August has already been a busy month for us at Wildlife & Eco gardens, attending numerous events such as the Northern Green Gathering (You can read more about the talk we gave, or watch the full talk on our blog post "Day out at Northern green gathering"). We have more events coming up in September … Continue reading August/September at Wildlife & Eco Gardens – talks, events and stalls!
Food is free
Day out at Northern green gathering
On a rather windy day with sporadic rain we set out into the Derby countryside looking for Bradley Nook farm, the home of Jay, a delightfully friendly farmer who was recently in the news and on Country file for rescuing his herd of "beef" cows by giving them away to Hillside animal sanctuary. This year … Continue reading Day out at Northern green gathering
Seed: The Untold Story
Many seeds are just as endangered as the most endangered animals on this planet, and in the last one hundred years over 94% of our vegetable seed varieties have been lost, replaced with mass marketed "resistant" varieties controlled by large seed companies such as Monsanto and Bayer seeds. This loss of genetic diversity is a … Continue reading Seed: The Untold Story
No dig, ditch back-breaking cultivation and grow great vegetables
Origins of no dig cultivation methods are not completely clear, but the benefits of having healthy soil, bountiful crops with minimal work is clear! Managing your allotment/home vegetable garden using techniques such as double digging are time consuming, labour intensive and damage the delicate balance which exists in soil between beneficial bacteria, insects and microbial … Continue reading No dig, ditch back-breaking cultivation and grow great vegetables
Plant of the Week ~ Borago officinalis (Borage/Starflower)
With so many uses, it's a wonder this week's plant of the week isn't grown by everyone. Join me as we take a closer look at Borago officinalis.
Edible Gardens: Allium borders
Alliums are wondrous plants which look beautiful, taste fantastic whilst being very beneficial for wildlife. We continue our edible garden series looking at 3 examples you can incorporate into your garden this year. We look at Allium schoenoprasum (chives), Allium tuberosum (garlic chives), and Allium cepa var. viviparum (tree onions).
Sunny Saturday and The Crop Club
We had a little free time on a chilly but sunny Saturday, so went down to Sneintons vegan market with a few friends. After we consumed some wonderful food which included sumptuous piri piri Vork pie's, mouth watering sausage wraps from No Balony UK and delectable sweet treats including a delightful vegan bounty made by Willow & Dove we stumbled upon a wonderful stall which we had not seen before, the crop club, a social enterprise based in Loughborough which had some very interesting items on display!
Hugelkultur, winter DIY
Hugelkultur is a German word which translates to hill culture or mound culture. This ancient system of agriculture is great for incorporating into a permaculture system.
Growing with grace: sustainable agriculture
Food security is an important topic in today's world. Growing with grace tackles sustainable, organic stock free food production whilst providing some great education.
#Operation Fruit Tree from “food is free”
#Operation fruit tree run by the food is free project is a fantastic idea to get people, along with family and friends to plant fruit trees over the autumn / winter months.