Moulsecoomb Forest Garden & Wildlife Project

ROOF ON, FENCE DONE, READY FOR THE NEW YEAR

2012-01-02T20:10:00.003Z

A few days before Christmas, the roof went up on the temporary structure while the council put up a new fence. In 75 work hours, we cleared the site, the old fence line and put up our tin shelter. Hey, they should make a Changing Rooms programme about us.

2011-12-15T20:16:00.002Z

In an amazing short space of time our temporary shed now has a tin roof! Well half of one. Don't know how much it will protect us from the elements tomorrow at our Christmas party but everyone has been working their butts off to get it sorted. Tomorrow we say thank you to everyone with a three course meal at the garden and plenty of mulled wine. Cheers!

SCHOOL CHRISTMAS LUNCH

2011-12-12T09:40:00.002Z

At the end of the winter term we fire up the clay oven and serve up Christmas dinner for pupils that work with us, a few that used to and some of the teachers/teaching assistants. Sticky Fingers Simon with help from some of the pupils dished up chicken, roast potatoes (pink fur apples from the garden – everyone should grow these), kale, parsnips, carrots with a big dollop of gravy. Very quiet round the table as everyone devoured the lot, apart from the bones. Something really satisfying about getting all the pupils from different schools sitting down together. For me, it helps reinforce that sense of being part of something, of belonging, that for whatever reason, most of them just don’t feel at their schools.

STRUTTING ITS STUFF

2011-12-06T20:31:00.002Z

Temporary structure really taking shape, old fence line gone.

FLATTENING AND BASHING

2011-12-01T09:50:00.003Z

The chalk floor on the temporary structure is finished thanks to hard labour and a pounder. The A frame is being built and the support struts will be up soon. The council are going to put up a new fence at the back and to save the council money we are moving along the back line, bashing out old concrete posts, removing tangled fencing, tree stumps, rubbish, old shoes, glass and cow bones.

The weather continues to be kind to us along with people who have continued to give donations of cooking equipment and cash. Thanks also to East Brighton Trust, Moulsecoomb Primary Parents Action Group for Education and The Migrant English Project for their financial support.

FLOOR TAKES SHAPE

2011-11-23T20:51:00.005Z

Week two after the Great Fire of Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and the base of the temporary shed is almost ready thanks to hardcore volunteers, school pupils and help last Sunday from Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue .

Thank God or climate change or just sheer luck but the weathers been so mild we're still picking salad and raspberries and working in t-shirts, so we wouldn't have had to hide in our shed yet from the rain, cold and snow. But let's make sure it's up in time for our Christmas Party.

Apart from one or two items, we have now had all our cooking equipment replaced by donations. A load of timber donated (but would still like more) and Father Martin from St. Margarets church in Rottingdean has said they will donate all their Christmas collections so we can buy metal roofing for the temporary shed.

I can't say it enough, but we have been bowled over by the communities support. Thank you.

You will all get an invite to our Christmas Party!

SLOWLY RISING FROM THE ASHES

2011-11-17T07:22:00.003Z

The clear up is over and people have started work on our temporary structure. We need to put something up quick to have somewhere dry and warm before the weather turns cold. Unfortunately our half built rammed chalk food larder (see top picture) has had to be buried alive while people pick axed and flattened a large area of chalk next to the old shed. We laid down scaff board for supporting walls while we try to even up the ground.

The support we have been receiving has truly been phenomenal. Unable to sustain such back-breaking work without coffee we’ve had to borrow two cafeterias but apart from that we have nearly replaced all the kitchen equipment and have been receiving and chasing up offers of wood. Financial donations and plans for benefit gigs and roast dinners also continue to roll in

The best way you can help us financially is to take out a standing order. We will soon launching the ‘Friends of the Forest Garden’ for those that do just that. Being a ‘Friend’ will entitle you to a yearly special event for your family, VIP treatment at events (probably an extra bit of cheese topping on your outdoor oven baked pizza) and regular mailings of blog updates, reports and other news of interest.

CLEAN UP FRENZY

2011-11-08T20:58:00.002Z

On a drizzly November day we set about clearing up what was left of our shed. Burnt timber, twisted metal roofing, melted plastic, cracked cups…it had to be sorted to be burnt, recycled, sold to the scrappy and taken to the tip. But what a response! All the pupils and teachers from Springboard , pupils and staff from ACE, regular and new volunteers, pupils from the past, all got stuck in to make light of the work.

Daisy dished up pumpkin soup and the Bridge Community Centre kindly brought up sandwiches and crisps for everyone. We had deliveries of cooking equipment from some BHOGGers and Coachwerks

In the afternoon we sat round the fire and planned a temporary structure to go up as soon as, while the council came and promised a proper fence.

Massive thanks to everyone who helped, has sent us messages of support, cash and equipment.

You always hope that you are making a difference and people care about what you do. The last few days have shown that people really do.

Before long a bigger, better ‘shed’ will rise from the ashes.

Cheers!

HAVE YOU GOT ANY…

To quickly put up a temporary structure we need

Galvanized roof sheeting. We need between 2-3 metre lengths of galvanised metal sheet roofing that when overlapped will span a 6 metres in length and appropriate ridge sections. 200 appropriate fixings approx

Treated timber We need 6x4.2 metre lengths of 4by4inches

10x3 metre lengths of 4by4inches

6x3 metre lengths of 4by2inches

Clay. To help build a new wood burning stove.

