Louth Community Food Gardens

2012-01-12T15:38:00.002Z

Healthy Cooking Sessions in your Community

10
week programme to include basic cooking skills, cooking on a budget, food
hygiene and a variety of healthy recipes for you to cook.
Sessions
will be up to 2 hours

(no fee
as NHS Funded)

Trinity Centre, Eastfield Road, Louth
Commencing
Thursday 19th January 2012
10am

To
register your interest, please contact the
Food
for Life team on:
01507 601111 or on our mobiles:
Tracey:
07500 020193/Miranda: 07767 664186

Then if you want to grow the food for the cooking contact James, we are hoping to start new gardens so new people to join in are always welcome.

Maggie goes walkabout

2012-01-12T14:38:00.000Z

Late autumn

2011-11-23T18:43:00.001Z

We have tidied up the beds in the Gatherums, reduced the amount of marigolds that have been so spectacularover the summer and transplanted spring cabbage (thanks Nick!) and hardy lettuce (this variety survived last years severe frosts so we're hoping they'll do well)

We also transferred some of the alpine strawberry to the Church St plots also planting garlic cloves.I rigged up a small sign to encourage local residents to contact me if they'd like some help to grow their own vegetables. The owner of the site is quite happy with what's happening so watch this space there may be somemore beds very soon!

The Gatherums and Church Street

2011-10-30T18:32:00.003Z

The herbs and vegetables in The Gatherums are still growing well but it will soon be time to take the marigolds out and replace them.

Ideas at the moment are garlic and winter lettuce. We have a few leeks in one bed with chard and kale.

On Thursday the next stage in Church Street will be another raised bed next to the leeks.

So now three plots in Louth showing how easy it is to grow food in a small space and lots of interesting comments and conversations as we garden.

King Edward's

2011-10-30T18:20:00.003Z

As you can see the garden has changed! There is now a fence enclosing the garden making it quite secluded and protected.

We enjoyed a couple of hours collecting leaves, harvesting chard, squash and a few delicious raspberries.

Welcome to Charlotte, it was interesting to hear ideas from her travels and good to have extra help.

We made compost!

2011-10-09T16:42:00.003+01:00

Until you've made your own compost it's hard to imagine the strong emotional
bond that is formed with a pile of rotting organic matter as it tumbles
from the base of the compost bin...we made soil, real plant growing soil!!

We had a good 3 hours in the garden today and we...

Harvested chard, beetroot, and onions
Planted garlic bulbs
Sowed some winter tares (a green manure that we've put round the blackcurrant
bushes and in bed 5).
Transplanted strawberry runners into bed 22
Swept up 3 wheelbarrow of leaves and caged for mulch production
Transplanted the cardoon in the herb bed..hope it's ok!
Spread remaining horse manure around rhubarb.
Discovered compost!!

Horncastle Edible Gardens

2011-09-22T17:40:00.009+01:00

Sorry this is a bit delayed but thought you'd like to see some snaps of the
Transition Town Horncastle's edible garden open day on Sunday 11th September.
Alison and I spent a very enjoyable afternoon checking out other folks
back yards. Unfortunately we couldn't get round all of them but we did meet some really nice people who were passionate about growing their own.. So congratulations due to Rose,Claire,Alison,Polly and all for making it happen and for supplying me with vegan muffins to complete the bike ride home!... perhaps we could get a similar event going in Louth?

Jo and friends on the Master Gardener stall at the Jobson Rd Community garden

This was the view from Fulletby Top on the way home

"How long will it last"

2011-09-04T13:38:00.001+01:00

The Gatherums veg boxes look good, two families tasted the chard, lettuce and marigolds and took some home. Several people said, "Still there, how long will it last?" and looked very worried when I suggested that we wanted people to help themselves. So if you read this and want some veg please keep taking the outer leaves. If they are dry there is a watering can behind the water butt.

A new sign is needed I think!

Behind KEVIGS we harvested onions, beans, cabbage and chard as the rain started and completed the watering.

Mad dogs and Englishmen!

2011-08-22T20:12:00.005+01:00

Here are photos of the recently installed raised bed off Church St, Louth.

After much litter picking, nettle clearing, soil moving and bed making, Alison, Eddie and I had the pleasure of planting out and watering in our lovely leek seedlings just opposite the busy zebra crossing on Church St.

Various passers by in cars and on foot cast us a wary eye, unsure about what was going on, but those who were brave enough to approach a caged, beetroot faced, spade wielding madman, were pleasantly supportive of my breathless explanation.
It would be good to get a larger area going if possible so if you're interested
in taking it further let me know...I'll shall be offering moral support from the comfort of a deckchair!
Here is a view of the area from the other side, there really is an interesting diversity of wildlife to enjoy.

More pics from Foundation House

2011-07-25T18:10:00.014+01:00

We had a lovely hour and half in the Foundation House garden on Sunday, harvesting and transplanting veg. I've loaded a selection of piccies for you to admire..particularly Noel's tribute to the final flight of the space shuttle...well it looks like a rocket to me!

Gatherums deep beds

2011-07-25T17:53:00.003+01:00

Here is a piccie of finished deep beds in the Gatherums..so far so good!

Had some really positive comments from passers by and some negative ones on the likelihood of vandalism. Will it become a target for wanton destruction? who knows..what I do know is that this project has already engaged local residents in conversation with people they previously didn't know. Hopefully this will be the start of a number of similar "Grow your own" plots around the footpaths of Louth.

And yes, I realise the plaque I fitted on Sunday isn't dead centre.. I shall manfully resist the considerable urge to move it.

