Pearce

Hi everyone, I'm Mark Pearce and I’m a director and creative consultant with over 35 years experience of delivering content for world leading brands including CBeebies, CBBC, Channel 4, Disney, Nick JR, Nickelodeon, National Geographic and many more. I’m really excited to be joining Joyce and Lenka at Lend and Tend. Over the past few years I've worked on a couple of exciting projects that explored ways of getting local people to take action personally, as local communities, and at the same time understanding how these actions impact the global picture. These projects have made an impact at landscape scale in the Caribbean and in some National Parks in the UK.
I don't have the greenest fingers, but with an understanding of how our gardens can help us to support our native plants and animals, provide nutritious fresh produce while keeping us healthy and active, I'm hoping to help Lend and Tend to grow the community. Making it simpler for individuals, groups and larger organisations start their garden sharing journey in 2024.

and Lenka Mudrich

Hi all! I'm Lenka Mudrich, and I'm excited to join Lend and Tend on its journey. Before meeting Joyce, I had plans to create a very similar platform. My motivation stemmed from the frustration of long waiting lists for allotments and numerous unused spaces around the city. Upon meeting Mark and conducting our research, we discovered Lend and Tend. We believed that joining forces for the greater good was the way forward, leading us to this collaboration.
Given my background as a techie in my day job, I'll be developing a more automated platform that will help you find your perfect match. Additionally, it will contribute to Lend and Tend's scalability, enabling significant impact.

So that’s our news for now. Please forgive my previous pregnant pause and I hope to be back in touch with news of what Mark, Lenka and I are up to next, very soon.

In the meantime, please keep sharing about garden sharing and I look forward to hearing from you on socials or via sign ups soon.