We also still need catering sized pans and saucepans (with lids if possible), cafeteria, kettle for the fire, storage tins for biscuits, tea, coffee and sugar, metal potato mashers and ladles.

DONATIONS OF EQUIPMENT PLEASE

2011-11-06T19:52:00.001Z

Thanks to all the messages of support; moral, financial and physical.

Here’s a list of some of the things that we need replacing.

Plates, knifes, forks, spoons, bowls, mugs, big pans, frying pans, cast iron pans, tins for storing tea, coffee, sugar and biscuits, cafeteria, teapot, baking trays, serving spoons and ladle, cheese grater, colander, measuring jugs, potato masher.

Kettle for fire, wood burning stove, mirror.

BURNT TO THE GROUND

2011-11-04T18:25:00.002Z

On Thursday night our allotment shed was burnt to the ground. The fire was so fierce that neighbours called the fire brigade who had to stumble through woodland to put out the blaze and stop our Saxon roundhouse from also catching fire.

You might get the wrong impression, when you think of a garden shed storing a few tools and a couple of old flowerpots.

This was a lot more than a shed, it was what some youngsters called our tree shed. An outdoor classroom built over a 5 years with pupils on work experience, helping them gain valuable knowledge of carpentry and construction. With its wood burning stove it was a warm, dry space for volunteers to escape the rain. A place for pupils to carry on work such as carving and woodwork out of the cold. It was used for courses, talks and slideshows at our events. It was also where we stored all our food and cooking equipment used for making lunch for everyone on workdays and cups of tea throughout the day.

It was small things that you can’t put a price on that have been lost, like the two benches being built by pupils as Christmas presents for their mums.

So what now?

Before we even start to think about building another shed, we face the mammoth task of clearing up the site, rebuilding the fences, taking out some of the large damaged trees and replacing the tree nursery.

But we don’t know with what money and resources we have spare to build a new one. We are insured, but however much we get, it’s not going to be able to replace our project’s centre-piece anytime soon. We are only a small charity with one member of staff that relies on small grants, income from schools and a lot of goodwill from volunteers and supporters to survive. So we will have to look at budgets, beg, borrow and coppice from the woods and make plans for a new shed.

In the meantime we will have to quickly build a warm, dry structure to see us through the winter and dig into funds to buy new kettle, pans, plates….the list goes on.

So if you’ve got something lying around that you think we might need please get in touch or turn up this Tuesday 8^th November and help with the clean up. Or think about making a small monthly standing order to support us. http://www.seedybusiness.org/donations.shtml

FOREST SOUP

2011-10-09T11:43:00.003+01:00

People from the Migrant English Project http://mepbrighton.com/ visited the garden during the last hot day of the year and cooked various bread, soup and enjoyed the sunshine.

Listen to a radio programme about the day http://www.refugeeradio.org.uk/audio/20110910_refrad78forest.mp3

MELTING POT

2011-09-19T16:02:00.003+01:00

Polish community workers. Chinese teachers. Volunteers from

Brazil to Taiwan, South Korea to Central Europe. The forest garden is a United Nations melting pot.

For the past three years Concordia have been working with us and Moulsecoomb Primary School. Francesca Corney explained: “Concordia is a charity committed to international volunteering as a means to promoting intercultural understanding and peace. For nearly 70 years we have provided volunteering and work opportunities overseas and here in the UK. Every year we run over 20 projects including conservation work, supporting children’s play schemes and summer camps, helping to run festivals and working with adults with learning difficulties. This July nine international volunteers helped at both Moulsecoomb Primary school and Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project for two weeks. The volunteers came from Turkey, Germany, France, Argentina, and the Czech Republic.”

Its great having a group of dedicated motivated volunteers around for a couple of weeks to really get stuck into jobs. In those 3 years Concordia volunteers have cleared and flattened an area in the woods that became home to our bee hive; built a bee garden and this year weeded the bee area, raspberry garden and started laying a path.

Staying at Moulsecoomb Primary they also helped maintain the extensive school grounds and do the odd jobs, but also have the opportunity to be in lessons and help the teachers. One of their first tasks is getting up in the school assembly and saying where they are from and a bit about their country. Guess what the Argentinean got the children excited about?

At the end of the session the international volunteers fed back with comments like “I learnt a lot from all of the young people from different cultures in Europe and their needs and aspirations. I learnt many things about gardening and many more about the social and economical situations of places like Moulsecoomb” and “Rewarding experience, a good way to learn how to be more open minded”

In July Brighton University organised a visit by Chinese trainee teachers to the forest garden. After visiting one of the Chinese students wrote to us “What an unforgettable day in my short term training course in Brighton University. Because today I experienced something really inspiring - Forest Garden. Warren gave us a detailed introduction about the project, but also brought in a lot of vivid teaching sources. His patience with the students impressed me a lot. Above all, the philosophy behind the project is magnificent. It will benefit a lot of students like Dan, who came and talked to us at the end of the activity. Allow me to show my great respect to all the people involved. Best wishes!” 15 Chinese students then visited Moulsecoomb Primary during the schools Heritage and Environment Festival. They were also suitably impressed. Li said “I am lucky to have the opportunity to visit Moulsecoomb Primary school during the 3-day festival. It's a new kind education for me. In China, we pay more attention to knowledge and examination, so mostly the students have to listen to the teacher and try to remember and understand in class. But here the students have more chance to experience, learning by doing it. I think that's interesting and effective. On the other hand, many teachers, helpers and volunteers organized various activities to attract the students, that's not only interesting but be helpful to their studies in class. So I think they are responsible and creative to come up with so many good ideas. I admire and respect them. Thank you for giving us such an opportunity.”

