Hannah Wilkinson

Edible Campus 2011

I chose to do the Edible Campus extension studies for a number of reasons, the most important being that I wanted to expand my knowledge of growing your own fruit and veg and to learn something that I wouldn’t otherwise have been taught on my course.

The course has really opened up my eyes to the different ways of going about growing your own and being assigned our own patch of land was the start of this. In our group of three, we were luckily assigned two boxes so we could grow a great array of foods. First we discussed what we already had in the bed (Spinach & Marigolds) and what we most wanted to get out of the experience. We decided to sow predominantly leafy greens and salads in one box - Spinach, Chard, Lettuce – and then use the other box to experiment with other foods we really wanted to grow - Strawberries, Peppers, Green beans, Courgettes etc. The (rough!) plans below indicate the way we set out our boxes

Box Number 5

Box Number 6

Once we had decided how we wanted our bed’s to progress, we set about planting, acquiring seeds from a number of sources (mainly generous parents) and also a tomato plant which we used to create a nursery area, nipping out the large tomato plant and planting the shoots in a circle around it. In retrospect, this hasn’t been a huge success as the original tomato plant is thriving but the younger ones, not so much.

We discovered early on that what we thought were incessant weeds – and had spent much time removing from the box, only for them to immediately re-sprout – were in fact Marigolds (also known as Calendula), a plant we were encouraged to keep as they would not only attract bee’s, but the flowers also make a healthy tea. These have particularly thrived.

One really important thing I learnt was the regular care and attention that the plants need. We got used to watering the boxes regularly and ‘nipping out’ the plants to encourage growth. I was surprised by how quickly we were enjoying the fruits of our labours, particularly the spinach and chard which seemed to sprout very quickly. Leafy greens have definitely been the real success story of the course.

Seed packets from my scrap book.

For me, the most exciting of our produce so far has been the strawberries. For some reason I had got it into my head that strawberries were a hard plant to grow, that they needed a lot of experienced care and attention, and wouldn’t be suitable for this project. But that simply has not been the case – our plant has really thrived in the box and the fruit it’s produced has been absolutely delicious, so much tastier than any strawberries you could get in the supermarket. Its so satisfying to know that you’ve grown something that’s successful and tasty.

All in all, I have really enjoyed the course and am looking forward to reaping the benefits of our work in the coming months!