Winter bed preperation

After the glorious tomatoes harvest we are now preparing for winter. We have built up the edges of the beds so we can add more compost and now planting winter salads. This incudes Rocket, Mezuna, Endives, winter lettuce, Pak Choi, and mustard leaves. Outside we will continue to harvest kale, chard, cabbage, fennel, beetroot, leeks, purple sprouting broccoli and brussel sprouts. The harvesting rolls on.

Thanks to Ian for hosting a day of investigating herbal medicinal remedies that can be found on the site. It was amazing to see what a range of things we have at our disposal on site. Everything from remedies for viral infections to a broken heart. This was followed by an afternoon of tea making and sampling tinctures. Incredible wisdom that we can use to improve our own health and its all around us for free.

A glorious golden evening with the Jamaican elders. We had a huge feast laid on by their chef using a lot of seasonal veg, Jerk Chicken and Fish. This was followed by a very chilled reggae band. Just to mix things up this was sponsored by the Community Sustainable Energy Programme which was there to give advice about energy saving for the elderly. A magic night had by all.
 

Harvest Festival

We had great fun at the Harvest Festival celebrating a very productive first year. Other than involving lots of different community groups, putting down the infrastructure, setting up effective teams of volunteers, making a splash and networking with the buzzing local food scene in Bristol, we have also been growing some immensely tasty vegetables.

Saturday was all about showing people how we did it and then feasting on all the lovely organic veg. Thanks to all chefs and creative people we made an assortment of dishes. We danced several jigs and ate many a slices of tremendously tasty cake from the 'Grow Your Own' herbal cafe. We have been growing a range of herbs to fill our tea pots and keep us healthy through the seasons.

Community achievement award

On the 29th Sept we won a Community Achievement award as part of Bristol in Bloom. Many many thanks to all the hard work of everyone for getting involved and supporting all of the different community groups we work with.

Every group that has taken part so far has fed back that the support from the volunteers and the accommodating nature of the project has been exceptional. As project manager I take my hat off to all those that have made everyone feel so welcome on the site. Because of that we have achieved so much this year.

A huge thanks from Matt and Susan.

Oxfam recognition for the great work in local food production

Feed Bristol has been nominated by Oxfam for a Local Food Heroes Award. To get a different view on the project check out their blog from their site visit to Feed Bristol.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/south-west-blog/2012/09/food-heroes-feed-bristol-growing-food-and-community-spirit

Mature forest garden

It may be hard to make out but we have a mature forest garden running through the site. There is a diverse range of fruit trees (apple, pear, cherry and plum) which form part of an old orchard. Through the winter we will be restoring the trees back to good health with lots of pruning and ivy clearance. Some trees we will leave as the ivy creates a great habitat for bees and insects which is food for our resident wood pecker plus other bird life.

 

Closer to the ground there are raspberries, black berries and wild strawberries. Lower down a herb layer for our teas with lots of chamomile, yarrow and mint. The mixed herbs and flowers have attracted lots of different variety of bee and several varieties of hover fly which are essential for keeping down green fly and aphids.

 

In Spring this area makes a fantastic habitat for the birds and in winter a good wind break to shelter the site from cold winds. The lovely access for all path was put in by a community payback team and is maintained by different community groups. This allows full access across the site by people with different mobility needs and handy for picking out fruity harvest.