Our new cooking stove

Our new cooking stove which will be used during our free cook and eat workshop sessions.

Funding to enable the purchase was thanks to a grant we received from Cumbria County Council's Community Healthy Weight Scheme.

Preparing to transplant calendula seedlings

FREE summer cook and eat sessions

Please find details below of our free cooks and eat sessions which will be taking place throughout July. 

Friday 3 July, 10.30-1pm Rooting for success - a cook and eat session exploring how roots give us energy and help us to be fit

Friday 10 July, 10.30-1pm Leaves for good luck - cook and eat session exploring how leafy vegetables can give us vitamins and minerals and help us to stay healthy

Friday 17 July, 10.30-1pm Flowers for fun and health - cook and eat session learning about the different flowers we can grow and eat and the benefits to our health

Friday 24 July, 10.30-1pm Fruit and seeds for healthy energy and vitamins - cook and eat session exploring fruits, grains and seeds you can grow and eat

All places on the sessions are by booking by email to: neighbourhoodmmgt@barrowbc.gov.uk or by calling 01229 876546.

We are very pleased to say that all sessions are free thanks to funding we have received from Cumbria County Council’s Healthy Weights Grant scheme.

Alternatively you can also download a pdf version of the poster here.

What to do in the garden in April...

There's always something to be doing in the garden, whether it's pruning, tidying or sowing, so Thompson and Morgan have put together their top gardening tasks for April.

For more detailed information please visit their website here.

Brightening up the undergrowth

Isn"t nature grand.......

Growing onion bulbs - free fact sheet from Garden Organic

Enjoying life in the undergrowth

Mike tending to seedlings planted by Cadas in the poly tunnel

Transplanting our teasel seedlings

Teasels are probably most commonly known for their brown, prickly stems and conical seed heads which persist long after the plants themselves have died back for the winter. Between July and August, when Teasels are in flower, the spikey flower heads are mostly green with rings of purple flowers. 

Found in damp grassland and field edges, or on disturbed ground, such as roadside verges and waste grounds, Teasels are visited by bees when in flower, and birds when seeding.

Top 10 lawn mowing tips from Gardeners World

March is an exciting month in the garden, winter is nearly over. As the days warm and lengthen, it’s time to start preparing the lawn for its first cuts of the season. Cutting the grass can take up quite a lot of time in the growing season, it's worth making sure that you're doing it properly. Mowing frequency, cutting heights and lawn mower maintenance are all important factors to keep your lawn shipshape.

Gardeners World have produced a list of their top 10 tips for mowing effectively on their website here.

Top tips and advice for container garden from Vertical Veg

March is an exciting month in the container garden, winter is nearly over.  As the days warm and lengthen, it’s time to get your compost and containers ready to go. 

Vertical Veg has produced excellent tips and advice for container gardeners such as:

Get your containers and compost ready

Slug vigil

Crops to sow outside

Crops to sow inside

Protect your seedlings

What you can harvest now

Plus common questions:

Do I have to start sowing seeds this month? (Quick answer, NO!)

What potato varieties are best for containers?

What is ‘hardening off’ and why is it important?

If you would like more detailed information please visit their website here.

First slow worm sighting this year

Seedlings flourishing in the poly tunnel

Our friends at Cadas have been busy sowing a variety of seeds

Thought for the day

"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try and cheer somebody else up" - Mark Twain

Spring is in the air

Top 10 easy to grow vegetable seeds and plants for beginners

Do you dream of harvesting your own home grown vegetables, but just don’t know where to start? Wondering which vegetables are easy to grow? From pots to plots, there are vegetables to suit gardens of every size. 'Growing your own' isn't complicated. Read Thompson and Morgans quick overview of their top 10 easy to grow vegetables, and start sowing today.

Among the vegetables detailed include:

Salad leaves

Spring onions

Potatoes

Peas

Radish

Garlic

Broad beans

Runner beans

Onions Tomatoes

Beetroot

Time for a little lawn maintenance

Re-potting nasturtium seedlings in the poly tunnel

How to grow rocket - Free fact sheet from Garden Organic

So far so good

A busy morning re-potting seedlings in the poly tunnel

Free what to do in the garden month by month guides and advice

Looking for inspiration, expert advice and top gardening tips?

The following websites have produced free month by month "what to do in the garden" pages:

Royal Horticultural Society Grow Your Own 
Thompson and Morgan
Gardeners World
Allotments and Garden UK

Our crocus providing a vital food source for early pollinators

Thought for the week.....

Stop being afraid about what could go wrong......... and focus on what could go right - Anon

We like our crocus

Corkscrew hazel in our planted borders

Planning free summer workshop sessions

We are looking forward to providing free learning opportunities during the summer. We are currently in the process of planning a series of free summer workshop sessions open to the wider community and other sessions specific to the needs of organisations such as Love Barrow Families - details to be confirmed shortly.

Funding to enable the sessions has been provided from a grant we have been awarded from Cumbria County Councils Healthy Weight grants programme.

Crocus flowering in the undergrowth

All our leaves are brown.....ish

Age UK Barrow preparing for a new growing season

Its always good to see Terry.......

Maintaining the raised planters

Topping up the planters with new compost and gently aerating the top few inches of soil.

Crocus adding colour to our lawn edging

Its getting busy in the poly tunnel

Winter vegetables ready for harvesting in some of our raised planters

A variety of vegetables being grown by Beaumont College