In bloom: an interview with Matilya Njau

Lincoln Greener’s weekly gardening group starts again on March 5th!

As we prepare for our upcoming Lincoln Greeners spring sessions, we sat down with Matilya Njau to chat about the group’s journey over the past two years and discover what she’s got planned for 2024…

Tell us about the Lincoln Greeners!

The Lincoln Greeners is a community gardening group that meets weekly in Roxby Community Garden. Together, we socialise, take care of a thriving vegetable patch and ornamental garden, learn how to grow food, take care of a variety of plants and care for ourselves using plants! When it’s rainy or too cold we meet indoors, exploring different herbs, sowing seeds or just having a chat!

What kind of progress has the group has made over the last two years?

We have watched the garden really bloom in the last two years! When we started, we weren’t entirely sure what the soil/conditions would be like for growing and what would survive in the space. But we’ve found that our vegetable patch is extremely tough and we have grown plants we didn’t think we’d be able to such as sweet potatoes.

Lincoln Greeners vegetable patch - Spring 2022

In the last growing season, we grew enough food to make up vegetable bags for participants to take home each week which was a really wonderful outcome! Although our numbers are still growing steadily, the Lincoln Greeners has a core group of regular members who have developed friendships with each other. 

We’ve now started to develop the old laundry storage area in Roxby Close which we use to store our compost bins and tools. We have some raised beds in there where we’ve planted strawberries and some fruit bushes with plans to start using it as additional growing space! 

The group has really come into its own, and the last season was full of lots of laughter and vibrancy which I’m looking forward to continuing this year!

Lincoln Greeners vegetable patch - Summer 2023

What are some of your favourite memories of working with the group?

It has been beautiful witnessing the connections that have formed in the group and the confidence that has grown in growing different types of vegetables. My favourite memory was when we harvested lots of potatoes - there was so much excitement and happiness as we dug deep for all the treasure!

Another favourite memory was having the Lincoln Greeners harvest stall at one of the Family Flourish events last year. We had potatoes, beetroot, lots of salad, broccoli, beans and even some oyster mushrooms! It was amazing to be able to showcase and give away all the veg we’ve grown.

Matilya running the Lincoln Greeners vegetable stall at our ‘Family Flourish: Harvest’ event - Autumn 2023

What do you have planned for the Lincoln Greeners in 2024?

Apart from growing even more food (!), we have some exciting plans to explore the wonderful world of preserving.

Preserving is a part of many different cultures and we plan on doing a series with the Lincoln Greeners making a different preserve per season. We will aim only to use plants that we’ve grown or that are currently growing in the wild in Lincoln Green. We’ll also look at how we can extend their season by making things like as cordials, syrups, jams, and chutneys. 

Tasting the Lincoln Greeners ‘Fire Cider’ - Winter 2023

We will also be developing a zine documenting our journey so far, with lots of stories and writings around our experiences as Lincoln Greeners. 

What are you most excited for this year?

I’m most excited to welcome new members, grow even more food and continue to see how the group develops their horticultural skills. I’m also really excited about delving into preservation, medicine-making and learning from each other!

Who is Lincoln Greeners for?

Lincoln Greeners is for everybody! You don’t need to have any gardening experience whatsoever, just an interest in getting outside and being around plants! 

What would you say to someone who wants to start gardening but doesn’t know where to start? 

Plants are wonderful, forgiving teachers. If you don’t think you’re very green-fingered, you’ll be surprised. Even if a plant dies or doesn’t do very well, you can always start again. Don’t be scared of just experimenting and seeing what happens!

For someone who wants to start gardening, looking at the natural environment around you is always a good place to start. Observe what plants in the wild are doing, look at where they grow, how quickly they form flowers and what their seed pods look like. We can learn a lot by just listening to nature! 

Lincoln Greeners is a sustainable, weekly gardening group held every Tuesday, 10:30 - 12:30pm at Roxby Close, LS9 7LR.

Join to learn new skills, make friends, transform your neighbourhood and create a communal green space with an edible garden for all to enjoy!