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UPCOMING EVENT: Pete the Pond on June 7th!
Thanks to generous funding from Blueheart, our allotment is taking a huge step toward boosting biodiversity and we’re building a pond! Join us for a hands-on, educational day on June 7th The goal of Blue Heart is to try out innovative ways to predict and mitigate the impact of flooding in Eastbourne and southern Wealden. This will benefit local people, businesses and the environment. What they learn will also help inform projects around the UK and beyond.Read more on the Blue Heart website here… Staying Connected with Rooted Community Food Rooted Climate Resilient Garden: Pete the Pond Updates At Rooted Community Food, we believe that staying informed is just as…
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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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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…
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CLIMATE RESILIENT GARDEN: A Holistic Approach
One aspect that has become increasingly clear is that climate-resilient gardening extends far beyond simply cultivating beds. It’s a holistic approach and encompasses a range of sustainable methods. With this in mind, we’ve adjusted our brief parameters, reflecting a more comprehensive perspective. We’re incorporating resilient techniques alongside our planting strategies. A key priority for the team is ensuring the ability to harvest seeds for future growing seasons – this reinforces self-sufficiency and adaptability. To achieve this, we are sourcing our seeds from realseeds, a company dedicated to empowering growers to save their own seeds. Since our vision aligns perfectly with the Real Seeds vision, we’re thrilled to take this step…
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CLIMATE RESILIENT GARDEN: Progress
What a fantastic turnout for today’s Climate Resilient Garden session, where thirteen eager participants got hands-on with our bed-testing mission! Luckily we had some additional admin support at the Kitchen Plot, helping us record valuable climate related data. We invite everyone to take part in this open, experimental session. Join us, whether you’re an experienced grower or simply curious—there’s a place for everyone to participate! We’re especially looking for insights from those with experience in the following climate related gardening practices, so check out the below and see if you can help: Keyhole Gardening Hugelkultur Vertical Growing Seed Saving If any of these climate related gardening skills resonate with you,…
