A splash of colour on the banking area

Cook and eat session recipes

Recipes provided by trainer Jennifer Lauruol of Carpe Diem Garden Design Lancaster during our recent cook and eat workshop sessions.

FREE training workshops prove to be an interesting and fun experience

We would like to thank all those who took part in the most recent programme of FREE training workshops as facilitated by Jennifer Lauruol of Carpe Diem Garden Design Lancaster. You all helped to make them an enjoyable, interesting and........ fun experience. We will be organising a similar programme of FREE workshops in the near future. Please watch this space.....we will be publishing details as soon as they are confirmed

Funding to enable the training workshops has been provided from a grant we were awarded by People’s Health Trust using money raised by Healthable Community Interest Company through The Health Lottery.

Advice from Vertical Veg - which crops to grow in winter

Winter salads:

The easiest, fastest growing (relatively speaking!) and most productive crops you can grow in winter are salad leaves. There’s a wide choice, including:

Land cress: has a strong, assertive flavour, a little like water cress. Sow by late August / early September for winter leaves – it’s perennial so will produce leaves all year round.

Winter purslane or claytonia: a succulent winter leaf, packed with vitamin C. Attractive round leaves, that also produce pretty and very unusual white flowers in the spring. Sow late August / early September.

Pea and broad bean shoots: one of the fastest growing and easiest crops to grow in winter. Sow up to the  end of October / Early Nov for Dec / Jan harvest.

Lambs lettuce: mild flavoured leaf – a good contrast to some of the stronger ones. Sow late August / early September.

Winter lettuces – some varieties are hardy enough to survive winter – arrowhead lettuce is one good variety to try. Sow in August or early September.

Rocket – good winter crop – and less prone to bolting than in the summer. Sow in  late August or September.

Asian leaves including: mustard red giant, green in the snow, and mizuna. Sow in late August or early September).

Sorrel: strong, lemony leaf, lovely in salads in small quantities. Sow in August for winter leaves. This is another perennial that will produce leaves year round once established).

Other winter leaves:

Cavelo nero – tall and stately, this can look great in containers, and the leaves are actually more tender and tasty after a frost. The big leaves are  best cooked, but smaller leaves can also be used in salads.

Kale – home grown kale can be tender and tasty, well worth experimenting with – I’m currently trying a heritage variety called asparagus kale.

Bright lights chard – a bright and cheerful winter crop – and one that often recovers to grow very well in the early spring.

Spinach – is less prone to bolting if grown at this time of year. Sow in August.

Coriander – coriander does surprisingly well in cold weather, I’ve had my best crops from early September sowings. It doesn’t bolt at this time of year – and although it goes nearly dormant in the coldest months,it usually comes back strong in the early spring.

Source: Vertical Veg at: http://www.verticalveg.org.uk/winter-growing-its-time-to-plan-and-sow/

FREE cook and eat workshop sessions

Our FREE "cook and eat" workshop sessions as facilitated by Jennifer Lauruol of Carpe Diem Garden Design Lancaster.

Funding to enable the training workshops has been provided from a grant we were awarded by People’s Health Trust using money raised by Healthable Community Interest Company through The Health Lottery.

Additional pictures from this most enjoyable workshop can be viewed on our Flickr photo gallery here.

Hoverflies enjoying our potentilla

Quote for the week......

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

Signal Films digital photography workshop session at Green Heart Den

Collecting nasturtium seeds

Todays FREE "Art in the Garden" workshop sessions

22.08.2013 - FREE "art in the garden" workshop at Green Heart Den as facilitated by Jennifer Lauruol of Carpe Diem Garden Design Lancaster.

Funding to enable the training workshops has been provided from a grant we were awarded by People’s Health Trust using money raised by Healthable Community Interest Company through The Health Lottery.

For more pictures, please visit our Flickr photo gallery here

Guides to edible flowers, wild foods and recipes

Garden Organic -  cultivating edible flowers: http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/factsheets/gg45.php

RHS - guide to edible flowers: http://www.wildfoodandrecipes.co.uk/2010/06/ultimate-guide-to-edible-wild-and.html

Wild food and recipes UK: http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/factsheets/gg45.php

Thompson and Morgan - edible flower guide: http://www.thompson-morgan.com/edible-flowers

Preparing and sowing winter greens

Now is the ideal time to start preparing for and sowing  winter greens. There are a large variety of plants to choose from such as; Chinese cabbage, leaf mustards, pak choi, corn salad, land cress, winter purslane, salad rocket, chervil, parsley, watercress, kale, Swiss chard, winter lettuce, Japanese onions, spring onions, and oriental radishes and winter spinach.