The Gatherums

2011-07-19T20:25:00.002+01:00

We arrived with 8 barrows of topsoil and a flat tyre to find the plants had been re arranged by mystery supporters. Ten minutes working and the mystery was solved. Chloe and Leo arrived full of enthusiasm, creativity and just a touch of chaos!
So now we have spinach, lettuce, chard, strawberries, marigolds, spring onions, kale ready to grow and soon harvest.
Plus so many conversations and debates about whether or not they will be there in the morning. I believe they will, but maybe re arranged just a little.
Come and see the planting add your comments.

Can you dig it?

2011-07-10T18:45:00.003+01:00

We had a very pleasant hour or two in the garden today, harvesting,weeding and digging 9 barrowloads of lovely top soil! The soil is destined for the "Gatherums" raised beds which we are planning to install Thursday 14th July 4pm onwards. "The Gatherums" are accessible from the rear of Queen St car park in Louth. You are very welcome to join us

and start Louth's very own "Footpaths of food".

We will also be on Mercer Row during the "St James Food Festival" on Sunday 17th July

10-4.

The Gatherums

2011-07-06T20:06:00.001+01:00

The herbs are spreading and pulling the weeds out was a sensory delight! They are big enough to take a few leaves for a cup of tea so do try!

Noel's theory that Sunflowers gain strength if they are not supported is working so far!

Herbs planted are; echinacea, thyme, rosemary and oregano but there is space for more if anyone has a spare herb or even two!

July 3rd

2011-07-03T15:23:00.001+01:00

A few hours watering, harvesting and light trowelling! Hardly a weed in sight but plenty of veg to collect.
Broad beans, strawberries, garlic, beetroot, spinach ready this week and more of all these plus broccoli next Sunday, from about 11.00 am for a couple of hours, everyone is welcome.
There have been a few problems with one patch, the courgettes disappeared and in the same space Sunflower plants have been eaten. It is last years potato plot, might there be a connection?
Carrot seeds failed to germinate earlier in the season so we have retried, adding a little sand to the bed, James thinks carrots like to be by the sea!

Wednesday 6th at 2 pm we are in The Gatherums for a short time to water and weed, again everyone welcome. The following week we hope to add three deep beds for vegetables and fruit for you to collect on the way through. Look on the blog for the planting day.

17th July in the St james food market Transition Town Louth and teh Community Garden will have a stall with a veg swap, edible flowers and more.

Strawberry ripe!

2011-06-26T17:57:00.009+01:00

I had a busy 10minutes picking a lovely crop of strawberries..let me know if you'd like some..but best be quick, they are delicious!

Weeded and generally tidied things up a bit, also took a load of photos to show how the garden's growing.

Everything seems to be doing well apart from the squash which seems a bit slow this year, perhaps the warmer weather will help. We also have a bed that despite numerous sowings of carrot/parsnip and lettuce fails to do very much at all. It's not a raised bed so not one that was filled with the lovely top soil from the nettle bed, so perhaps it's too "clayey"( is that a word?).

Broccoli & Onion bed

Broad beans, cabbage & lettuce "sand bag", kale, spinach & beetroot and mystery plant that eventually became a fox glove!

Picnic in the garden..and a bit of music too!

2011-05-23T22:15:00.003+01:00

Despite the windy and slightly damp conditions we had a lovely few hours at the garden yesterday with new friends, Alexa, Gavin and Nathan.

We did lots of thinning, transplanting and sowing and prematurely harvested one bed of garlic.. don't ask why!

We ate lettuce straight from the wheelbarrow! (lettuce is in a tub) and Rob played guitar while we all worked..all sounds great doesn't it? and so it was!

I've updated the planting plan so check out what's in and what's out in the garden by clicking on the link to the right of this page.

We'll be there next Sunday 2pm so why not join us?

Master gardeners at Ryton

2011-05-23T21:26:00.004+01:00

This is a bit old news now but the newly formed group of Lincolnshire
Master Gardeners jumped in their lift sharing oil powered buggies and visited Garden Organic HQ at Ryton near Coventry a week last Sunday.

It was the annual conference and so was packed with over 200 Master gardeners and Master composters. It was a well organised and very informative event, the highlight for me (apart from the chance to wander around lovely gardens dedicated to edible plants!) were the three afternoon speakers. Emma Marsh from WRAP spoke about the horrendous amount of food wasted in the UK every year, apparently reducing this food waste to zero would have the same effect on reducing CO2 emissions as removing one in four cars from our roads. Mary Clear from Todmorden spoke passionately about the incredible edible movement, it was an inspiring call to take action and show what is rather than just talk about what might be. If you ever get the chance to listen to Mary, reschedule anything else that might be happening in your life and make sure you do. Colin Tudge spoke about the future of global food production , here was another no nonsense speaker that laid bare the crazy,unsustainable and iniquitous current global food supply system. He has founded a Campaign for Real Farming (enlightened agriculture) and recently written a book entitled "Good food for everyone, forever". I bought a copy for the Transition Town Louth library , if you want to have a read let me know. The gist of it is this : it is perfectly feasible to have a low impact agricultural system that can well nourish the estimated future global population of 9 billion as long as the diet is "Plenty of plants, not much meat and maximum variety".

So all in all a great day..just one thing can anyone tell me what this plant is or might be?

"Leeks and All That" March 11th

2011-05-11T16:57:00.000+01:00

Welcome Nathan to the garden! We planted herbs, battled through the building site to water and harvested leeks and a little rhubarb.

The squash, courgettes and runner beans we planted on Easter Sunday are growing well, so we risked leaving the lid off the cold frame. Thank you Sara for Sunflower seedlings as well they are safe in there.

