Digging the no dig

A trip to Parkfields Community Garden this weekend and Emily, Melissa and Rachel got stuck right in. The garden is a big area of land at the back of the allotments and Cath and Alan are keen to educate the community about plants and food. The task owners met us there and gave us a list of jobs that they needed to be done that required a few hands. Melissa got straight to work cleaning out the plant pots. Emilyand Rachel started on the no dig plot - a natural way to reduce weeds in a big area without the need for pesticides. We pulled out the tops of the weeds, raked and watered the soil, laid down large pieces of cardboard, watered the area again and then did a few runs with wheelbarrows to cover the cardboard with wood chip. That should all rot down nicely to create an area that's ready for planting. We also helped to move the plastic that had been ripped off the polytunnel in high winds and the wood that had been used to weight it down. A great workout indeed!

At the end of the session, Cath kindly offered us melon - very refreshing!