Soil health is a cornerstone of everything we do at the growing project, and so it was great to have such an interested and enthusiastic group of growers at the November training session, which looked at soil health and composting. Did you know there are more living organisms in one teaspoon of soil then there are people on the planet? Or that soil stores more carbon worldwide than is contained in all plant biomass? These facts make apparent the need to keep looking after and feeding the soil. Which is exactly what we have been doing over the past month! Our volunteers have been mulching all of the beds in the growing project; some with a good, thick layer of manure, others with fine wood chip, and others with leaf mould. All of these mulches will gradually break down over winter, helping to maintain warmth and moisture in the soil, and providing essential nutrients which will feed our plants next year.
This ‘no-dig’ approach to growing, whereby the mulch is laid on top of the soil and gradually incorporated through the natural action of worms, other organisms and the weather, has certainly provided us with some good results this year. Harvesting continues, and as of this week, we have made 27 deliveries to the foodbank, and still have enough produce to continue into December. Since March, we have grown 52 different types of fruits and vegetables, with up to 19 different types of produce in each delivery.
Some veg, such as sprouting broccoli, has a long growing season, whereas salad leaves like rocket are ready much sooner. However, one of the most instant crops you can grow is mustard and cress – a firm favourite among children! Recently, the young children from the Montessori Nursery visited the project to sow mustard and cress seeds, and were delighted when, just 10 days later, they had pots jam packed full of seedings ready to eat!
Finally, from February next year, we will be rolling out a new series of workshops, to replace the growers’ training sessions. The workshops will be interactive, with the opportunity to get involved and ask questions, and will cover a wide range of growing topics – ranging from the very basics of how to get started with growing to mushroom cultivation. We will send out more information and links to book a bit nearer the time.
Dates for the diary
The last growing session of the year will take place on Saturday 14th December. Monday and Wednesday growing sessions will recommence the week beginning 6th January, but Saturday sessions will not recommence until 18th January, when we will be having a big ‘New Year Clear’! See below for details.
11th December – Community Orchard Pruning session – learn more about pruning and caring for fruit trees, and have a go at pruning the apple and pear trees. We’ll begin with a demonstration, so even if you’ve never pruned before, please do come along to find out more!
14th December – Growers’ training: regenerative principles for urban growing – regenerative growing has increasingly come to the fore in recent years, but what does it actually mean? In this training session, we’ll explore what regenerative growing is, and how the principles can be applied in practice.
14th December – the final LGBTQ+ growing group of the year will take place on 14th December.
18th January – come along to join in our ‘New Year Clear’! Winter is the perfect time to make some structural changes to the project, tidy up those areas we didn’t have a chance to get to over summer, and generally get the space ready for the new growing season. We’ll be joined by the Good Gym, and it would be fantastic to have all hands on deck so we can really make an impact on the growing space! No need to book – just turn up! All volunteers will be entitled to half-price hot drinks from the community café.