Anytime anyone has time to water then the cans are back in the shed and there is water in the blue butt!

An early post! On Sunday 22nd May we are going to have a picnic and open day. Bring some food and come along with musical instruments! Nathan is bringing his guitar. We shall post or email the time soon.

The herbs in The Gatherums are looking good and James has added a smart sign on slate.

2011-05-10T09:56:00.002+01:00

On Monday afternoon we invited local residents to plant a new herb bed in the Gatherums. Rosemary,thyme,oregano,chamomile and echinacea plants were lovingly installed in their new home.
Once established, the herb bed will offer a delightful and useful aromatic display.
Nearby residents are invited to care for and enjoy the garden at their
leisure, and make use of a few sprigs in their cooking when required.
All the plants and technical support have been kindly provided by ELDC.
This is just the beginning of the project to grow vegetables within the Gatherums. We hope to have a number of raised beds installed within the next month.
We're very grateful to the Trustees of the Gatherums for their support in making this possible.

Eggscitement in the garden!

2011-04-26T09:14:00.006+01:00

We hid over 100 little easter eggs throughout the garden on Sunday. We placed them in every conceivable nook and cranny, we thought that some would never be found.. but we were wrong! Our little "choc" seekers tracked them all down with ruthless efficiency!

We also managed to sow seeds; carrot (bed 15),kale (bed 10),spinach (bed 19).
We transplanted the healthy looking broccoli from cold frame to bed 18.

The resident "Master gardener" (that's me btw) gave a less than proficient demonstration of how to make newspaper seed pots but despite this everyone soon got the hang of it and we potted up courgette, squash and runner beans for the cold frame. We also made a few more to be carefully home reared.

We all had a great time in the sun...picnic, people and plants! What could be better? Thanks to everyone who took part.Particularly our local Master gardener co-ordinator Rick who gave an enthusiastic demonstration of sowing the kale!

Master gardeners unleashed!

2011-04-19T16:00:00.014+01:00

Nick and I along with 15 others completed the first Lincolnshire Master gardener course in Boston (can you spot the stump!) last weekend. Weather was great and so was the training! Philip Turvil and Rick Aron from Garden Organic did a terrific job and enthused us all to get out and spread the word.."It's easy to grow and eat your own veg!"

I would recommend anyone that has a little bit of growing experience but a lot of desire to help novice gardeners get growing, to get involved with the program. The local co-ordinator for volunteers is Rick Aron : raron@gardenorganic.org.uk

In the photos of the weekend, you'll see Philip demonstrating how to "hook" in the audience with a pile of compost! and how to assess the soil conditions before you start giving advice.

Hope to see you on Easter Sunday for egg hunt..I shall be modeling the groovy Master gardener T shirt! (I just hope I'm not contravening the Trade descriptions act!)

Pea Tepee!

2011-04-10T17:45:00.008+01:00

Rhubarb's looking good, we've taken out flowers to try to promote leaf growth.

We've been given some pea seedlings by one of my neighbour's. We've taken the gamble of planting them out, fingers crossed the really cold weather doesn't return!

We've also been given some comfrey to propogate and make green manure. Apparently it is "bocking 14" which means it

does not seed as well. Once established we should be able to get 4 cuts a season from the plants. Lots of ways we can use it, so more about that later in the year.

We also transplanted a selection of the potted herbs in the small bed number 9..leaving abit of room for the fennel we'll sow later on.

I've invested some of funds into a 30m hosepipe which means we can fill the water butt and save endless traipsing of watering cans from tap to garden..now it's just butt to garden!

British Summer Time!

2011-03-29T09:51:00.002+01:00

With clocks wound on by an hour, we met on Sunday to celebrate spring 2011 at the garden. We planted out the shallots and onion sets in bed 12 and sowed the calabrese seed in a tray for the cold frame. We also made a fence around bed 12, replaced the tap on the water butt and fitted watering can roses to the watering cans (all purchased with the money raised from the Earth gig the night before).

Access to the garden maybe a little tricky for the next few months, so if you'd like to have a look round just let either myself or Maggie know and we'll arrange to meet you there.

Earth Hour Gig!

2011-03-27T10:39:00.004+01:00

Just wanted to record a big Thankyou!

We raised £44.00 for the community food garden project at the Earth Hour gig last night.

Thanks to everyone for being so generous and particularly to Yvonne, Mark and Nathan. They really are the heroes of live music in Louth, they commit both their time and their finances to do what they do and I, for one, am very grateful.

The other bit of good news is that I have the promise of a donated/renovated wheel barrow so perhaps we can use this money for a water butt or two!

Ideas for the Gatherums

2011-03-22T12:59:00.005Z

I was in Bristol this weekend and discovered these raised beds at St Werburgh's Farm,
they were very substantial and bordered by a willow arch and screen. I thought they look good and would be a practical solution for the Gatherums.. what do you think?

Garden update

2011-03-21T19:50:00.005Z

Noel, Janet, Eddie,Alison and Maggie met in the garden on Sunday.
The garlic is growing well and one broad bean has emerged.
They planted half a bed of parsnips and half a bed of beetroot and covered them with fleece to protect from the cold nights, then watered the seeds, broad beans, leeks, garlic, rhubarb and fruit bushes. The water butt is getting low so hopefully we'll be able to get the builders to refill it in the absence of any rainfall!

Last Thursday I met Sarah Pillans and some eco students to help plant the donated apple trees.
They look good in their new home to the east of the raised beds.
There are two bramleys, one ellison orange and two other varieties (sorry should have written them down!)

