Meet CAT’s… Display Gardener

Clean Slate (CS): How did you get involved with CAT?

Petra: I came to volunteer in the garden for six months in summer 1996. I had finished a course in ‘Commercial, Organic Crop Production’ the previous year and was gathering experience. After WWOOFing (volunteering on organic farms), the opportunity to work in an established educational garden and smallholding alongside CAT’s expert growers seemed ideal. It was a summer to remember – so many interesting conversations with inspiring and innovative people who worked hard and also knew how to enjoy life. Helping to look after the garden, grow and harvest produce was immensely satisfying.

That summer wasn’t all about work, there were some wonderful evenings too. The craggy parts of site were all ablaze with heather and gorse at that time. There were hot saunas, cold water dips, bonfires, and music under the stars. I relished it all, as so many other volunteers have before and since!

To be welcomed into a community of people who were working positively together to find solutions and raise awareness was a revelation. I felt like I had found my people and was no longer wading against the tide alone. That is why I decided to stay in Machynlleth and have worked as a gardener ever since.

In 2015 I got a job as the new CAT Display Gardener, taking over from Clo Ward after her many years of fantastic work here, and working alongside long-standing CAT grower Roger Mac. Petra Weinmann has been CAT’s Display Gardener since 2015, after first joining us as a volunteer more than 25 years ago. Beautiful flower beds that boost biodiversity, scrumptious salads for the CAT café, trails and displays to help people learn more about food and growing – Petra oversees it all, and much more besides.

Trail’. It still runs through the gardens now, exploring the many environmental benefits of growing peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas for their superb nutritional value and simple deliciousness. We pulled together a display that is beautiful to behold while addressing such weighty issues as sustainable diets and soil care. Which reminds me, that trail needs some work this winter!

CS: What does the role of Display Gardener involve?

Petra: Initially, I thought my job would mostly involve looking after the borders and garden-related educational displays, but I soon realised that I was also going to be groundskeeper, handy- person, garden liaison officer, tour guide, workshop leader, flower arranger, composter, and weeder of every metre of gravel path on site.

While quaking in my muddy boots, I took up the challenge because the garden and the organisation are precious to me.

Over the years, new people have joined the team and dedicated volunteers have made a huge contribution in helping to keep the garden interesting through the seasons, and the supportive relationships in our small Estates team have been invaluable. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

CS: What do you hope to see CAT achieve in the next five to ten years?

Petra: Well, the ambition is to inspire, inform and enable people (from individuals to governments) to enact the changes that will bring about a sustainable future for humans and all species. It can feel pretty huge! Often, I am just glad to kindle a little spark of inspiration in someone. I do feel heartened by some of the people I have met and worked with here over the years, and the things they have gone on to do. I have seen the capacity of humans to get things done when we pull together and realise how much we love the Earth. CS

CS: What’s your fondest memory of your time working and volunteering at CAT, or your proudest moment?

Petra: In honour of the UN ‘International Year of Pulses’ in 2016, a group of us collaborated on a project called ‘The Pulse

The Pulse Trail explores the many benefits of growing and eating peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas