We have been pushing on despite the rain over the last few weeks. In this weather it's to wet to work the soil and we have to be patient. Fortunately we have some big poly tunnels to work in. One is for propagating seeds which is now heaving at the seems. A huge range of things bursting to get outside into the soil.  We have been building propagation tables, compost mixing bays so we can process our own compost, and frames for bird netting. We are never short of jobs and people that come down are learning a range of skills. On Tuesday evening we stripped down the old sad looking poly tunnel door and rebuilt it using all the old parts, thanks to some handy skills by Andy and Henry.

Teeming with wildlife

Things are shaping up on site. Many thanks to all of the people that have helped out so far. We have had teams of volunteers in who have been learning how we are turning long term pasture back into productive land for growing vegetables, whilst being very careful to minimise and protect the wildlife that has taken up residence.

Starling (Mike Dimmery)

Sections of the fields have been ploughed in blocks leaving nature corridors. As we go we have been checking for slow worm and other reptiles. We have discovered that the large meadow and overgrown fruit tree glade area is a favourite lunching spot for a flock of resident Starlings. They are become quite rare so nice to see a big family of them enjoying the delights on offer in our field.

All the boundaries are heaving with blossom as they are made up of mature fruit trees. Amongst them are apples, pears, plums and cherry. Most have been unmanaged for years so are full of ivy and covered in moss. This makes a great habitat for nesting birds and potentially the dormice on site. In the evening there are a lot of bats flying overhead. The old barn and ivy-covered trees create great roosts for the bats, and the meadows and overgrown boundaries provide them with an abundance of food.

Spuds, herbs and flowers

Thanks to VaultexUK and KPMG for sending us groups as part of their social responsibility schemes. It has been a great help and now 90kg of potatoes have been planted just in time for the rain.

Vaultex teams have been helping plant an array of beneficial herbs and flowers to be planted amongst our crops. 

KPMG started creating an entrance way feature raised bed which will be the welcome garden. This will be planted up with a range of flowers which will attract beneficial insects and can also be eaten.

First potatoes in the ground!

The first potatoes are now in the ground at the Feed Bristol site! This is one stage in a gradual process of bringing the land back into use for growing crops.
This year part of the site will be given over to growing annual vegetable crops, some of the land will be planted with green manures to increase fertility and suppress weeds, while some will be left for meadow and brought into cultivation in coming years.
Work building our new centre is still underway and there are smaller construction tasks ahead like putting in paths, recovering one of the polytunnels and building raised beds.
With planning and design work still going on it was great to have a down-to-earth day, get back to basics and feel the lovely sandy soil between our fingers, working alongside volunteers planting out 'Orla' potatoes -  an early variety that will be ready to harvest in August. We still have plenty more to put in - 5 different varieties that will give us a potato harvest from July to October. 

Introducing Matt

Matt Cracknell has joined us as the Project Worker for the Feed Bristol project. He has been working on the project for a couple of weeks and has been very busy getting his ideas for the land together, making plans for involving groups and communities in the project as well as putting in that all important seed order.

Matt has an incredible enthusiasm for the project and he can't wait to get people out on the land growing with him.

Community Payback team helps make land safe

A team of young people on the community payback scheme are helping us clear up the site this week. They are going over every inch of the site collecting metal, glass, wood and other debris so that we can make it safe for groups and especially children to come to the project to help grow food.

They have been working so fast that we are hoping they will be able to help us to clear one of the old greenhouses of rubbish this week too so we can begin sowing seeds and growing plants there in the next week or so.

We are separating all of the material we find so that it can be recycled and as little of it goes to landfill as possible.

Site buildings on their way

Work is well underway to build the facilities we need so that groups and schools can get involved in the project. The foundations for the site toilets, training room and community space were laid last week and our contractor has been busy starting to put the beginnings of the buildngs in place.

This has to be done very carefully so that we do not disturb the badger sett that is close to where the buildings are going up. We also have to be very careful to make sure that heavy machinery does not make the soil too compact and our contractors are following set out routes on the site.

We hope to have the site toilets in place very quickly which means that people will be able to begin to visit the plot and we can get growing there.