March 6th 2011

2011-03-07T10:03:00.002Z

A slightly warmer day for planting and creating more fortifications against the rabbit world!
Thank you to Cloddygate for the garlic, the plants had strong roots and are now replanted into the new bed. Eddie has the perfect planting tool at home for the next crop.

Pete Hickman arrived just in time as we were starting to make a temporary fence with wire and canes. He dashed home to get his hammer and so a reasonably substantial structure was made. We need nails to complete the job next week.

The rhubarb is growing and the fruit bushes and canes have really taken well in the new beds. Photographs were taken but since then my camera has broken so apologies for that.

There is a new Community garden developing in The Gatherums, the committee have welcomed the idea and we hope to start soon, information will be available on this site, the Transition Town Louth site and through local posters and publicity. Please post comments, suggestions or get in touch if you want more information.

2011-02-27T14:39:00.002Z

We made the most of the fair weather (before the hail!) and put together another bed fence. We chose bed no.5 which has the remainder of the leek crop and the freshly planted broad beans. We also mulched the fruit and rhubarb beds which are showing promising signs of growth. The garlic bed now has about half of the transplanted bulbs sprouting so perhaps we won't have lost as many as we originally thought. Weather permitting will be back there next Sunday midday, hope to see you there!

Fencing in the beds

2011-02-21T13:20:00.003Z

We had a short (very cold!) visit at the garden yesterday and put the idea for a more permanent fence around the beds into practice. The two end panels are fixed to the posts (locally sourced douglas fir) but the longer side panels are attached by rubber straps (recycled inner tube!)
so they are quickly detached for access. Hopefully the bunnies won't gnaw through the straps! We've also sown the broad beans in half of bed 5. Weather permitting we'll be back next Sunday midday onwards to make a few more bed protectors.

2011-02-13T15:28:00.006Z

We have potted some shallots and placed them into the freshly lidded cold frame (still needs a bit of work on that!) We moved the remaining bags of topsoil, laid out some of the green plastic treads on the, getting quickly muddy, footpaths and repaired the shed door. You can see the builders fence which now runs the length of the plot. For future reference access to the site will soon only be from the playing field gate off the footpath that runs between Crowtree Lane and the Horncastle Rd.

The last job of the day was the engineering genius that is the temporary rainwater harvester!

2011-02-06T16:48:00.002Z

Noel, Janet and Alison wheelbarrowed numerous loads of the donated top soil to create another spare bed for the garden..number 22. The first of the transplanted garlic bulbs is beginning to show itself so we're hoping that they'll all follow suit!

Maggie, Alison and Eddie cleared out the shed and we all decamped to the pub to discuss possibilities for other potential sites for food gardens. I've revised the planting plan layout for the site, which is now on the link to the right of this page. Nick has kindly obtained the seeds for us, so hopefully we'll be sowing them soon and then watching the garden transform from brown to green!

2011-01-23T17:40:00.004Z

Mission accomplished! We've moved the front row of beds to the rear of the plot, and replanted all of the fruit bushes. A big effort by everyone that came , particularly Janet K who, as you can see from the photo, just couldn't stop digging!

Special mention to two visitors from Romania who just arrived in time to help make light work of the barrowing! Thanks M & M you were a great help!

Tomorrow in the garden

2011-01-22T17:02:00.002Z

Hello everyone, just to confirm we'll be in the garden tomorrow from midday till about 3.

The weather looks ok, so we should be able to move the beds and fruit bushes, ready for

the builders.

Hope to see you there!

James

Plotting 2011

2011-01-09T17:49:00.009Z

We met at the garden today to make a few decisions for this year. One of the most pressing is the disruption to the garden as and when extensions are built on the back of foundation house. Luckily we met a gentleman there who had plans for the work and some idea of how much space would be needed. The conclusion being that the first row of raised beds and fruit trees would have to be moved. The herb spiral will need relocating too. This information spurred us on to action whilst the weather was good.
We've transplanted the garlic, the raspberries and disassembled the wood surrounds to all the raised beds that are affected.
We managed to get a small harvest of parsnips and celeriac, then adjourned to the pub to decide on what to grow this year. Our wish list is for:
Broad beans
Beetroot
Broccoli
Carrots
Chard
Courgettes
Fennel
Kale
Leeks
Onions
Parsnip
Runner beans
Shallots
Spinach
Squash
Sweetcorn

We want a salad bed with lettuce,rocket etc.

We also want to create extra colour with Marigold,Cornflower etc.

Think we might need a bigger garden!

I've amended the planting planner on the right hand side of the blogsite, click on it if you want to see the initial proposals.

Our aim is to meet on Sunday January 23rd, weather permitting, to finish off the moving of the beds to the rear of the plot to create a permanent home for the fruit trees. We could do with as many hands as possible to ease the load so please pop down if you're free..midday onwards.

Meeting 9th January

2011-01-06T15:37:00.002Z

We're planning on working in the garden this Sunday about midday. We need to tidy up ,decide best course of action with moving beds before builders arrive and talk about seed order. Shouldn't take too long and we can always withdraw to the pub if weather
turns inclement.
Hope to see you there!
James

Oh Deer?

2010-12-13T00:01:00.004Z

We have had a visitor to the garden that has taken a fancy to the tops of the leeks ,the tops of the celeriac and polished off what was left of the celery.
Judging by the tracks in the snow we think it is some kind of deer, maybe a muntjac. Anyone brave enough to confirm on the strength of this photo?

The droppings look similar to rabbit, but they're all laid in a line which seems unlikely for rabbits, unless they're doing the conga!
Anyway the only survivors seem to be the few beetroot and parsnips, looks like we're going to have to make the removable fencing panels sooner rather than later.
Here's the chewed out remains of a celeriac, exhibit 1 in the case against our mystery guest

Autumn pictures

2010-11-08T21:30:00.003Z

A couple of pictures from the garden this autumn.

