Digging in at the start of the year:)
As we wrote towards the end of last year - Digging in at the end of the year 18.12.24 - the two of us behind this project like to put our money where our mouths are. That means getting stuck into the community vegetable plot project in our local park. It’s all very well putting up blog posts arguing why we need to decentralise and localise food production, the point is, we need to show how that works in practice. As is the case in life, what happens with actual practice does often differ from the ideals of what we’d like to achieve. That’s just having to deal with the messy complexities of reality and learning a fair few lessons along the way.
Anyway, we’re getting into 2025. It’s the start of the year and, it’s the time to think about what we want from the community vegetable plot. However, firstly, there’s the work involved in preparing and securing the plot ready for planting and cultivation come the spring. Below is the write up of the first full working session at the plot this year which was posted up on this Facebook page - Keynsham Community Veg Plot in the Park.
After illness pretty much wiped out the first Saturday work party of the year, today we were fully back in action. A batch of hedge plants had arrived so, we were able to complete the border we'd started planting last year to replace the box hedge lost to blight. A range of hedge plants have been used so, once they've got themselves established and have grown a bit, there will be a fair bit of variety along the border.
Work was also started on the earth paths to re-delineate the edges. Further work to ensure they're more level is planned.
Work was undertaken on the Japanese wineberries at the far end of the plot from the café - this involved trimming and re-stringing the support. The rhubarb crowns have been relocated to the next bed up. This is so they're more accessible for anyone who wants to pick a stalk or two.
The next Saturday work party is on February 1st, commencing at 2pm. One of the jobs we'll be doing is checking the compost bins and spreading anything good onto the beds to get them ready for cultivation. It may be winter but, there's still work to do - it would be great if we could see some of you on Saturday 1.2:)
Work on any community vegetable plot never stops. What happens is that the tasks that need doing change with the seasons. At the moment, it’s all about preparation. Getting that right so the soil is in as good a condition as we can achieve is crucial. What we want to achieve by sharing some of the write ups of what we get up to on the plot is to not only show what happens on a community vegetable plot, it’s also to hopefully inspire people to start up their own projects. As we’ve written before, the more community food plots there are the better - ideally, there would be one in every neighbourhood.
As you can see from the write up we re-posted above, the date of the next work session is Saturday 1st February, commencing at 2pm. That day is also when Imbolc is observed. To find out what it’s about, this is a useful resource - How To Celebrate Imbolc: The Returning Light of Spring. This quote sums it up perfectly:)
Imbolc, derived from the Old Irish word imbolg, meaning “in the belly,” hints at the stirring of new life within the earth. Historically, this festival was celebrated by the ancient Celts to honour the transition from the dark, cold days of winter to the promise of warmth and growth. As the days lengthen, Imbolc represents hope, renewal, and preparation for the abundance of spring.
We couldn’t think of a better way to mark Imbolc that preparing the ground on the community vegetable plot for cultivation:)
Lastly, for an insight into what a community vegetable plot means, there’s this - Giving the community ownership of a project 26.10.24.
Those of us who currently work on the plot are its custodians. We are not the plot. While the plot would not continue without our input, we cannot allow ourselves to fall into the mindset that we have any sense of ownership over it. That's easy to say but, when we're slogging away, it can feel like as we're the ones putting in the graft, that gives us a right of ownership. So, an effort is needed to take a step back to see the bigger picture. Namely that this community plot is part of a network of growers who, each in their own ways, are doing their level best to de-centralise and localise food production. The particular model we want to follow is giving the community of Keynsham a sense of ownership, not just in the plot, but also in the project of de-centralising and localising food production.