Category: environment

Rivelin Valley-based Hillside Harvest have sent the following report and photos from their second open day of 2013:

Just recently, we held our second Open Day of 2013. This time our training session was on ‘plot planning’ aimed both at the beginner and the experienced gardener led by an expert from ‘Grow Sheffield’. Once again, a good crowd of new people turned up on a cold, but dry day! Even a few from the previous Open Day returned. There were also tours of the site, which was showing signs of life, despite the weather conditions.

As usual, lunch was a shared affair, centred on a vegetable stew. People are very generous, so there was more than enough to share.

We have a Growing Committee who draws up a plan of when certain activities have to be done and what time of year. But, because of the variable weather, it is still a bit of hit and miss as to whether the timing is right! Yet, we still see quite a bit of produce showing itself at the right times.

On the day a bridge and steps were built to make access easier to help everyone get from the Rivelin Valley Road car park to the lower plots in our block – so hopefully helping all the plot holders in the area.

We received help from a couple of students, who spent quite a few back-breaking hours getting them just right! Also tackled, were the putting up of supports for the fruit plants.

So, you can gather, even though hard work is involved, there is much fun and laughter and a sense of community. If anyone is interested in joining us, using their skills, even if they are not in the gardening area, there is always plenty to do, as well as making new friends, please contact Hillside Harvest via nick.rousseau@hillsideharvest.org.uk.

Rivelin Valley-based Hillside Harvest have sent the following report and photos from last weekend’s open day. Their next open day is all about plot planning and is taking place on Saturday March 16 from 11am.

On a sunny, dry Saturday in February, we came together for our first Open Day in 2013.

Apart from our members, we had a very eager group of students from the University of Sheffield, and a good number of other visitors. The students made quite a difference to the various areas of the site, including bringing back to life a number of plots.

The visitors were treated to an in-depth training session, by a local expert, on composting, learning such things as the importance of getting the balance between the right amounts of nitrogen and carbon-based products!

In the middle of the day, we all gathered for a shared lunch of a vegetable stew and a number of cakes (though not together!). It was also a time of getting to know each other and to share our joys and failures in composting and other gardening activities.