Sadly in 2018 when we tried growing potatoes in our new vegetable beds they were badly eaten by vine weevel and our root growing days were over. We have been treating the ground, soil and compost with nematodes and are ready to grow again in 2020.

Learning from our mistakes we decided to go back to growing vertically with the potatoes and use our most effective, high yielding method which is low cost, easy and space saving. This year we are also experimenting to see if you can grow potatoes successfully from scraps. We will update this post in Autumn and let you know!

Listen as ALT Group director Terri Lee-Shield explains the large impact small scale food systems can have on reducing our carbon footprint and solving some of our enormous global problems.

Explaining issues such as food waste, positive activism and no waste, no pollution growing systems.

20.09.2019 saw the Global Climate Strike and we honoured it by hosting a special Action Day at Blackhill Club Community Garden.
Watch as Shannon explains the three demands made by the strike and explains how local solutions can help fight global climate change.

At Blackhill Club Community Garden, work has been underway finishing the entrance to the garden, and we are very close to finishing this whole area. This week the volunteers decided to tackle their vision to create a rockery entrance, in order to make a bold visual impact for guests visiting the club

Fortunately we have been able to store and use reclaimed materials from the site to make our idea a reality. It took 6 volunteers and a total of 20 hours to transform the space from an overgrown area of grass and weeds, to a beautiful, easy maintenance Alpine Rockery.

The group decided to use rocks and gravel in an artistic way to highlight the alpine plants, ferns, ivy and ornamental grasses planted, that can all happily grow in colder or more hardy conditions, like we have here in the North East.