'I am surrounded by buzzing life and the sun has become warm on my back and the air stilled. Warm skin and flowers and insects surround me, and as the damp earth warms under the late sun, the scents and sounds fill my senses. Kneeling on the earth, bathed in scent, sound and colour. A taste of no-self.'

As I'm doing my watering duties at our community garden at the end of a hot day, I recall reading this beautiful explanation of our strong connection with nature by Mark Hamer a few years ago. At that time I was sitting in my own back garden, enjoying the scent of lavenders and roses, and admiring the beauty of cosmos plants in various colours-they are my all time favourites.  I remember imagining that the community garden that we started from an empty concrete patch in the middle of a car park will be one day full of colour and scents and insects too.

As I'm standing here now, surrounded by buzzing bees enjoying our pollinator plants, the delicate scent of lavender, rosemary and thyme drifting in the air and the sun is indeed very warm on my skin, I have a sense of feeling that we might have just achieved this. After three years of hard work by so many people- colleagues, businesses, community members, community groups with various disabilities, lovely families who wanted to learn more and get involved to experience the joy of a community project. And it was mostly joy, as it brought so many incredible people together that it warms my heart every time we achieve something new and exciting.

We are in the middle of yet another heatwave, and I could be preaching, even complaining about the effects of climate change, the incredible difficulties we have been experiencing because of the lack of rainwater and indeed, the lack of running water in the garden, but instead I feel blessed to be able to tell you about the great things that made so many of us happy and content with nature.

Over the years there had been a high number of people involved, starting with some of the fantastic community groups -so many stories had been told, so many new skills discovered and so many friendships formed! Enthusiastic children and families joining us for activities, from eco gardening club to open days, cooking sessions, Halloween special events or bee box making . It makes me emotional every time I see a child revisiting the garden, checking the bird feeders they made, or the bird boxes they created, or the fruit trees they planted.

This year I was very pleased to get even more community engagement and support -all stating that they can see the good work we are doing, and they would like to help to reach even more people with our message, or simply just enjoy the garden and enter into a different world away from the shops, the noise of the car park or simply from the noise of everyday life. Inmates from Five Wells prison made a wishing well planter for the garden, and community group members lovingly planted sensory plants in it for everyone to enjoy. The Swivel club offered to donate some extra benches, so even more people can relax in the area. Northants Fire and Rescue service offered to help with watering and more importantly to engage with our community groups too. Members of the public offered seedlings and cuttings of their plants, and telling us how much they enjoy the garden that is on their dog walking route, and how interesting it is for them to follow the ongoing improvements and growing number of plants. Lovely to experience the cheering from our volunteers every time we have another delivery of fresh products to local charity Encompass, or when I tell them about birds nesting in our nest boxes, or solitary bees using our bee boxes we created during activities. The involvement of our Duke of Edinburgh students in caring for the garden is invaluable, and it is really lovely to see their excitement.

The aim was to create a wildlife friendly garden, and show our visitors how easy it is to make this happen in their own gardens too. So seeing some of the young people with learning difficulties naming the different insects, or being excited about our two wormeries, or having a nice time decorating their own planter to take home and grow their own plants is so rewarding. Seeing dementia patients reminiscing about memories they never mentioned before, or meeting families that are just visiting the garden and ending up talking about spiders with their young children are all opportunities we would have never experienced without creating this space in the garden.

Talking about colours- the garden is bursting with flaming nasturtium flowers, courgettes are covered with beautiful yellow flowers, the runner beans have beautiful delicate flowers in shades of cream and purple, and the tomato plants are having a mixture of bright flowers and green and orange fruits. This inspired us to have a garden trail for the summer, and the involvement of so many people-groups, volunteers, staff members, we created wooden signs -I would even call them artwork- for everyone to learn even more about wildlife and the fascinating history of plants and insects. The hidden wonders of the garden were inspiration for young photographers to capture caterpillars, spiders, and butterflies, as well as children creating crafts based on plants or insects they discovered in the garden. I included some of these in my nature journals too-sketching is something I should spend more time of and there is always so much to see!

As the summer holidays are fast approaching, we are very busy planning even more activities in the community garden. Our groups are booked in for the summer months, and the eco family gardening club will be running, as well as some extra activities-open days and workshops.

The garden is for everyone to enjoy, so join us for activities, or simply visit our community area and enjoy the colours and scents and connect with nature.

'It is hot and the garden is painful with colour, the brightness of a million smiths hammering resonant petals, clanging copper and brass into petals that turn to catch the sun and burn the eyes' - Marc Hamer