Recruitment Drive Poster

Will print this off and slap it up all over Cardiff

Propagating

Wednesday, 19/02/2013

Day 11

 

This evening Liz & Dwayne began to propagate the seeds so they're ready to plant out in the up and coming months, following the instructions on the boxes provided we had no problem in sowing the seeds, 

the garlic we broke up and buried so they could begin to shoot.

We also sowed tomatoes, peppers, chives, basil & aubergines.

 

Again, as we were only following the basic vague instructions on the box we weren't too sure if we were doing it right.

By the end of the evening we had got everything into propagating trays and placed them on a lovely donated window ledge after a good watering we tucked up them into their beds for the night

Canton Community Gardens

This Saturday the 23rd of February we shall be attending the Seed Swap initiative held in the foyer in the Chapter Arts Centre in Canton, Cardiff, we hope to meet other groups and individuals who will be able to advise us on the seeds we have currently and what we can do in maximize our yields.

This is a good opportunity to begin to build relationships with other projects in cardiff so we can forge strong bonds and relations and make these projects feel accessable to everyone everywhere in Cardiff

Quoted directly from their website

"We are a group of individuals who are keen on gardening, the environment and community participation, and want to share this interest with other people in the local community through various gardening activities, projects and events.

We are currently developing a Community Garden at Chapter, and in previous years have organised fairs, talks and participatory events. "

Please check them out
http://www.cantoncommunitygardens.co.uk/index.php

More Raised Beds & the Rhubarb has landed

Day 10

17/02/2013

Today we had another new volunteer Victoria who joined Liz & Dwayne for a day in the sunshine, that was so warm that Dwayne wore shorts.

Today we carried on building the raised beds and placing them in relation to the planning thats been scribbled down on a bit of paper,

Due to our luck we have been handed some Rhubarb which is ready to plant, so after some directions and resolved questions (bury it about a spade deep - i think they meant the spade blade not the whole length, well at least i hope so...) we planted the rhubarb in two square raised beds  and covered the root system with manure, which surprisingly wasn't that smelly and now we just sit back and see what happens.

Victoria proved to be a dab hand with a hammer and with a keen eye quickly knocked up a number of raised beds and with the help of Liz began to secure them in place.

See, she was banging them out!

We also began to turn over the ground to make the ground ready in the next coming weeks to plant out our onion, shallot & garlic bulbs
We've also marked out where the ploy tunnel is going and are looking at suitable flowers to plant around the raised beds as wind breaks

Raised Beds & Raised Spirits!

Day 9

16/02/13: Volunteers - Katie, Liz, Chris & Tomos

Liz & Chris (Our newest volunteer - all the way from Swansea!) kick started the day by preparing the wood for the raised bed we were to make. 

Deciding that Terra Firma was probably a good idea when attempting to make squared joints we moved all the wood off the mud and on to the road -aka 'our workshop'

We are making our raised beds with long supporting corner jousts so that when it comes to needing netting to protect the plants, we can drape the nets over the poles! Forward thinking......

This is Tomas - another new volunteer! We have had a good response from the advert we put on gumtree looking for volunteers. Anyone reading this please remember we will always be looking for willing volunteers! 

To volunteer get in touch at fareshareallotment@gmail.com 

This is our first raised bed! we are extremely proud of her. After all the hard graft we have put into preparing the land it is nice to finally see some structure going in. 

We are going to use the patches at the end of the plot to plant out flowers. Flowers attract bees, which in turn help to reduce pest numbers. Winner!

Everything you see here has been donated by the good people at Homebase on Newport Road. They have been kind enough to support us by supplying us with stock that will otherwise be thrown away. 

This is in keeping with FareShare Cymru's ethos of saving waste from going to landfill! 

Homebase and the project are both happy as their waste (whcih they have to pay to get rid of) is now being reclaimed and put to great use down on the FareShare allotment! 

Introducing my new bike! a 1970's classic with dynamo lights......all it needs now is a basket and Ill be looking the part!

Strange weather down on the plot today - sunny all morning and then all of a sudden this fog came from no - where.......

........a little bit like all this bounty! Just when we were about to give up and go home for the day, Rob (site supervisor) approached us and informed us that we could help ourselves to an ex plot holders stock she had abandoned. 

Oh my god! This was an absolute score as she had raised beds, pots, compost, chairs, a table, more pots, a compost bin.....the list goes on. This will make an amazing difference to our project going forward. There is even a picket fence in the foreground - can you spot it? 

Today was a very productive day. Raised beds and spirits all round!

Path Laying & Shed Buying

Day 8 

09/02/13: Volunteers - Katie, Liz, Dwayne, Keris & Aiofe

......Stroke of luck Austin had rented a van for work for the week. Within ten minutes of it being dropped off I had managed to fill the entire van!

Today was the first day we were putting some real structure into the plot. Keith had delivered the mesh which allows water to permeate but doesn't allow pesky weeds to grow up through it. We also viewed and have reserved a shed being sold by another plot holder. Yey!

Before we laid the mesh down we flattened the land where we had marked the paths out to be. This was done using a technique we have coined as 'pogoing'. Using our spades as a sort of pogo stick we spent a good couple of hours jumping up and down on the mud to ensure it was flat enough to lay the path. Exhausting! We wern't kidding when we told people this project is a 'Green Gym'

After the mesh had been laid down we covered the mesh with two different grades of wood chippings we got from the council (£20 a tonne). 

Two tonnes of woodchippings! 

Seeing the paths go in was a great feeling. The allotment is no longer just a patch of mud! 

Liz testing out our new 'catwalk'

The 'pogo-ing' takes its first victim! 

We had a new volunteer today. Aiofe found our ad on Gumtree and wanted to come and get involved. Naively turning up in white trainers, she soon regretted that decision. Great to have a new volunteer on the team though....

Keris enjoyed murdering my poor christmas tree. RIP Christmas Tree!

Dwayne devised the new compost ladies loo! Those pine needles may not make the best loo seat though!? 

Compost Bin two being installed made using reclaimed pallets from the FareShare Depo

Reinforced with re-claimed wood salvaged from the skip opposite my house & some nails I've had lying around for years!

 All in all a really successful first day back at the allotment. A great start to 2013 - Well done guys! :)