Garlic groupies!

2010-11-08T08:08:00.007Z

We planted a bed of garlic yesterday.. with Nick's help, tuition and garlic bulbs!

Here they are before we covered them up..over 50 bulbs went in so we're hoping for a good crop next year.

We also met some new friends, re-planted the blackcurrant bushes, swept up leaves into compost bin, stripped the last of the runner beans and peppers bed and plucked a handful of juicy raspberries!

Souper day!

2010-10-08T16:47:00.003+01:00

We had an awareness raising session in Louth Market Place today, I managed to make some moderately interesting soup out of the squash,celery,onions and herbs from the garden.
We distributed that freely to market shoppers( about 24 cups of soup by my reckoning).
Maggie, Noel and Eddie handed out flyers and generally spread the word.

Max Griffin of Griffin Memeorials came down with son Billy and handed over the new slate sign he has made and donated for the garden. We hope the sign will be fixed somewhere near the Crowtree lane entrance to the garden to help direct people to the gardens.
It really is a lovely sign with skilfully etched lettering on green slate..Thanks Max!

Mud, mud and potatoes

2010-09-27T17:02:00.004+01:00

Noel and Janet were the first to brave the mud and unearthed a super crop of potatoes before the rest of us arrived. We harvested celery, spinach, squash, beetroot and courgettes and moved the raspberrise to the plot where the potatoes were. The Jerusalem Artichoke looks very unhappy after its move so let's hope it recovers.
We shall soon have bare earth again and will be looking for ideas and or manure!

Cloddygate raspberries and more!

2010-09-24T15:37:00.002+01:00

Collected 7 Autumn fruiting raspberries, 3 blackcurrant bushes . 4 caulifower plants, 1 Jerusalem artichoke and four tender leaved broccoli this morning. Thank you to Cloddygate Farm!
Did a quick prune and heeling in of the bushes and planted the other plants. The bushes are in the school plot and the beetroot plot temporarily.
Jobs that need doing , in the next few weeks ,I think are ;
Harvesting the potatoes, beetroot, spinach, celery, green beans, sweet corn and squash and the last few courgettes
Pruning the old stems from the raspberries
Planting the bushes in more permanent positions
Tidying and harvesting from the herb spiral
Collecting leaves for the compost.
I shall go next on Sunday after The Ramblers so probabaly about 3 pm if anyone is about.

Mid week gardeners

2010-09-16T13:23:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I met April who is a midweek community gardeners, she walks her dog through the garden and at the same time collects litter and keeps an eye on the garden. She was concerned over the lack of water in the summer and was tempted to bring some from her house. Great idea as we rely on just three water butts! She will help herself to the veg as it is ready and will also mention this to another friend who also enjoys walking through. Brilliant it is being used!

Slugs

2010-09-14T16:01:00.002+01:00

Well the slugs are happy, or is it the birds who tucked into the lettuce seedlings. Any ideas? We are going to put some garlic in to see if that deters them.
The beetroot is ready to pick and so is the celery if any one wants to collect some. You can go any time after four in the afternoon or at the week end and then let us know what you think. The celery has a strong taste, really good.

Sunday 5th September

2010-09-07T18:23:00.004+01:00

Here is the converted box/cold frame/spooky looking bed! before I modified it this week, the tubs of lettuce and radish seeds that sit inside seem to like the little
micro climate and have come on well in a week. Maggie planted some lettuce seedlings in the lettuce bed and generally tidied up,watered and harvested the plots.
The Louth Leader photographer arrived and took some photos for the community section, which could be in next weeks paper, which hopefully will encourage some more visitors to the site.

September

2010-09-01T19:41:00.002+01:00

It's September and still new seeds are pushing their way through, tasted the spinach tonight mmmm delicious. I like the deep bed James it looks big enough to climb in!

Sunday 15th August

2010-08-15T18:37:00.002+01:00

No more bare soil!
We planted spinach, Italian (Bianca Piatta) and French (Navette de Nancy Feuille Entiere) turnips, bulb fennel, rocket, beetroot, baby leeks and Mizuna. How amazing is that to be planting seeds in the warm sun starting the third week in August!
We harvested onions, courgettes and beetroot and just one early squash.
Anyone who is waiting for an allotment or curious come and plant, harvest or just chat it is open to everbody in or near Louth.
Having said that we are not there next Sunday but shall be the following week at two, check the blog to see changes to open times.

Sunday 8th August

2010-08-09T14:29:00.008+01:00

After a short debate, as to whether it was
ready to be harvested or not, we plucked our first squash!.

We stripped the pea plants and saved the dried pods for next years seed. Then we transplanted the leeks into another bed and harvested most of our lovely onion crop, which we stored in the shed ready for our October soup fest!

Why not pop along next Sunday and see how the garden has progressed? It'll be lovely to see you.

Abundance

2010-07-20T17:29:00.002+01:00

Ready for harvest we have cabbages, broad beans, peas, blackcurrants and herbs with courgettes, squash, onions, sweet corn and potatoes ready soon, it's productive in the garden and some ready for swaps at the Summer Fayre. Any solution to the many little black flies on the squash they seem to be doing little harm so shall we leave them in peace?

Sunday 18h July

2010-07-18T18:30:00.002+01:00

Just Eddie in the garden for the first hour today but we had a relaxed and potentially productive time, planted three rows of spinach with plenty more seeds for another three rows next month and planted two rows of parsnips in the harvested end of the broad bean bed . Watered the celery and celeriac and then Jude joined us when we were tucking into fig rolls and tea. Harvested some herbs and lettuce and admired the emerging raspberries, one alsmost ready but only two strawbwerries this week. Next week we shall be at the Summer Fayre in the market place with some of our produce.