For the pupils these are priceless lessons and opportunities to meet people from across the world. For people from other countries it gives opportunities to meet people off the tourist trail and take back ideas to their where they live. But best of all these international exchanges; meeting people, working together, are the most effective way to break down barriers and challenge prejudices.

SOME MORE SUMMER CAMP PHOTOS

2011-08-25T08:57:00.002+01:00

FOREST GARDEN SUMMER CAMP

2011-08-25T08:30:00.003+01:00

After last year’s success we decided to run two summer holiday schemes for Moulsecoomb kids. A chance for them to make camps, carve wood, try out some bushcraft, cook over fires, stuff their faces with marshmallows and generally just enjoy being outside. But we haven’t yet bitten the bullet and let people camp overnight!

Recently I did a bit of that overnight camping where all the children were having a brilliant, pretty much unsupervised, time outdoors - just like the ‘Good Old Days.’ Someone there offered a two hour bushcraft experience for twenty quid a pop. That’s 20 quid for each kid as well as adults. Er, thanks but no thanks. I know people need to earn a living but this is just the sort of thing that once again means that those who have everything have even more opportunities and, for those on the breadline, well tough.

Thanks to funding from the Pebble Trust our event was free and included lunch, snacks and drink.

This time we decided to divide the ages and the first week we had 12 eight year olds all from Moulsecoomb Primary school, 10 of whom were girls. Now thanks to our work at the school we already knew all the children, they had all visited the project before and some had taken part in our after school gardening club. They are also immersed in the schools outdoor learning environment from the moment they start at nursery.

We split into three groups (the Woodland Girls, the Hornets and the Wolf Cubs) and headed to the woods to look for materials to make the camps. Nestled at the boundaries of the South Downs National Park, this would be their base for the two days: to build, make fires, cook marshmallows and play games. And they just loved it. Watching them stare into the fire you can see how children succumb to the flickering images of TV and computers. Only one didn’t come back the next day and she’s my next door neighbour who ends up at the project on a regular basis!

The garden wasn’t ignored. We all came back to cook over the fire – sausages from the local butchers, chips from the garden spuds, trying to tempt them with fried shallots, salad and parsley. Watching them hoovering up the raspberries, blackberries and whitecurrants, sitting in the trees, balancing on the little house roof. Getting dirty. Just being kids.

The second week was for older children plus a gaggle of very young ones acting out endless superhero scenarios.

There was more camp building, but more of an emphasis on carving, wooden spoon making, a bit more gardening from some and a request from everyone to fire up the clay oven for pizzas.

It is essential for all children to get these opportunities. For the majority of those that came along they won’t be getting a holiday –certainly not David Cameron’s five holidays – and it’s also a chance for the parents to get a break.

The majority of children love being outside and even those who are a little nervous at first; well you can see by the second day how they really start to relax into their surroundings and enjoy it. It’s even more important for those not academically minded, that struggle in the classroom but can turn themselves to practical skills.

Money permitting we want to continue to roll these schemes out and make sure that you’ll find none of the children from Moulsecoomb suffering from Nature Deficit Disorder!

PRINCES TRUST AWARDS COMPOST LOO BUILDERS

2011-07-20T20:13:00.002+01:00

Spending a penny at the Moulsecoomb Forest Garden Projects is a lot more pleasant thanks to a brand new compost toilet.

The toilet was built by pupils on work experience, overseen by project workers and funded by the Princes Trust and Sussex Community Foundation. Three of the pupils, Daniel Morton and Reece Daly from the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy and Karl Williams from Bowden House School received awards from the Princes Trust because of their work.

Team Leader Reece Daly said “I hated school and couldn't wait to leave, but really enjoyed my work at the forest garden. Building the toilet I learnt new skills and it’s something I’m really proud of.” Reece is now working full time.

Wilf Nicholls from the Prince’s Trust said “The Prince’s Trust is all about supporting disadvantaged young people and this is the type of project that we like to support, it’s fantastic for the participants and the wider community that use the garden”

Mary Carruthers from the Sussex Community Foundation said “The forest garden is a fantastic project encouraging local residents to grow and eat their own food and to learn about their natural environment. They have become so popular they needed a new loo and we were very happy to support them with a grant from American Express.”

LAST FEW WOODLAND OPEN DAY

2011-06-07T20:31:00.002+01:00

These photos are by Laura Wright

MORE WOODLAND PHOTOS BY ESTHER

2011-06-07T20:23:00.002+01:00

WOODLAND OPEN DAY 4TH JUNE 2011

2011-06-07T20:11:00.002+01:00

On a beautiful sunny day in June nearly 300 people came to our open day to learn about bees, go on guided walks in the woods, learn about composting, herbs and wildflowers. Look at our amazing new compost loo, make string from nettles and bark, practice some basket making or wood carving. Make pizzas in our clay oven, dress up or pond dip. Here's a selection of photos taken by Esther Lynn

WALK IN THE WOODS WITH MOULSECOOMB PRIMARY

2011-05-22T08:22:00.002+01:00

As part of our year long celebration of Queensdown Woods being part of the South Downs National Park, Dave Bangs has been taking groups of schoolchildren from Moulsecoomb Primary into the woods and surrounding fields. Here’s a list of what Year 5 found.

