Broomhill May, June, July

Herb Garden construction and Workshop

We now have the beginnings of an open-access herb garden along the Manse Lane entrance to Broomhill.  Many thanks to Elspeth Killin who designed the garden and the volunteers who helped to put it together.

On the 5th of July Elspeth ran a great workshop where we explored the care and propagation of the herbs and looked at the conditions, companion planting and care that helps the different herbs thrive.  We will be holding more workshop relating to the herb garden later in the year.

For more info check out the website or contact elly@fifediet.co.uk

Worms and Hot Compost 19th June

Sunday 19 June saw Ron Gilchrist and Sam from Greenway Consulting come to run a workshop on Worms and Hot Compost. People came from across Fife and Scotland to take part. While this was another open free public workshop it also gave us a chance to think through our compost and soil management system, with advice from the very best.

These guys are absolute pioneers in getting the most from soil and growing conditions. Ron’s team at Greenway have been at the forefront of sustainable food production projects for over 15 years. They have developed systems to enable individuals, groups and communities to recycle organic waste, promote soil regeneration and produce wonderful, organic produce – delicious and nutritious – within a socially enriching environment. Check their amazing work at their website here .

The opportunity for us at Broomhill is not just to ‘get a good compost system going’, but to be part of select network of community gardens showcasing the very best practice in regeneration and whole-system organic growing. That’s our aim.

Here’s what we did on the day…Hot Compost, Worm Box, Garden Design…

Creating a Hot Compost Box

The box is lined with insulation board, then carefully built with the right mix of organic materials. We should rapidly speed up the composting process.

Taking care to have the right amount of ‘brown’ materials (egg boxes, rough cardboard, twigs etc) and that the moisture levels are right – the next key is to check the temperature. “Composting has to be hot to be fast and to kill the weed seeds and pathogens”.

Meanwhile, Permaculture Design class (intermediary) is going on in the willow den.

Creating a Worm Box

By creating a worm box we’ll be able to 1) rapidly create high-quality worm cast, absolutely brilliant soil-enhancer and 2) re-create more and more worms which will break down waste quicker, creating a closed-loop system.

We also discussed paths (!), optimum layout of gardens for food productivity, hassle-free gardening and ‘no weed’ ‘no-dig’ growing. We also came out of the session with a clearer idea of design for our polytunnel, seen below in early construction with Frank and Elly. The plan is to completely seal the ground with a membrane and build up beds inside with propagation cold-frames on the outside and include in the tunnel some seating and table for work and blethers.

Then basic structure is emerging…