Explorer Picks up Gardening for DofE

As part of my Silver DofE award I needed to complete six months doing a skill and for that I chose gardening.

The volunteers at Woodmill were very happy to let me come and help with an area of ground by the round house; hopefully turning it from an unused, stony area to a beautiful garden where plants can be grown to benefit the site and the people who visited it.

As the ground was not of good quality for most plants that we might want to grow, we opted for a no dig method. This involved being donated lots of cardboard by one of the Woodmill volunteers and laying it on the ground; laying Hessian coffee sacks, also sourced by a volunteer, on top of the cardboard; and then putting wood chip mulch (which came from tree maintenance across the site) a few inches thick on top the sacks. This creates a layer of earth that plants can easily grow in.

As of the 14/02 we've managed to cover half of the garden area! This means that we will hopefully be able to start planting some good plants soon. Personally, I'm hoping we get to plant some nasturtiums as their petals are really pretty and edible. I would also love there to be lavender and rosemary so that those who use the site can use it in their cooking!

— Written by an Explorer Scout