Questions for Gardeners Question Time and Hackney

De Beauvoir Gardeners will be hosting the BBC's GQT (that's Gardener's Question Time) in the crypt of St Peter's Church in De Beauvoir Square with tickets selling for £2 for people who aren't members of De Beauvoir Gardeners.

I read about it in the Gazette and it's on 7th June hopefully tickets are still for sale - although I couldn't find it on the BBC's website (that doesn't mean its not there) or on the St Peter's website for the crypt.

I can't go even if there are tickets. But if anyone's looking for questions...

Firstly, are gnomes ok? I used to fear them but not enough to remove my predecessor's collection, now a lost village of gnomes usually hidden in my back garden.

But is there a Hackney angle to the garden debate? The politics of gardening presents some ideas. This essay contained lots interesting ideas and was based on Hackney City Farm. Among the many points it made was that Hackney doesn't have enough allotments: 'While there are over 30,000 active allotment holders in London, (Garnett 2005) there are only 124 remaining allotment plots in Hackney (Hackney Council, 2008), home to some 212,200 people (Ibid., 2010)– nowhere near 4 acres per 1000 people.'

And: 'These socio‐political histories had the effect of restricting garden use and urban land cultivation to wealthier classes by limiting access to a large part of London’s green space to those with private transportation, private gardens, or access to government licensed allotments.'

Otherwise there's less cerebral problems like the Hackney blogger Glamorous Gardener's occasional run-ins with the authorities (The older problem with passion flowers and dead rosemary and the more recent camomile lawn and clematis trampling incident.)

Or last year when the Council wouldn't let gardeners do voluntary work in Hackney parks and public areas unless they paid £1000. This might have changed - apparently Jules Pipe was onto the legal department about it - and there seems to be a full schedule of stuff going on in Hackney parks ranging from consultations over BBQs in London fields and dodgy dogs to actual plant care lessons.

So, what questions?

I was hoping to find something useful about gardening in Hackney as opposed to anywhere else. It hasn't really happened.

Although it would be helpful if they know of any fox-repelling plants.

Otherwise, can a gardener give anything away about their politics (or anything else for that matter) in their garden or gardening style? These looked they might be interesting, both (1 and 2) from the USA about gardening and what it's about and this, but nothing that interesting.

World War Two 'incendiary device' in De Beauvoir garden

Police statement:

On Thursday June 17 at approx. 13:45, a PCSO on patrol in Ufton Grove, N1, was approached by a member of the public who stated that he had found an old World War II incendiary device in his front garden. The PCSO called for assistance from the De Beauvoir Safer Neighbourhoods team and Expo (bomb disposal) officers were also called out. On attendance, officers found a World War II grenade about 4 inches in length, which was safely removed from the location by Expo officers. De Beauvoir Safer Neighbourhoods team carried out patrols in the area to inform and reassure residents of the incident.

Sergeant Shaju Bhaskaran of Hackney's De Beauvoir Safer Neighbourhoods Team, said: "Your Safer Neighbourhoods team is here to help, whatever crime or safety concern you may have. This was an unusual incident for our ward, to say the least, but local residents have been reassured that the device has been safely removed."