Restormel Mind 'Soil to Soup' Garden Project

Runner bean chutney

2011-10-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

When the autumn weather starts to have its impact and frosts are imminent, it's really sad to see produce just going to waste and one of the tradiational ways of preserving thiings like runner beans was to make chutney. We are using the following recipe and we'll keep you updated on how it turns out ! Anyway - here are the beans all picked, sliced and ready to go !!

2lbs Beans after paring

4 or 5 lg Onions

1 ½ tbs Cornflour

Turmeric of Mustard

2lbs Demerara Sugar

1 ½ pts Vinegar

Method

Pare and slice beans, boil these in salted water until tender and strain and chop as fine as you can.

Boil onions, after slicing them, in ¼ pt vinegar until cooked, then chip finely. Add these to beans and a pint of vinegar and boil for 15 mins. Lastly add sugar, mix mustard, cornflour and turmeric with the remaining ¼ pt vinegar then add this to beans etc. Mix well and boil for 15 mins. Bottle and tie down while hot.

Compost at the ready !

2011-10-16T23:41:00.000-07:00

Our CEO and new volunteer get ready to barrow the compost delivery up to the allotments. The rain held off yet again !

Art within our garden

2011-10-05T11:54:00.001-07:00

Our chief gardener is also a great artist and I particularly like this leaf pattern on cardboard round a plastic container. How cool is that !!

Getting dug in

2011-10-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Our Soil to Soup project got dug in last week. Anyone interested in gardening or just ambling in a peaceful setting can join us (see website www.restormelmind.org.uk) This is a beautiful walled garden right in the centre of Bodmin which is currently very overgrown. But with some tender loving care, we will transform it into a haven of tranquility. Our therapeutic horticultural project allows people to have a plot of their own or join in with a communal garden.

Plants quiz !!

2011-10-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Right - here goes...... This is a plant which looks very pretty right now in our garden and sounds a bit like the guy who was part of the Trojan wars, the son of Peleus and had a dodgy ankle ....

Can you name this plant..

Trustees visit garden

2011-10-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Our trustees have been really supportive and enabled us to buy equipment, plants and seeds etc, so it was great to be able to show them round the garden. Of course, we made them work but they still seemed to enjoy themselves - although I did bake a really 'scrumptious' apple cake from the windfall apples just to make sure !!

Onions galore !

2011-10-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

Well - I was very surprised to see how much the onion sets had grown !

I can sense some serious soup production over the next few months !

Violas and onions

2011-09-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

I didn't realise you could plant onions at this time of year, but we found some Japanese onion sets which can be planted. Mary had already prepared one allotment with compost and chicken manure pellets and so it was a relatively easy job to plant the onion sets. We placed planks over the soil to make sure we weren't walking on the soil and the planks were also useful for lining up the string to make straight lines.

John had also a done a great job of planting out the violas which should look great in Spring.

Mary has also planted some herbs and next year I am looking forward to introducing everyone to sage tea !

Latest developments

2011-09-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

The shed is now repaired and the number of tools are growing. Apples are in abundance and even the old raspberry canes have provided us with some fruit. The runner beans have been quite productive although they could have probably done with some more compost and the tomato plants have done quite well. We've picked up the fallen apples and next week we are making a big apple cake to share.

The weather has been really kind and not a single week so far has been rained off. However, we are planning a shelter for the garden where we can sit and chat on rainy days. It's been really great to dig the new allotments and then sit and have a chat with a flask of hot tea and of course, the obligatory chocolate biscuits.

One week on ......

2011-05-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

Our Chair and Chief Executive start digging the first allotments - really hard work but we start to make progress..... but the cat keeps everyone jolly !

Getting dug in

2011-05-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

Our exciting new horticultural project dug into the ground this week in Bodmin at the garden of Miss Mudge. Although overgrown at the moment and in need of some tender loving care, the beautiful traditional walled garden and orchard will be transformed over the summer into a tranquil paradise of flowers and vegetables. We are calling this our 'Soil to Soup' Project and we meet once a week with wellies at the ready to help create a little bit of Eden in the centre of Bodmin. We have very few tools at the moment, so we would be very grateful for donations of forks and spades or even any plants you may have to spare.

Are you interested in gardening? Enjoy doing activities with others to help? Like to sit in peaceful surroundings? Then this is the project for you.

You can start by weeding or creating your own small flower bed or you can begin with a ground breaking vegetable plot. You have the option to have a piece of ground on your own or sharing with others.

You don't have to come every week but it helps! You don't always have to come to work hard - you may just want to come and chat or listen to the birds.

We are a new therapeutic project so join us when you can !

The gardening project may grow into a cook-what-you-grow project and other offshoots, so come and be part of developing the ideas.

Take a look at our website www.restormelmind.org.uk