Harvest and planning

2010-07-12T22:02:00.000+01:00

We picked some of the produce and then Noel got all creative!

Then we sat down drank some juice and thought about a planting plan, which Noel has kindly tidied up

into a display format. This plan is available from the right side bar for reference when this page disappears into the archive

Music in the Garden 4th July

2010-07-05T14:05:00.002+01:00

The wind was wild but the sun was bright!.
The day proved to be every bit as enjoyable as we'd hoped.
We picked ,cleaned,cooked and consumed our lovely crop of new potatoes, we plucked fresh salad leaves and sweet young pods of peas and broad beans, we steamed the rampant cauliflower and red cabbage, we had a lovely time!

We listened to some fabulous music, that entertained and soothed our souls. Thanks to Martin, Patrick and the fantastic "Swings" duo for their marvellous contribution and a special thanks to Noel for the inspirational toot on his flute!

Lots of fresh faces to be seen and everyone left with a smile and perhaps some fresh produce!

Well done everyone for your help and support.

btw I'm in the process of writing another 16 verses to "Veggies are growing".... something to look forward to, I'm sure you'll agree!

Summer solstice surprise!

2010-06-21T23:04:00.000+01:00

Look what we found on Sunday! we hadn't realised we had a cauli among the cabbages.

We also planted out some peppers and made a cloche, then used the remainder of the bed to plant out the runner beans. We made a bunny proof screen with the salvaged plastic matting we found when we first started on the site.

The first strawberries were consumed, very tasty they were too!

Here's a photo of the broad beans being planted in March

And here they are now!

Quite a transformation!

Hope to see you for the "Music in the Garden" event during Louth Music Festival Week. We shall be at the garden from 3pm on Sunday the 4th July, so come and join us to share in a musical celebration of the garden and all of the lovely produce that's growing there. Please bring food & drink to share, and we shall make something nutritious and (hopefully) delicious from any crop that's ready for harvest!

13th June A Shed Tea Party

2010-06-14T12:05:00.002+01:00

It rained, the magic water butt overflowed, Noel wrestled with his sign of the century in the making, Anisha ( back from Mexico and wonderful to see) found the baby leeks and rescued them from the weeds, Janet filled many wheelbarrows to finish yet another deep bed and Eddie and Maggie put the world and the shed in order with conversation and a big tidy!
So finally a little bedraggled we celebrated in the dryness of the shed with tea and biscuits before James and Alison came to give support. Runner beans are ready to plant out and more seeds and plants to put in next week when the eco club join us to make another bed with the last of the wood. Plans are under way for a Music Festival Celebration in the evening of July 6th in the garden with our salad crops to share, more info on the way.

Overflowing water butts

2010-06-06T18:08:00.000+01:00

After the deluge last night no need to water the garden today!

The broad beans are nearly over the top of the rabbit fence! they look magnificent don't they?

We filled the empty bed with top soil and performed some weeding around the onions and shallots. The potatoes are thriving and some of the lettuce are ready for harvest.

The peas are coming on nicely too.

For those of you who have received the latest Yellow Pages, check out page 9!
Eagle eyed Eddie spotted some familiar faces lurking at the bottom of the page!

Sunday May 30th

2010-05-30T16:52:00.001+01:00

Thank you to Nick and Sarah we now have squash, sweet corn and courgettes! Nick will you let us know the varieties planted for our records? Eddie's hacked nettles were added as mulch, full of nitrogen for the worms to work on.
One more bed was nearly completed with cardboard as a base and a very creative method for keeping the rabbits away using salvaged materials from the grounds. Well it might shock them by its temporary nature if they try to jump over.
Janet thinned the lettuce and after tasting on the plot we all took bags home for ourselves and neighbours. Open as usual next week 2.00 to 4.00, see you there!

Mad dogs and English folk

2010-05-23T23:17:00.000+01:00

It was really was too hot for manual work at the garden today but we didn't let that stop us!

Here is Noel making two new beds for even more lovely vegetables..not sure what just yet!

Eddie harvesting nettlesMosaic in progress

We continue to be thoroughly impressed with our lovely broad bean crop and runner beans in the mini cloche are coming on nicely.

Hoping we can make some progress with more rabbit proof fencing soon, sadly we lost all of the sunflower plants and some herbs to our little bunny friends over the last few days.

We sampled some of the lettuce today which have filled out really well, looks like our temporary bunny proof wire is working on those beds at the very least!

Rhubarb feast

2010-05-17T15:14:00.000+01:00

We planted a full bed of marrow fat peas 6" apart (well almost!) , some calendula, geraniums, herbs, sunflowers and more lovely lettuce (Thanks to Nick for providing yet more plants for the garden).

It was a warm and sunny afternoon so we celebrated with Jude's lovely rhubarb dessert,(Thanks to Bob for the rhubarb) the first of hopefully many feasts we'll enjoy at the garden

We had our picture taken for the East Lindsey Messenger that will accompany an article about Transition Town Louth in the next edition.

We plan to extend the garden with a few more plots next Sunday so please come and join us 2-4pm, perhaps

we'll have a bit more Rhubarb to cook!

Sunday, May 9th

2010-05-09T17:10:00.003+01:00

The garden looks better each week with the broad beans getting bigger, strawberries and fruit bushes flowering and the rhubarb ready to harvest. Next week it will be tasting time for the first crop of the season cooked in the garden!