In the Wood

When we first stopped in the Wood we could hear Blackcap’s melodious warbling (it is a ‘warbler’ !!) in the background…and the monotonous chiff-chaff of the Chiffchaff (also a warbler). We also heard Wood Pigeons cooing “take two cows Taffy”… and the loud trilling of Wrens.

It all would have been much louder and more musical in the Wood if we’d walked there at dawn, or even at dusk. Birds take a mid-morning rest and a mid afternoon nap, too, like many of us humans.

The trees we walked under were a mixture of Sycamore (with a rather shady ‘canopy’) and Ash, which has delicate ‘foliage’ (leaf cover) which lets in much more sunlight. Some of the Wood was extra-gloomy because all the trunks of the trees were covered in ‘funereal’ Ivy. (‘Funereal’ means to do with funerals).

We also looked at all the upturned ‘root plates’ of the trees which had been blown over in the 1987 and 1992 gales. Those gales were humungous, and blew over much of our woodland and other trees.

Under the trees there was quite a lot of Hawthorn, and when we looked at the ground it was often covered in fallen white petals, a bit like confetti. Hawthorn is often called ‘May’, because that is when it comes into bloom, and May Day was the day folk dressed their houses in May blossom and danced round May Poles - and still make processions to celebrate ‘International Workers Day’, too.

There were not many flowers because you don’t get many flowers in young woods, or very shady woods. However, the ground was covered in Ivy…probably Irish Ivy, which loves spreading across the ground. We did look at pink Herb Robert and yellow Wood Avens, though. We saw two ferns. One was called Male Fern and looks like a bunch of (green) ostrich plumes, and the other was Hart’s Tongue Fern, which looks, so they say, like the tongue of a ‘Hart’, which is the name for a male deer. Obviously they have long tongues !!

We looked at a rather plain green flower called Dog’s Mercury, also called Boggart Posy, or Goblin Flower, which is poisonous but also very common in woods on chalk. It is called DOG’S Mercury, because the poison is thought to be second rate. ‘Dog’ in the names of plants means feeble or of little use, as in DOG Violet and DOG Rose, neither of which have the lovely fragrance we usually associate with those flowers.

Dog’s Mercury is not the only plant that is confined to chalk country, and Mr Powell pointed out the long ‘lianas’ or ropes of Clematis that hung from the canopy of the Wood. Clematis is only found growing on chalk soils.

We found several lovely red beetles called Cardinal Beetles. Their babies live in dead wood. ‘Cardinals’ are top leaders of the Catholic Church…sort of ‘Prince-Bishops’.

We saw a couple of Large White butterflies and a Speckled Wood butterfly.

We stopped to look at a couple of fungi…King Alfred’s Cakes…you all must know the story by now…and Stag’s Horn Fungus, which is a close relative of another fungus we find in the wood called Dead Man’s Fingers.

Someone also found a nice Red Velvet Mite…really bright red.

Eventually we came to two Badger ‘setts’. Their tunnel homes are called ‘setts’, and these two, deep in the Wood, must have been there for many, many years, because they are so big and spread out so far…almost like a Badger town. One or two boys tried looking for Badger ‘latrines’ (toilets) and we may have found one. Badgers are always very clean animals and their latrines are always dug fresh and at a distance from the setts.

There were many fossil sponges which you all picked up. They are likely about 90 million years old. Someone found a nice twinkling ‘geode’ of calcite crystal. ‘Calcite’ is the name of the ‘mineral’ that chalk is also made of…

The snails we found were mostly big Garden Snails (brought over by the Romans), but we also found many pretty ‘Black-lipped Banded Snails’.

In the Field

When we came out into the field it was dazzlingly sunny and bright…like coming out of a mine into the open air. We heard Skylarks, but I don’t think - really - that anyone saw one. They were too far, far up in the sky...though you can hear their song for up to NINE MILES…if there is no background noise of cars and planes and general ‘noise pollution’.

There were also some big Carrion Crows around. If you see lots of big black birds they will be Rooks, but if you see only ones and twos of big black birds they will be Crows…that is the rule to remember.

Straightaway we found lots of little fawn butterflies with beedy black ‘eyes’ on their wings. They were Small Heaths, and are supposed to be the commonest British butterfly, but I don’t think that is true anymore.

Soon someone found the first Burnet Companion moth, and afterwards lots of you got good at catching them. Also you found lots of Cinnabar moths – all handsome black and red. (Why are moths black and red ???)

Someone else found a lovely grassland moth called a Yellow Belle.

For me, the best thing we found was a gorgeous iridescent butterfly called a Green Hairstreak. It is our only green butterfly, and is really quite scare. I only see it once or twice a year.

You all got very good at finding black and red Soldier Beetles, so called because they are often dressed in bright colours, like old fashioned soldiers uniforms. There were also little iridescent green ‘Noble Oedemera’ beetles. And I ‘swept’ a few baby Bush-crickets in my white ‘sweep net’.

We didn’t really look at flowers very much, but one or two of you got to notice some nice ones. Someone very cleverly found a scarce parasitic plant called a Broomrape, that feeds off other green plants and therefore doesn’t need to be green itself. (You’ll have to ask your teachers what the green colour in plants means…the clue is the word “photosynthesis”).

