Fortunately no rain last week but cold again. I was greeted with a tree pushed over by storm Eunice (or her brother) so Jane and Steve got to work chopping up branches for fire wood. We planted onions and beans and generally tidied up the various rows. Fiona spent some time in the green house, planting [...]
Looking after the soil on your plot is fundamental to grow good crops and produce the best seeds for saving. As this season becomes fully autumnal, it is a great time to use existing compost or to prepare to make some in the future. Home made compost is a good soil conditioner for whatever soil you [...]
This season has seen a great deal of abundance up at Selsley allotments, with a succession of both fruit and vegetable crops being harvested every week. From courgettes, potatoes, chard and tomatoes to raspberries, apples and blackcurrants, volunteers have been able to take away full bags of fresh, healthy and organically grown produce. Best of all [...]
A small group of volunteers look after this community growing scheme on the side of a hill in the beautiful parish of Selsley near Stroud. We meet weekly as a group and always have a long 'to do' list which includes maintenance, clearing, preparing and planting and this spring has been busier than ever. So far [...]
Welcome to the Down to Earth Stroud newsletter for 2016. We had another very busy year with the launch of two fantastic new projects plus the growth and development of several others. Here’s a brief summary of some of our key moments and achievements from 2016. Please see our website for more details and photos and [...]
On Monday 3rd October 2016 we welcomed around 20 visitors to an open day at our Selsley Community Growing Scheme as part of the fantastic Stroud Valleys Showcase. In the beautiful parish of Selsley, we are fortunate to be able to use some private allotments that had been neglected over the last 20 years. We decided [...]
We're collecting/accepting donations of unwanted shrubs and hedging materials - particularly saplings - that we're going to eventually sell or give away for a donation. The reason we're doing this is that a lot of commercial hedging, although promoted as native, is actually brought in from Holland. Our work includes being asked to create wildlife friendly [...]
We hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas break and enjoyed celebrating the new year. At Down to Earth we always have a Christmas meal together and this year we met at the Selsley community growing scheme for a 'bring and share' Christmas meal. Quite a few volunteers braved the cold and wet to share a meal. [...]
We've been neglecting Selsley on this blog for a long time, but certainly not in the field! There's a lot been going on this summer thanks to our committed regular volunteers: Finally, we installed guttering onto the polytunnel so the rainwater in our container gets refreshed regularly now. The frogs really appreciate it too! Our new [...]
Welcome to our new website and blog! It's been running for a little while now so we would appreciate any feedback on how you like it, and if you've come across any problems, glitches using it. The last two months have been a very busy time for us. Aside from the increasing amount of gardening and [...]
