Work Done April 17th

The foraging group met and some delicious food was made from our finds. Everyone seemed to have some plant knowledge to pass on, which is why an activity like this can be so rewarding and beneficial when it's done with other people.

Food made included; Nettle soup (made the previous day); Alexander stew; Wild Garlic foccacia bread; Wild Garlic pesto; Nettle Tea; mixed wild salad (Hawthorne shoots, Dandelion leaves & petals, Lesser Celandine leaves (pre-flowering), Chickweed, young Alexander leaves, Wild Garlic and Cow Parsley leaves) and pure Dandelion salad.
This just goes to show you that nature creates it's own garden for us to harvest and the basic principles behind forest gardening involve mimicry of nature doing this.

With all the eating we didn't get much else done apart from mulching willow with lusciously smelling, partially molded leaves collected from the woodlands in winter. This should probably have been left to rot down more then used for compost mix or something better, but I'm sure the willow appreciated it all the more. The experiment with stuffing clay into the brick cracks of the cold frames has not crumbled out with drying which is good news as it means we can get on with sowing in them next weekend.

Apart form that, next Sunday, 25th April, we can meet at 11 and hopefully start work on the terrace, move the willow fence, start laying out the route of the path and possibly build another bed if we are able to collect enough soil with the volunteer team on Thursday. Also, if it's ready, we may be able to help with putting the cover on the large polytunnel, which would be great.