We are doing a trial with edible flowers to see if the Eden kitchens would like to use them. Emma has planted some Asparagus Pea plants and Viola called Hollywood Honeys.

We have planted up the squashes and gourds for Eden which will be kept in the greenhouse until they are ready to be planted in the field.

The holes were dug for fixing the polytunnel, but due to the heavy rainfall during the week, the work of putting in the posts has had to be put on hold while the water drains away.

A little gardening tip for this time of year:

It’s time to sow runner and French beans straight into the soil. A good way to try and keep the slugs at bay is to add spare lettuce plants to the area around the beans. This will help lure the slugs away from the new beans as they begin to grow.

The response we had from the guys was brilliant. Jed Langdon, Eden’s Learning and Development Specialist, delivered the course at a level that all who attended could take part and understand the importance of H&S in the workplace. The two mornings were filled with practical and hands on learning, and as with everything we do at P&G, humour played a big part. Everyone who took part ended up with a certificate.

The words coffee and mushrooms are not normally seen in the same sentence but then here at Watering Lane we like to try and be a bit different! We are planning to grow gourmet oyster mushrooms using waste coffee grounds as the growing medium.

The idea comes from Adam Sayner, the director of Fungi Futures, who will supply us with the mushroom spawn. The Eden and Heligan Catering Departments will supply the waste coffee grounds. The coffee has the right growing conditions for the mushrooms, plenty of nitrogen and moisture. So with some horticulture, science and a magic recipe it is amazing to think that we can produce a delicious, gourmet crop of mushrooms from all that waste coffee. Even then the story won’t end as we hope to use and sell the spent mushroom compost as a soil improver. A new growing cycle begins again.

by Emma

This year it will be held on the 1st September at St Austell Cricket Club. It will be our third competition against Eden and at the moment the score is a draw. As usual there will be plant sales, cakes, tombola, face painting, food and drinks available.

More information coming soon.

It’s really exciting to be part of this project.

We have been asked to grow 500kg of tomatoes at the nursery to make 1,000 bottles.  As you can see from the photos the tomatoes are doing well.  They are being grown in special grow bags and are strung up by string, as shown in the photos. When the plant is strong enough instead of having one main stem it will be divided into two, so that we will get double the crop.

It’s like a very large flat pack. We will keep you informed as to when the grand construction is due to begin, and if anybody would like to help that would be very helpful as well as great fun

Henry Orchard and Sons, St Austell, the metal processing merchant, has got together with Tesco’s St Austell and have agreed to work together to raise some funds for a new packing shed for the project. Tesco’s have provided a bin for people to drop off their old metal objects, pots, pans, old tools etc and Henry Orchard will process them and any money will be forwarded to us.

We provide a fortnightly delivery in the St Austell area. The large bag is £13 and small £10 each.

Find out more about our veg bags here and for more details contact the People and Gardens office on 01726 70721 or mobile 07816 230630 or email peopleandgardens@hotmail.co.uk.