FoodSmiles Newsletter – April 2025
TLDR:
Spring is well underway, and so is our growing season! All groups have been
busy sowing, planting, and prepping for a fruitful year. Infrastructure
upgrades, compost improvements, and team spirit are blooming across our sites.
Read on to see what everyone’s been up to!
Hixberry Group:
Mild winter weather meant sessions continued weekly through the season. The
team focused on infrastructure—building seed covers, extending the fruit cage,
and rejuvenating the edible hedge for wildlife. Beds were prepped with donated
compost, and over 300 broad bean toilet roll starters were planted alongside 60
squash/cucumber pots. Germination has been excellent thanks to Sylvagrow
compost and warm days. Chitted potatoes and beans are in the ground, and
rhubarb is expanding. Coming up: more planting, a rebuilt raised bed, and a
trial run of land cress in place of artichokes.
Yellow Group:
New member Roxán has joined the team just in time for a busy spring. Potatoes
have been chitting since February and will go in the ground soon. Tomatoes are
doing fairly well; chillies and peppers, not so much—backup seeds may be
needed. Salads like radishes and spring onions are already sown outdoors. Other
seedlings—cabbages, leeks, chard, and parsnips—are growing in the PT, with
squash and cucumbers coming soon. A steady stream of lettuce sowing is planned
for an ongoing harvest. It’s nearly peak season, so watering and weeding will
soon become top priorities.
Blue Group:
With fortnightly attendance over winter, work was lighter but steady. Harvests
continued, and compost/manure was added to inactive beds. The team cleared
areas behind the polytunnels and helped apply compost inside. Rhubarb was
refreshed, potatoes planted, and early turnips sown (possibly too early!).
Home-growing efforts include tomatoes and aubergines for May transfer. The
group proposed a new irrigation system—funding secured, implementation in
progress. Polytunnels were cleaned externally, with interior still to come. The
group is on schedule and ready for the busier months ahead.
Red Group:
Returning after a long absence, one member was stunned by the transformation!
Red group planted onions and potatoes, nurtured spinach seedlings, filled 200
toilet rolls with Hamburg parsley seeds, and saw new salad crops sprouting.
Melon staging is up in PT3, where carrots and lettuces are also growing.
Tomatoes have germinated well; peppers and melons are still shy. Courgettes and
kale will be sown soon. The previously rodent-invaded raised bed is getting a
fresh start with potatoes and lettuce. Team morale is high and so is excitement
for the season.