Welcome to David and Sarah who were immediately busy with seeds they had brought, they planted two large pots of runner beans, one of radish and one of salad leaves all cunningly protected with plastic supported by scavenged flexy wood.

Also planted were beetroot seeds, rocket and two courgettes. Herbs were split and planted in the spiral centre piece. Jude decided to take the two pots of mint home to pot in larger containers and bring back next week.

Noel was technical expert for devising ways to secure the polythene over the courgettes. The last bed was filled with top soil which leaves decisions to be made on new beds, what to put in them and how big they should be!
It must be nearly time to put our three courgettes in a prepared bed and the squash and sweet corn, all donated by Nick and Sarah, plus more herbs and edible flowers.
Everyone welcome to come next week on Sunday from 2.00 -4.00pm.

Billy finds his spuds!

2010-05-02T16:45:00.000+01:00

Billy is reunited with his seed potatoes that went missing last week. We found them and planted them before Billy had a chance to do it himself, that's him in the top right guarding the plot!
Today we made a protective shield around the rhubarb which should stop stray balls rolling into the patch.

We assembled the herb spiral and planted some parsley seeds, we'll transplant some more herbs soon to fill out the spiral. We started to fill the last raised bed with top soil and abandoned the idea of a mini poly tunnel, but made a rabbit proof net cover instead for the leek seeds. We also installed an overflow tub for the water butt to try and save even more precious rainwater!

Then we had a cup of tea!

Green shoots!

2010-04-28T21:36:00.000+01:00

This probably isn't too exciting for all you hardened gardeners, but here are some signs of life in

the community garden!
If you look very closely the onions are shooting up.

The broad beans are looking very healthy,
we've also got the early potatoes showing themselves and the seeded lettuce sprouting too!

This is the start of the herb spiral, we're aiming to do more this Sunday 12-2pm, Hope to see you there!

Mosaic marvel!

2010-04-25T16:13:00.001+01:00

The mosaic gang put together a lovely picture made up of broken tiles ,beads and teapot scraps!.
The rest of us barrowed more top soil for the herb spiral (which we're going to assemble once the soil has settled down) and the furthest central bed for which we intend to make a mini poly tunnel for salad crops. The broad beans are coming on nicely. We planted the selection of brassica that Maggie brought along last week in the other small square bed and erected a bunny proof fence around it.We planted 6 seed potatoes that someone had kindly donated and then gave everything a good watering.
It was very warm and an ideal day for picnics and play!

Thanks to everyone who helped out today, hope you enjoyed yourselves!

Magic Water Butt!

2010-04-21T22:50:00.000+01:00

Arrived this afternoon to a marvellous sight the huge water butt that we temporarily installed at the
end of the guttering last Sunday was brim full of rainwater..it's a miracle! Had I imagined that it would fill so quickly I probably wouldn't have wheel barrowed 25 litres of H2O from my house quarter of a mile away.
Anyway Eddie watered some of the crops while I dug some soil to pin the netting over the strawberries, Maggie fetched some discarded bricks from GBM to make a start on the herb spiral. It was a good day for scavenging as Maggie managed to get some old plant pots and sheet plastic to make mini poly tunnel over the cauliflower plants. I found some green plastic tiling on the soil heap that would make excellent pathways for when the grass turns muddy. Sorry no pictures to share this time, forgot the camera!
See you Sunday

Building a base for our butt

2010-04-18T19:49:00.003+01:00

We had a very productive day today!

Installed water butt (work in progress) :Eddy and James
Planted Sarpo and Avona potatoes :Noel and Janet
Planted Lettuce, Onions and Chives :Jennifer and Jen
Made a groovy "dig as long as you like bed" for the little ones : Claire, Jacob and Arianne
Kept the beds watered : Jude and Jude's sister
Kept the troops watered, encouraged and found an excellent bird table!: Maggie

Janet enjoying a cuppa after spud planting!

You wouldn't think it would take 2 hours to balance a butt on a plank , would you? (It would have taken another hour without Eddie!) Thanks to Claire for the searing logic that enabled the butt to be fitted at the lowest end of the gutter.

Jude calculating how far one tea bag will go round!

Thanks to Nick and Sarah for donations of plants, much appreciated!
On Wednesday we still need to rabbit proof small bed, start ideas for herb spiral/centrepiece, water beds
try to locate water standpipe. See you then!

Wednesday update

2010-04-15T00:19:00.000+01:00

This afternoon had a quick chat with Mr Scott, one of the owners of the bungalow on Crowtree Lane that we've been helping ourselves to water to from the butt in their garden...he was really helpful and gave me some unwanted tools including an excellent square sieve thingy which we can use to sieve things with! any suggestions?
They kindly gave me another water butt that I've placed at the end of the small run of guttering near the gardens, it will need a bit more work on Sunday to make it secure. I also claimed the bag of freshly mown grass cuttings that they had produced and spread a thin layer on the beds. They said the bungalow is up for sale soon but that they would sort out any other gardening type stuff for us if they find as they empty the garage and shed.
Broad beans are appearing! so gave them some more water as reward for their efforts. Thanks to Ros for turning up and helping to finish off while I went to another meeting.
See you Sunday

Sunday sun!

2010-04-11T16:37:00.002+01:00

We collected more topsoil to fill up the extra beds, then found various containers to bring the water from the butt to wet the already planted crops.

Then we had a cup of tea!

We planted the shallots, made some signs for the crops already planted and surrounded raised beds with chicken wire in an attempt to keep our bunny friends at bay! Thanks to everyone for helping today and nice to meet Ros for the first time, don't forget we'll be there on Wednesday 4-6pm.