Several of you noticed the pretty Orange Hawkweed - as pretty as garden marigolds. There was also lots of White Campion, and a lovely-but-easily missed little flower called Blue Fleabane, as well as a gorgeous carmine red flower called Grass Vetchling (which pretends to be a bit of grass except when the flower comes out)…

You know, there was LOTS more as well…but I don’t want to clog up your ‘thinks’ with too many new things…

Thank you for being fun, and also so good at finding things,

Dave

COMPOST LOO GETS A MAKEOVER

2011-05-20T06:43:00.001+01:00

Thanks to money from the Princes Trust and Sussex Community Foundation we have been busy upgrading our compost loo.

2011-05-20T06:37:00.002+01:00

Pupils have been busy planting up their own individual raised beds and some have been helping put up the new polytunnel with coppiced wood.

Photography Day at the Forest Garden!

2011-05-19T20:02:00.018+01:00

On friday 13th we did a photography workshop at the forest garden. Volunteers took part in learning how to use a digital camera and photograph parts of the garden that they liked the most. Some volunteers were really familiar with the garden and some were completely new!

This was a great way to get together and look at the garden from a different point of view, using our cameras to do it.

The photographs were taken with compact digital cameras and after a word game we came up with eighteen words that reminded us most of the forest garden. Then we went off in pairs and took a photograph of each of the words we had thought of. After we had printed the photos it was great to go though and see the different things each volunteer had picked out and photographed even though we all had the same list of words.

Here are some samples of what we did...

'Flower'

Top by Eloise bottom by Freddie

'Cooking'

Top by Archie bottom by Zak

'Pond'

Top by Lucy bottom by David

'Wildlife'

Top by Reese Bottom by Karl

A selection of photographs will be exhibited at the garden on the open day, 4th June.

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

2011-04-08T07:10:00.003+01:00

We received some lottery money to celebrate Queensdown Woods being part of the new South Downs National Park. Some of this is being used to take Moulsecoomb Primary pupils around the woods and surrounding area with wildlife expert Dave Bangs. Here are his notes from a Year 4 trip to Moulsecoomb Wild Park and beyond on 5th April 2011

'We actually found a lot of wildlife this afternoon amidst all the running around and letting off steam !! On the steep slope overlooking Lewes Road we found lots of little sky blue flowers called violets…actually Hairy Violets, Viola hirta. They don’t smell…but later on, in the woods, we found big clumps of darker blue Sweet Violets, Viola odorata, which are the only British violets that are scented.

We also found a little violet-black round beetle that bled a drop of blood onto my hand. That is the Small Bloody-nosed Beetle, Timarcha goettingensis, and it is a rarity. The blood scares off birds that might want to eat it. Its larvae eat bedstraw plants, and you get lots of bedstraw in the Wild Park. This beetle is special and precious to the Park.

On the grass were scattered the bodies of lots of queens and young worker bumble-bees, which had had their abdomens (bottoms) bitten in two and the juicy innards picked out. I don’t know what bird does that. Could it be Crows, or Blackbirds ? Most of the bumble-bees were the Buff-tailed Bumble-bee, Bombus terrestris, but one was a Large Red-tailed Bumble-bee, Bombus lapidarius.

The grass looked golden-yellow in places, and this is because there is lots of moss in it. The moss is there because rabbits are nibbling down the grass and the moss takes its place – because the rabbits don’t like eating it. Most of the moss is the Neat Feather-moss, Pseudoscleropodium purum…try saying that quickly !!

In the woods above the grassy slope we found lots of a green plant called Dog’s Mercury, Mercurialis perennis. It is called that because it is poisonous, for mercury used to be a common poison. Anything with ‘Dog’ in front of it means ‘of poor quality’ (like ‘dog violet’…violets that don’t have a fragrance).

We did find lots of hard brown-black knobbly fungi growing on old rotten ash branches. These were King Alfred’s Cakes, Daldinia concentrica. Do you remember the story of how the fungus got its name ?

When we sat down and you all looked for mini-beasts we got quite a list. There were two nice Ground Beetles, Carabidae. They are sort of flat looking, because they need to burrow between all the leaves on the ground and the best shape to do that is flat ! One of them had a fat tummy, so that told me it was a female, because in spring the females are full of eggs to lay. We also found two handsome beetle larvae that some of you called centipedes…but these larvae had only 6 legs, like all insects. We found lots of little black ‘pills’, like rolled up woodlice. But that’s not what they were. They were Pill Millipedes, Glomeris marginata. We also found one more ordinary millipede with little legs underneath that you couldn’t see…making it like a tiny snake.

We found one tiny woodlouse called Philoscia muscorum. ‘Muscorum’ means ‘found in the moss’.

You picked up three kinds of ‘mollusc’ (slugs and snails). The big black slug was Arion ater. These big garden slugs are sometimes found in a bright orange colour, too. You found LOTS of the banded shells of a beautiful snail called the Black-lipped Banded Snail, Cepaea nemoralis. Most of them had live snails still inside. These snails come in many different colours…pink, orange, yellow, and with many different kinds of black banding. We also found lots of big empty shells of the Garden Snail, Helix aspersa. These big snails were brought over by the Romans for eating. Now it’s the snails who eat all our garden flowers and vegetables !!

We also found a special flower with glossy spotted leaves and ‘spike’ of mauve buds just coming into flower. This was an Early Purple Orchis, Orchis mascula. They used to make the roots of this orchid into a drink to help women conceive babies. In eastern countries they still make a drink called ‘salep’ from its roots. In the old days this drink used to be made in England, too. If you go up to the hill fort in late April, you will see hundreds – maybe thousands - of these orchids in flower.

Orchids are a very exotic flower…the sort-of-royalty of flowers…the tropical ones are kept as a sign of wealth and power…though you can buy them in supermarkets nowadays !!

