IT only seems five minutes ago that I was going through the horticultural successes and failures of 2002, and here I am again, mulling over this year's events.

The main topic of 2003 has to be the weather (all gardeners are obsessed by the weather).

I remember siting outside a pub (not that the pub is a hobby, it just happened to be at the end of a pleasant walk) in just a t-shirt in late October.

So at least we can have no complaints about the weather this year... except that the lack of water did lead to a high incidence of mildew, poor lawn seed germination and brown staining, and a short shelf life for apples.

Anything growing under glass (or plastic) needed regular attention and watering, which may have caused a few headaches over the holiday period.

The good spring allowed us to undertake a large amount of repair work on structures and fences around the site at Natures World.

Anything that was a little wobbly or rotten was removed, repaired or replaced. Copious buckets of stain were used to smarten it all up.

Thank goodness we got that all done before the new EC directive came out and removed creosote from the shelves.

There will be hundreds of seasoned gardeners now living in fear of having their sheds raided by the chemical police this Christmas.

By the New Year all the banned substances should have been carefully and properly disposed of.

We shall just have to get used to looking for alternative methods of doing things without our manufactured products. This could perhaps be a good move for the promotion of organic and old fashioned ways of thinking.

We have had an influx and change around of the type of trainees and volunteers at Natures World. We welcomed the setting up of an Eremus satellite group from Middlesbrough.

This is a little unit of self contained and supervised trainees who assist us with some of the propagation and artistic elements on site.

They have brought energy, fun and enthusiasm with them.

A minibus full of people undertaking community service sentences arrives most mornings now. They have proved to be invaluable in doing some of the heavier or more skilled jobs.

They have cleared and rotavated the market garden, and are now in the process of creating raised beds with defined pathways.

There should be some good vegetables grown in that next year. They have also been digging out the best of the soil from our 12-year-old compost heap.

It is now fantastic stuff, and we will be using that in potting sheds and greenhouses next year, so that we can be totally self sufficient and organic in our crop raising.

In addition we have undertaken all the usual gardening maintenance chores. The grass cutting has been taken over by a select, dedicated and animated group of our special needs volunteers.

They have taken great pride in their efforts this year, as opposed to the group that used to do our grass cutting (whom I shall not name), who used to take the lawn mowers...out of the back gate and sell them off.

It is just one of the hazards of working with a varied and mixed group of individuals who come from all walks of life.

Our motto here at Natures World though is that everyone is equal as soon as they come through the front gates.

We do not discriminate, but sometimes have to divert different energies in different directions.

Personally the year has seen great changes.

I have had to take over the supervision and responsibility of all the trainees and not just that of my lovely group of volunteers.

Some days have been challenging, but overall, it has been very rewarding. We recruited a fellow garden supervisor who has brought with her new ideas and fresh ways of thinking.

We also released one of the retail staff out into the garden for a few days. Her boundless energy and laughter has kept us going long after we have flagged.

It has been a positive and productive year. It has been a building year ready for expanding on next year. I really do feel that we will be doing great and exciting things in 2004

JOBS THIS WEEK

Nothing

It is time to sit back and relax and contemplate all the jobs that you have to do for next year. You will have plenty of time after the festive week is over to work off any excess energy that has accumulated (especially around the waist and hips).

POST SCRIPT

Brigid hosts 'Ask about Gardening' every Sunday from 12-2pm on BBC Radio Cleveland 95FM.

Published: 27/12/2003