Incredible Edible Dunstable

[Sahira WardMember]

Hi All

I hope up are all enjoying a wonderful Bank Holiday!

Charles inspired me to run my allotment using NO DIG methods. It has allowed me time to start a NO DIG Community Garden on a site owned by Central Beds Highways, on the corner of Duncombe Drive and Katherine Drive LU5 4NP

We are having our first meet and greet
for one hour from 12.30pm on
Sunday 2nd June 2013
The Curry Garden
69 Katherine Drive
Dunstable
LU5 4NP

If any of you live in East Dunstable and would like to be part of the very first Incredible Edible project please come. If you watch the video on this website http://www.incredibleedibletodmorden.co.uk it will give you an insight as to what can be done.

Visit our Facebook page for more info ‘Incredible Edible Dunstable’

Thank you

Sahira

[bluebellParticipant]

I wish you every success Sahira. Im not really close enough to be involved, but give me a shout if you need seeds etc (normally have some floating about).

Having just had our open gardens weekend I know how great these community gardening things can be.

[Sahira WardMember]

Lovely to hear from you Bluebell I hope you are well.

Yes it really is amazing, I’ve already linked up with my neighbours to help grow the plants. I have also been given the opportunity to use a greenhouse that my neighbour can’t use anymore, which is so wonderful all the tomatoes are thriving and we will be able to share the produce. He enjoys the company and I am learning lots of tips.

We have to wait four months to hear from The Co op Community Fund, so I am emailing companies to see if they do charity work by donating compost and timber…feel a bit like Pamela Anderson. There will be an article about it in The Dunstable Gazette on Wednesday

Regards

Sahira

[Sahira WardMember]

Hello Charles

I hope you are well and had a good day on the open gardens event.

Fund raising is hard in the current climate with that in mind.

Please can you tell me what you think of this idea.

I have been asked to go and speak at the local school and wanted to ask the children if they could bring to the site when we need to fill the raised beds a double wrapped carrier bag of the soil from their gardens after asking their parents permission. I would ask that the soil has never been treated with glyphosate or any other weed killer and that is should contain as many worms, and creepy crawlies that the children can find. We can then use it to mix with the manure that I use at my allotment. I have decided that we will not be using the acid soil improver from the Council.

Kind regards

Sahira

[charlesModerator]

 This is good for involving the children, and hopefully some of their parents, for whom finding some decent soil may be quite difficult if they have no garden! Guerilla soil hunting perhaps.

Did you have a pH reading of the council compost which he said is ‘acid’? I wonder how acid it really is and if they were up for donating, that would help a lot. Any pH above 6 would be alright, mixed with soil and manure.

[Sahira WardMember]

I will test the council’s compost and find out how acid it really is. Then hopefully it will be ok to mix all three together.

The real test will be on Sunday as to whether I have done enough to inspire anyone to get involved.

Thank you for your help Charles.

Sahira

[Sahira WardMember]

Hi Charles

Please can you tell me the best way to achieve the best results with the horse manure and various grades of top soil. CBC’s green waste is not of any use at all as it is only practically composted and used on fallow fields and left for 2 years to breakdown. We will have 5 raised beds to fill measuring 1.2m x 6m x 225mm each with a 500mm path around them set on top of very dry poor soil that has had shrub roots dug out but many are still in the ground. We plan to put weed suppressant membrane on the paths but not inside the raised bed areas is this correct do you think cardboard would help stop the roots re-growing inside the beds.

Thanks

Sahira

[charlesModerator]

 Hi Sahira

Sorry about the compost, it sounds unhelpful and not quite right!

The shrub roots should not regrow and I would soak the soil, then just fill with your mix of manure and soil, find some dark compost for the top inch if you can. Water again to help it all settle, since the weather is unusually dry! and off you go, still time to do loads of plantings. Exciting.

[Sahira WardMember]

Thanks for the info Charles.

Yes it is extremely exciting. I asked Blue Watch if they fancied doing some watering and hose it all down when it’s ready they said yes and are ready and waiting for my call!

So if anyone in the Dunstable area wants to help back fill these beds please come along.

The Perfume Shop volunteers will be clearing Phase Two making a bench in the shape of a 50p piece for under the tree out of pallets and helping me to organise our Grand Opening on 5th July.

Lots of our salad leaves have gone to seed in the trays is it worth planting them or start again, they do look pretty but I don’t know if the leaves will be edible now?

Sahira

[charlesModerator]

 Once they have been triggered to flower (by lack of space and roots in this case) you can’t bring them back to leafing so you need to sow again. The small leaves on flowering lettuce are edible, just bitter.

[Sahira WardMember]

Please come to our Community Garden’s Mega Make Over and Grand Opening in Katherine Drive Dunstable LU5 4NP
Work starts by The Perfume Shop volunteers at 8am on Friday 5th July and
Dunstable Town Mayor Mr John Chatterley cuts the ribbon at 4.45pm.
A reporter and photographer from The Dunstable Gazette will be coming,
Blue Watch will be making an appearance
plus the Brownies will be planting broad beans they grew
plus free organic strawberries all grown on my allotment.
See my face book page Incredible Edible Dunstable
or call me on 07905 116623 for more details.
Would be so great if any of Charles’s NO DIG GARDENERS could come.

Kind regards

Sahira pronounced Syra.xx

[charlesModerator]

 Congratulations Sahira, you are such a good organiser and I hope you have lots of people coming to be involved.

[Sahira WardMember]

Hello Charles

Just wanted to thank you for showing me round Homeacres on Wednesday most inspired by all your hard work. One of the reasons that I thought I could make Incredible Edible Dunstable work was watching the transformation on my allotment from Dig to NO DIG and comparing it to other plots. Having your forum and all your advise so easy to access makes this incredible edible journey we’re on much more achievable.

Please can you tell me the variety of the tomato that you gave me and are they hard to grow it really did go down very well with our Full English Breakfast today.

Regards

Sahira

[charlesModerator]

 Sahira, thanks for your comments, it was Brandy Boy.

Well done on all you have achieved there and may your project go from strength to strength. I like the way it is reaching out to so many people in Dunstable and that looks hopeful for encouraging more people to grow their own food.

[Sahira WardMember]

Thanks to the creation of our NO DIG Incredible Edible Garden in Katherine Drive and the hard work from our volunteers we were able to enter the garden in the contest under the Grow Your own category which helped to bring home a GOLD!

Thank you for your inspiration and help from your forum Charles!

Regards

Sahira

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