Busy bees in the garden...

Insects are getting busy in the garden - and volunteers too! I am posting last month's updates and some information on the Soil Health Talk that was delivered at the Garden on 8 May by Charlotte. The blog itself is thriving as we get readers from all over the world and have started to get spam comments, which I am removing. We are not here to advertise business ventures. This shows that we are faring well with SEO or spammers would not bother us. If you want to leave a genuine comment to advertise a similar, non-profit group, feel free... or to share your knowledge and experiences... or your gardening blog (provided it is not commercial in nature).

Comfrey was cut in May to make liquid fertiliser. On the right you can see a green manure crop called  Phacelia that should have been dug in but is just too pretty and too loved by the bees for anyone to bring themselves to do it. This green manure is growing on the community garden's Hugelkultur bed, which has plenty of rotting logs and organic matter at its heart.

Composting in May

Importing organic matter, May 2016

Soil Health talk - 8 May 2016

On Sunday 8th May, Charlotte gave a talk on Soil Health as a part of Transition Cambridge: "Eleven people turned up and we shared lunch before the talk and tour of the garden. The talk covered a brief overview of the desperate problems we have with our soil worldwide and also how we came to destroy them to such an extent. Examples of agricultural soil, a neighbouring orchard and new woodland all planted on the same land and within 30 yards of each other really highlighted the extent to which even 'good' agricultural land had removed the organic matter from our soils and destroyed its life and structure. The talk then covered soil structure, soil life and how plants and soil life interact. Lots of interdependence and symbiotic relationships were revealed, which really emphasised how compromised our agricultural soil had become. We then discussed how to improve our soil and look after our own plots of land with a tour showing what we are doing at Empty Common. It was a lovely day, with lots of input from everyone there and  people seemed to really enjoy it."

Here is feedback sent by one of the attendees: "I thought your talk was fantastic - full of interesting facts & insights - you've really inspired me to start gardening more."