One girl also found a fragment of a flint fossil, with a bit of fossil sponge in it…probably about 90 million years old !! You can find all sorts of fossils amongst the flints and chalk lumps exposed on upturned ‘root plates’ of fallen trees or on the bare ground in these woods…things like sea urchins and cockles.

We left the woods and went up onto Hollingbury Castle…the prehistoric hill fort that sits on top of Hollingbury Hill. It has a tall defensive bank and ditch all round it. When it was built, in the Iron Age, about 3000 years ago, it also had a tall wooden ‘pallisade’ on top of the outer bank, and strong timber gates at 3 entrances. The gate post holes of these gates are still marked by iron bollards that some of you sat on. The hill fort would have been lived in by some petty king who lorded it over the local farmer folk…a bit like the posh people who build big grand houses in our countryside today !!

In the middle of the hill fort were a number of low mounds with dimples in the middle. These hillocks are the burial mounds (also called ‘barrows’ or ‘tumuli’) of ancient Bronze Age farming folk who lived on these hills long centuries before the hill fort was built. They buried their dead in the middle of round mounds, shaped just like their round houses, which had the fire site in the middle. The dead were the heart of these sacred mounds, just like the house fires were the heart of their roundhouses.

Two or three hundred years ago it became very fashionable for posh people , like parsons and lawyers and squires, to take their servants up on these hills and dig for treasure and curios in these mounds. That’s why all the mounds we climbed had dimples in them…because they’d been plundered for treasure, like you dig the egg out of the middle of a scotch egg !!

Afterwards we circled round the top of the combe and down through the woods. We could just see the flock of Jacob’s Sheep that the council have brought in to nibble down the pasture and keep all the wildflowers and butterflies happy.

All our ancient Downland grassy places (like the Devil’s Dyke and Newtimber Hill, as well as the Wild Park) were made by ancient shepherding people over the past six or seven thousand years…that’s how old these places are.'

Dave Bangs has written 'Freedom to Roam : Guide to the Brighton Downs' (http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__9401_path__.aspx)
'Whitehawk Hill: Where Turf Meets The Surf' (http://home.btconnect.com/brightonuwg/buwgbooks.html)

Tadpole time

2011-04-04T09:55:00.004+01:00

It's that time of the year when the tadpoles have hatched and the newts are busy eating them. Along with our big wildlife pond we have an old bath which we use as a tadpole refugee. But the newts keep getting through the nets we put over the bath and the pupils have a great time fishing them out and putting them back into the big pond. We also feed the tadpoles fish flakes cos once they get too fat the newts can't fit them in their mouths! We also hope having enough food will stop the tadpoles eating each other.
It's hard being a tadpole. Out of 2,000 that hatch only about two become frogs.
The other problem we have is getting the pupils to look after their own little plots. For some reason they prefer pond dipping to sowing vegetables.

2011-03-21T13:50:00.002Z

Stan ready to tackle the potato trench, Zac gearing up for some tree work and a view from the top of the plot

Photography and compost loos

2011-03-21T13:44:00.003Z

The essential ingredient of what we do is the wide range of people that get to work together. There are not many places where you get such a mix.
A while back a rip off consultancy firm got paid a shed load of money in Moulsecoomb to come to the conclusion that a lot of the kids on the estate do not have a wide range of networks to rely on. They could have given us a tenner to find this out rather than wasting nearly ½ million quid.
But what this means is without that wide network it’s a lot harder to find jobs, go to college etc. With government cut backs eliminating much of the essential support networks like Connexions, this will become even harder.
So take this example. Amelia is an ex University student, garden volunteer and management committee member who has moved back to London. She popped down the other day to take some photos and visit Jack’s exhibition at the Brighton Museum. Jack, star of ‘The Secret Millionaire’ and one of our ex pupil placements had got on a week long Princes Trust photography course. Amelia took Reece, another of our long term volunteers whose currently leading the way in renovating the compost loo, to see the exhibition. Jack and Amelia are now going to run a photographic course for interested pupils at the garden in May.
Working at the garden is not just about learning new skills, but opening new doors and meeting different people which we hope turns pupils who are failing at school into adults with a bright future ahead of them.

2011-02-04T19:49:00.002Z

First day of spring and long term volunteer and hard working Mark waters the broad beans (covered to stop the mice having a meal)and lettuce that has been overwintering in the polytunnel

snowdrops and hazel catkins

2011-01-26T07:44:00.000Z

2011-01-25T20:53:00.003Z

We've decided once a month to give volunteers some training and today was fruit pruning. Not sure why Zac was put in the fruit cage tho

2011-01-25T20:50:00.001Z

Why am I doing all the bloody work

2011-01-15T07:09:00.002Z

Hazel catkins - must be early spring
Omlettes with garden leeks for lunch
Alternative Centre for Education pupils raised beds and looking through the round window in the shed

First day back at work after festive break

2011-01-05T12:17:00.003Z

Roundhouse roof nearly finished.
Pat Beach giving the old apple tree a good pruning.
But will it ever give us any apples to eat?

Christmas Party

2010-12-21T16:39:00.003Z

Just like last year heavy frost, freezing temperatures and a snow storm wasn't going to stop our annual Christmas Party.

Summer Holiday Scheme

2010-10-13T12:41:00.002+01:00

One consistent (and possibly valid) criticism of our work is that only children who are misbehaving at school are able to take part in our activities.