Many of these are fast to germinate so you can begin to sow them direct is in the ground now, while the soil is still warm. Because of the warm soil germination and initial growth can be quick, slowing down as autumn approaches. Therefore it will be beneficial to begin sowing your winter greens over the next four weeks.

Thin out young seedlings as soon as you can as surviving the winter months successfully is very much about plants having a dense root system.

Islands of Barrow launch party - 6 pm Wednesday 4th September

Art Gene have organised a FREE party to celebrate the publication of the Islands of Barrow map and to hear well-known author Bryn Trescatheric give a talk about Walney. All are welcome.

Today on the wild flower banking area

Barrows Wildside Project filming at Green Heart Den

Simon taking, with the help of Cumbria Wildlife Trust officer Sue Thurley, taking video of butterflies at Green Heart Den. This forms part of his work on an interactive website being developed by Cumbria Wildlife Trust/Barrows Wildside project. The finished website is to detail the large variety of wildlife in the Furness area and will also highlight points of interest.

Working hard on Furness Parents and Carers Disabilty Froums planters

Common blue butterflies on our wildlife banking area

Nearly ready for the salad bowl

Walney Family Fun Run - Sunday 1st September

A nice article in theNW Evening Mail about our recent training workshops

Growing your own in autumn

You can continue to sow fast maturing autumn crops such as spring cabbage, spinach, turnips, and oriental vegetables.

Garlic - can be planted in October or early November. It can also be planted in early spring, but will give much better yields if it goes through a cold period over winter.

Rocket - generally known as a summer salad can be grown in September, will last well into the autumn and can sometimes survive the winter in mild conditions and/or with some protection.

Onion sets - can be planted up until November.

Winter purslane - is a very hardy winter salad, good at self-seeding and can be sown direct until the end of September.  It produces small, mild tasting, succulent leaves.

New potatoes for Christmas?

If you have tubers left from a crop of early potatoes, put them in a light, frost-free place. When shoot appear, plant 3 into a 15 litre tub with drainage holes. Place tubers onto a 15cm (6in) layer of multipurpose or potting compost, cover with 7.5cm (3in) of compost. As the shoots grow, fill the container with compost, always leaving the top of the shoots in the light. Water regularly, support the foliage with canes and protect from frost. Empty the container on Christmas morning (no peeping before!) and harvest the new tubers.

RHS Grow Your Own veg planner

You can also download a copy of the veg planner direct from the RHS website here

Why create a community meadow

How to make a mini meadow

For more information please visit Buglife at: http://www.buglife.org.uk/getinvolved/gardening/Make+a+mini+meadow

How you can help pollinators

“From planting wild flowers and creating habitats for pollinators to taking up bee-keeping  there are many simple actions you can take to help bees, butterflies and moths”. 

For more information please visit the Co – operatives Plan Bee campaign at: http://www.co-operative.coop/Plan-Bee/Ways-to-get-involved/ or Buglife at: http://www.buglife.org.uk/getinvolved/gardening/Create+a+bumblebee-friendly+garden

FREE and fun, growing, crafts and cook and eat workshops during August

Cumbria Wildlife Trusts moth trapping event at Green Heart Den

Cumbria Wildlife Trusts Moth trapping event at Green Heart Den. During the event Cumbria Wildlife Trust officer Sue Thurley set up two moth traps up to find out what moths were present in the area and explained how to identify the different moth species.

A burst of colour from our nasturtiums

A busy little bumblebee enjoying some of our common toadflax

Todays FREE gardening workshop - Propagating and taking cuttings

The aim of this workshop was to learn simple ways to propagate/produce more plants by taking cuttings. The session included:

i) Discussing the biology of plant propagation.
ii) Practising taking cuttings of a number of different kinds of plants.
iii) Propagating plants in the poly tunnel for people to take home or donate to the Green Heart Den garden.

The FREE session was facilitated by Jennifer Lauruol of Carpe Diem Garden Design Lancaster.

Funding to enable the training workshops has been provided from a grant we were awarded by People’s Health Trust using money raised by Healthable Community Interest Company through The Health Lottery.