Sessions
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Tiny Tuesday crew coming in hot!
Our brilliant young grower team powered through their task list, harvesting beans, pinching out tomato side shoots, and pricking out leeks, all before the tea break. Meanwhile, the rest of the team kept things moving with a full bed rotation: out went the parsley and cabbages, and in came cucumbers, beetroot, and turnips. We clocked an incredible 40kg harvest today! All of this was donated to the Old Town Community Fridge at Victoria Baptist Church in Eastbourne. Staying Connected with Rooted Community Food Rooted Harvest At Rooted Community Food, we believe that staying informed is just as important as growing food. Our climate related news posts keep our community updated…
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CLIMATE RESILIENT GARDEN: Vertical Growing
With two thriving beds already in motion, we’re excited to unveil our third climate smart method: vertical growing. By training plants to grow upward, we maximise space, reduce soil erosion, and improve airflow, ideal for wetter summers and smaller plots adapting to unpredictable weather. We’re crafting our frame from locally foraged willow, with a generous additional offer from a lovely allotment neighbour (community spirit in action!). We think the structure is a stunner and we’re eagerly awaiting the moment our squashes start to climb and cascade over. As we prepped the bed, we unearthed a stash of potatoes, which were added to our Crop Drop donations. We also harvested some…
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CLIMATE RESILIENT GARDEN: A golden afternoon
A golden afternoon in the Climate Resilient Garden! Today was a beauty, and our team gathered an incredible harvest. We cleared the potato bed to make way for our squash, which will soon be trained up the vertical planters. Broad beans and strawberries were also on today’s haul, those strawberries got a little extra care, carefully propped onto straw to keep them from softening on the ground. The keyhole bed is thriving, and we couldn’t be prouder of our progress. A fresh boost of compost and food scraps went into the center to nourish the soil, followed by a generous watering session. Most crops are flourishing, though the peas looked…
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Tough day at the office
I think we can all agree, it’s tough at the gardening top… Staying Connected with Rooted Community Food Rooted Allotment Gardening Updates At Rooted Community Food, we believe that staying informed is just as important as growing food. Our news posts keep our community updated on allotment sessions, sustainable gardening, local food movements, and important events that shape our shared food-growing experience. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting in Spring, our updates provide practical insights, inspiration, and valuable resources to help you thrive. Every news article is crafted to reflect our mission—supporting sustainable food systems, strengthening community bonds, and empowering individuals through growing. Rooted Community Food | Nature…
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Two plots – one beautiful blur of a Tuesday
Today, we started with a forgotten greenhouse cluster that was heading for our Keyhole Garden – fennel, oregano, and two types of onions now proudly anchored in the keyhole bed, completely transforming the space. Over at the main plot, it’s all happening: the tomato plants are waking up, the sweet peas are perfuming the polytunnel, and although the squashes are slightly under attack, we’re slowly winning the game. We tucked in more cabbages and cauliflower and harvested 9kg of spring greens, onions, broad beans, and some punchy rhubarb. And just when spirits couldn’t be higher, kindness bloomed in the form of gifted potatoes and paprika plants from our wonderful allotment…
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CLIMATE RESILIENT GARDEN: Bedtime
We had a small but mighty team today, making exciting progress on our next bed, our take on Hugelkultur, a regenerative gardening technique that mimics natural forest floor ecosystems. By layering logs, branches, compost, and soil, these beds retain moisture, improve soil fertility, and create a thriving microhabitat. We’ve lovingly named ours ‘The Tomb’ while it takes shape! Meanwhile, we’ve begun work on our prototype poly tunnel rain catcher, which we’ll test on our main plot before scaling up. Keep an eye out for photos soon! Garden Growth Update: – Our radishes and even some beetroot from last week’s keyhole planting are already sprouting! We’ve sown salad leaves into trays…
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A FLOURISHING DAY ON THE PLOT!
Today’s session at our main plot was truly rewarding. Everything was bursting into full bloom and plenty of work to keep us busy. We were delighted to welcome two new joiners, who wasted no time getting stuck in and making a real impact. Inside the polytunnel, calendula and sweet peas are busy thriving. This is alongside rocket, cabbage, peas, and our newly planted tomatoes and peppers. Outside, our peas, transplanted turnips, cauliflower, and kale are doing beautifully. Today we planted belotti beans, kindly gifted to us and ready to grow. All our squashes and pumpkins have survived and are steadily growing bigger. We added two more today which means we…
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CLIMATE RESILIENT GARDEN: Focus on Planting
Another busy and inspiring Climate Resilient Garden session today, with 10 enthusiastic attendees, including our small growers, whose passion is truly infectious! While our keyhole garden development is on pause as we gather more recycled bricks, today’s focus was all about planting. Thanks to generous donations, we introduced new seedlings to our space, ensuring every inch of soil is put to good use. Recycling remains at the heart of our project, and today we repurposed pallet collars—kindly gifted by an allotment neighbour—to plant courgettes, cauliflowers and turnips. We’ve also carved out space for our vertical growers, where Olla pot irrigation will help sustain them. Plus, another squash arch is on…
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WELL, THAT WAS UNEXPECTED!
This morning we were unexpectedly met by The Management on the Gorringe Road allotment. Bracing ourselves for an eviction notice, we were met with something far more unexpected. Louise and Graham from Eastbourne Allotment Society had come to celebrate our recent RHS award with the most thoughtful gift. They presented us with a beautifully crafted plaque, its wording a perfect reflection of the engraving on our glass RHS vase award. Their kindness and encouragement meant the world to us, a reminder of the incredible support that surrounds our community work. Louise and Graham, the Eastbourne Allotment Society, thank you for your generosity and support. Your thoughtful gift is a meaningful…
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CLIMATE RESILIENT GARDEN: Moisture Retention
One of the emerging insights from our participants’ research has been the effectiveness of mulching in retaining moisture in garden beds. While this concept had been quietly simmering in the background during the construction of our keyhole garden, an opportunity arose on our other site, giving us the perfect chance to test it in practice. We had recently filled the pallet collars lining our squash arch with manure, but we quickly noticed how dry it was, raising concerns about the health of our newly transplanted Turks Turban squash. Drawing from our research, we decided to trial straw as a mulch. Conveniently, we had straw bales on hand in our Kitchen…