Although anyone can turn up at our workdays, most of the children and young adults that come in their own time are the ones we already work with.

To tackle this, four children from Moulsecoomb Primary met with a funder from Novas Scarman to put together a plan for a wilderness project during the summer holidays. On the back of this, we were successful in being awarded money to fund it.

Through the Primary School, we distributed fliers to Years 4, 5 and 6 (ages 8 - 12) inviting them on a three day camp. We easily filled the maximum of 12 spaces – the majority attending where from Moulsecoomb Primary, one boy was referred to us by his social worker and one came from Falmer High.

Working in the area for many years has helped us build up strong relationships with the children – all them had visited the forest garden at least once during school trips or taken part in the weekly gardening club at the school.

We split the children into groups and built three dens in the woods, using material from the woods. During the building process, they learnt how to identify trees, plants, eco systsems and how to increase bio-diversity.

The camps became the main focal point of the whole three days, where they also learnt various bushcraft techniques; fire lighting with flint and nap; carving; knotwork and use of woodland tools.

The children really enjoyed adding to the structures, putting on tarps on them when it rained, clearing brambles and brash, and building small fire pits.

Each day we would go back to the forest garden for a communal meal cooked on the big fire-pit, testing their fire lighting skills in the process. Part of the criteria of thegrant money criteria was to promote healthy eating, and we bought extra food from the Falmer farm shop to supplement food wasn’t available from the garden.

The children tucked into local sausages, bacon and eggs; spent one of the days preparing and making pizzas in our outdoor clay oven; ate local apples, picked raspberries, blackberries and white currants; dug up potatoes and made chips over the fire and harvested salad and runner beans.

There were no fizzy drinks just fresh fruit juices, smoothies, water or milk. Only on the last day did we allow marshmallows to be cooked around their own camp fires, using sycamore sticks to roast them on.

The children also learnt about collecting suitable firewood for their campfires; some made mallets from harvested wood; some helped with the gardening, while others learnt about bees and how they collect nectar and turn it into honey.

On the last day the children showed their parents and carers around their camps.

Money is tight for many, with large families or low or no income. Keeping the event completely free made sure that everyone who wanted to attend could. Making sure we supplied food meant that there were virtually no fizzy drinks or snacks brought into the garden.

The majority of the children had no planned holiday during the summer break and many parents remarked on how great it was to have an exciting activity for their children on their doorstep.

The event has also strengthened our links with parents in the community, who are beginning to venture up to our events and open days.

The children had fun – and learnt valuable skills at the same time. As well as the tangible skills of survival and bushcraft, they had to learn to work together, co-operate and put their egos aside. Valuable lessons indeed.

We asked the children at the end of the 3rd day what they liked and disliked, and making camps came top and that they liked everything – but it wasn’t long enough!
The event was a resounding success and we want to look for further funding to roll this out as a regular holiday activity for the children of Moulsecoomb and the surrounding estates.

Visit from Moulsecoomb Primary School

2009-07-03T16:20:00.004+01:00

On Friday 26th June, the Year 3s (aged 7 and 8) from Moulsecoomb Primary School came to enjoy a day on the allotment.

Simon, our friendly local food fanatic, helped them to make and cook pizzas in our clay oven, while others foraged for fruits amongst the bushes.

The day was designed to keep the enthusiasm for all things 'green' amongst the children, so they would look forward to joining the environmental group next year and pass on the message of healthy eating and living.

They certainly left with big smiles and happy bellies!

Open Day Success!

2009-07-02T08:06:00.004+01:00

The Open Day - what a glorious day was had by all! We all held our breath setting up for the event as a few drops of rain fell, but all turned out well and it was a beautiful evening. The allotment was alive with families, creative activities, and cooking. For the first time, we were able to include storytelling and walks in the woods for our visitors.

Our volunteers were invaluable throughout the day: setting up, conducting tours and tatting down at the end of the day.
Some of the children who use the allotment proudly offered tours and helped with the strange selection of creepy crawlies that visited our classroom for the day. Not just regular common or garden bugs - this lot included giant African land snails, scorpions, giant millipedes and even tarantulas. Some of our braver visitors even dared to hold them!

Due South, a prestigious restaurant on Brighton seafront that specialises in using local produce, provided a delicious spread of roasted vegetables and bread throughout the day. All cooked in our clay oven and kept warm through our high tech system of hot embers in a wheelbarrow...

The World Food Project also spiced up the day with a delicious curry that lasted for mere moments. We also sampled Arabic coffee and the children helped themselves to the abundance of ripe berries and currants found around the allotment.

Local arts group Clowd 9 took over the turf sofa area to make willow butterflies, naturally coloured felt and badges with an environmental theme.

The project was heaving with visitors all day, and everyone seemed to enjoy the vibrancy and variety of activities on offer. The wonderful collective of people from all backgrounds participating showed the strength of this true community project - to overcome racial, age and class barriers.

Outlawed Vegetables

2009-07-02T07:45:00.006+01:00

What the hell is an outlawed vegetable?

It’s a frequent question at the garden where we grow French beans, peas and tomatoes that are illegal to buy in the shops.

Why illegal? Well under EU regulations each variety of vegetable seed has to be put on the National Seed List, and this costs money.

As most of our seed companies are now owned by the big bio-tech companies that are trying to force GM (genetically modified) greens down our throats, they aren’t really bothered about a ‘Carnival’ lettuce that only flogs a few packets. Or ‘Champion of England’ which grows too tall for the mechanical pickers. And the supermarkets don’t want a tomato like ‘Tangella’, with beautiful soft, orange skin that would turn to mush on the long food mile journey of most supermarket food.