Onions in!

2010-04-08T18:55:00.001+01:00

We planted out the onions last night

Nick lifting turf from one new bed and placing it on a cardboard base, which will rot down to form another one. Biff constructing 3 new raised surrounds. These are extra beds to the original plan and will need barrow filling with the top soil nearby before we decide what to plant in them.

First attempt at rabbit proofing one of the smaller beds.

We also spread out a good quantity of high quality organic pony poo! See you Sunday for some more planting out and thoughts on centrepiece herb spiral thingy

What to do next

2010-04-01T20:04:00.002+01:00

So we have early potatoes planted, broad beans sown, onion sets about to go in

and there are several sorts of lettuce growing in modules which can be planted out when they are big enough.

We have decided it is a little late to get a decent crop of Garlic so shall plant that in the Autumn.
Soon sweetcorn, runner beans and squash can be sown inside ready to be planted out after the frosts.
So next jobs are to plant onion sets and sow a couple of lines of leek seeds to be transplanted in the summer (once the early potatoes have been harvested). These could be sown at the ends of the onion bed.
Another thing we need to do is make contact with someone who can provide some good organic matter we can use to feed our soil. Rotted horse manure would be good.

Seeing as though we have been so productive we may as well plant up the extra beds we have dug. They are quite course so will be good for potatoes or for planting larger plants into. How about some main crop Sarpo Axona blight resistant potatoes in one, and fill the rest with a good range of pumpkins and Squash?

Day 2 at Foundation House

2010-03-28T18:26:00.006+01:00

We prepared some more fruit beds today and planted out Blackcurrant bushes, we also had some very useful help on the potato planting and top soil retrieval!

Next jobs are to establish water butts around the site and continue with the planting of onions...lots of other exciting things too that hopefully someone else will clarify on the blog!

Nick finishing off the sowing of the broad beans, we covered the bed with fine nylon netting hoping that this might rodent interest..we shall see!

End of day , blackcurrant bushes on the right hand bed.
Thanks again to all who came to help today , we shall be back in the garden Wed 4-6pm.

First day of spring!

2010-03-21T20:24:00.006Z

We had a great start today, setting the first plots of the garden at Foundation House.

Here is Nick expertly cutting away the first turf with a Chillington Hoe.

The wood for the beds arrives, thanks to Biff.

The magnificent dozen!

That's Jackie in the deckchair on supervisory duties, after a hard dig of the nearby mulch pit.

Nearly finished , the three beds furthest left with freshly planted raspberry canes and rhubarb crowns.

In the centre the raised beds filled with topsoil from the nearby nettle patch all ready for planting. To the right the we've laid out cardboard on the de turfed plots for further fruit planting.

Thanks to everyone that helped to bring about such a fantastic transformation in just a few hours. We will be at the Earth Hour Gig at the British Legion in Louth this Saturday 27th, hoping to raise a bit of cash to buy posts and mesh to temporarily rabbit proof the raised beds. See you there!

First Jobs

2010-03-08T16:32:00.003Z

We have been donated rhubarb crowns, black currant bushes, strawberry plants and raspberry canes, all that could do with planting asap.
Also we have been donated a strain of garlic that does well in this country but it needs to go in soon so it can have the cold it needs to develop cloves, and a long enough growing period to make sizable bulbs. Hopefully we can get the fruit in and the garlic bed made at our next session to be confirmed shortly...

Planting proposals for Foundation House

2010-02-25T08:36:00.001Z

Summer crops

Photos from the Foundation House Site

2010-02-17T13:42:00.000Z

First Photos from the Foundation House Site. It might look like a game of rounders!, but we are just working out a starting plot of approx. 6m sq. More details to follow.

Transition Town meeting 9th February 2010

2010-02-10T12:58:00.000Z

Brief discussion about the Community Food Gardens at last night's TTL meeting.

Maggie proposed that we submit a small grant claim to ELDC for £250 to purchase resources needed for the initial set up of the Foundation House garden. All agreed to proceed.
Maggie has drafted a letter, targeting Louth businesses for donations of required equipment, etc. It was also suggested that we produce a flyer that we could letterbox drop at homes within the neighbourhood of the garden, asking for help, interest, support, old tools! Also list wants on Freegle.
Bob passed on contact names of Staff members at KEVIs who would be able to help with the project.
Meeting set for Wed 17th to confirm initial requirements and project time line.

A vision

2010-02-08T10:18:00.002Z

Here is an idea.
On any site that we are going to be offered to have a community food growing garden there will be some factors which are not ideal for food growing. A slope, shade, bad soil, overhanging trees, bad access,rabbits, etc etc.The Foundation House site shares many of these problems in different parts of the plot.
But in the real world of people's gardens and allotments these are the problems they have to deal with. None of the situations I have mentioned above would mean no food could be grown, it is just a matter of the careful design of that particular type of plot.
Maybe this is what we could do with a community food growing garden in Louth. We could demonstrate that it doesn't matter what your garden or growing space is like there is a way that it could be used to grow food. The plot could be divided up in relation to the type of issues that that area will present. A section under the trees, a section on the steepest slope, etc.
Then a food growing garden to suit those conditions could be built in that area so show people it is possible.
Just an idea...

Foundation House Progress

2010-01-25T22:47:00.002Z

Had a meeting tonight at Maggie's house, with Maggie,Nick,Nisha, Noel, Janet, James, Kat & Bella.

Discussed general aims of this sub group and a more detailed plan for the Foundation House site off Crowtree Lane. A wish list was created which would initially:

Make the site rabbit proof.
Create up to 8 raised beds in approximately a quarter of the space available.