The British Isles has one of the richest garden heritages in the world. For years, scores of gardeners and smallholders have nurtured thousands of unique vegetable varieties. But in the last hundred years most of these varieties have all but disappeared.

Thousands more are under threat from climate change, loss of habitat, invasive alien species and the desire for ‘perfect’ vegetables.

Does it matter? The Heritage Library think so.
“Every variation and strain is remarkably different. Each with its own taste, growing habits, cultivation time and heritage. Just as we value the diversity of plant and animal species, we need to keep the gene pool of the plants we grow to eat as big as possible too. It’s not just vegetable varieties that we are losing, but the local history, culture, tradition and skills that go with them. Once the varieties are extinct, we will never be able to get the seed or heritage back.”

The Heritage Seed Library work around the EU regulations by getting people to join the library. They send us a catalogue and we order some seed. We also save seed from varieties that we like the taste of. But they don’t just taste good, some can look spectacular – such as the ‘Kent Blue’ Pea currently growing at the forest garden.

Blooming May

2009-05-27T23:36:00.011+01:00

Over the past few months there has been a real buzz of activity. Not only has the allotment been transformed to a lush green jungle, but structures have also been built to help us enjoy the haven that little bit more.

Through the gate and archway of the new children's area/Saxon village is a new seating arrangement impressively crafted by our builder Russell, together with the Targeted Youth Support Team and volunteers.

In just a few days a turf sofa was constructed from natural materials to provide a sturdy and comfortable viewing point of Moulsecoomb and beyond from the top of the allotment.

The piecing together of the turf over its solid earth base was like a giant 3D jigsaw puzzle and Aiden tried on a grass beard, much to everyone's amusement.

Once the grass was fitted and pinned down, the completed sculpture looked like a contemporary art piece worthy of the Tate Modern, but far more practical. Russell and his daughter were the first to test out the sofa, before it was well watered and left to take root.

The work of art is now camouflaged against the rest of a very green garden. We just await the arrival of herbs, and the thatching for the roundhouse to finally complete that area.

We also had Alex Mets to show us the potential for producing our own electricity through a bike-powered generator. It seemed ironic being positioned so close to a electricity building that you can hear it humming from the allotment as we would peddle away for a few sparks!

We were treated to an enthusiastic history lesson about the discovery of harnessed electricity and learnt how it all worked. The first question on from most was how long you would have to peddle power a kettle for a cup of tea...

We look forward to his return when he will install lights in the tree-house with the help of local school children.

Some of the woods in preparation for the Fringe Festival fundraiser event, rasining money to replace our stolen woodburner. This area will also give us more space for the woodcraft area that is gradually being developed.

A banquet table and bench were created for the event.

Woodland expert and environmental project worker Pat Beach and volunteer Amyas have also successfully tested out harnesses for the potential of being able to practice tree surgery skills, or just as an excuse to climb some trees.

The rest of the allotment is doing well and competing with the weeds are the beans, onions, garlic, lettuce, beetroot, and carrots. Our radishes are successfully crunchy, rhubarb crumbled, peas blooming, broad bean pods filling out and the first strawberries quickly plucked out before the slugs and snails have their nibble.

The next big event is the Open Days on the 12th of June for local schools and 13th June for everyone. On the 13th we will have some mouth watering delights provided by the restaurant Due South and the World Food Project cooks; tours of the woodland and allotment; story telling and environmental art.

There should be something for everybody, so pop the dates in your diary and come and visit us.

Snow and a Stolen Stove

2009-02-04T12:11:00.014Z

We arrived on Tuesday to find the allotment had been transformed into a winter wonderland!
The snow was ankle deep over the entire allotment, the pond frozen and plants blanketed or just peeping through the surface. As the firepit was inaccessible for tea making we decided to close up for the day. The paths were great for sledging, but a nightmare under foot or wheelbarrow.

Unfortunately, others had made it to the allotment before us - there were car tracks up to the gate and large footprints making their way towards the shed at the top of the allotment.

Warren discovered that our beloved wood burning stove had been stolen, which had only recently been secured in place and tested out. Nothing else was taken from the site and it had been carefully removed so it could be sold on.

The stove was made from recycled metal including old garden forks to add to its charm and relevance to our project. It had successfully made the shed cosy and comfortable for the few times we were able to use it during the cold working days.
This had made our shed almost complete and, with a lick of paint and a few furnishings, it would have been a home away from home. We would have had the opportunity to finally put our classroom into action; or hire it as a meeting venue for local groups.

Alas, we shall now have to wait a little longer for the children and volunteers to have a warmer treehouse to perch in.

If anyone has ANY information about the incident or think they may have seen it, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We were unable to put it under our insurance in time, so we will be looking for another stove just as soon we have the money to buy another.

If you would like to donate to us or know of a cheap replacement in the meantime, please let us know.

Ruben in the roof-less Round-House

2009-01-26T15:21:00.000Z

'My son Ruben in the wattle and daub round-house, which is still awaiting a proper roof, but the Co-op have just given us 870 to build a turf sofa and put in herb garden around it.

Freezing day at the Garden in early January

2009-01-26T15:12:00.001Z

Early January. Freezing day at the garden. The water pipes are frozen and we couldn't get a fork into the ground. We need these heavy frosts to kill the slugs and bugs.