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A year of Vegelantes

11/7/2024

This time last year we were lucky enough to have been awarded some grant funding from the CDCF (now Point North) Health Improvement fund to improve our growing facilities and take day care service users, volunteers and staff through the seasonal cycles of sowing, growing, nurturing, harvesting, preparing, cooking and eating fruit and vegetable,

aSome of the grant was for wood so that we could knock down and rebuild our old and rotten compost bay. So now we have a lrge three bay system where there will be one bay in use (putting in all kitchen vegetable and horticultural floral matter), one rotting down and one ready to put on the beds and borders. This not only means we dont have to buy as much for the nursery, but also means that we are minimising the amount of waste that goes into our bins and landfill.

The fund also allowed us to buy and put up a small polytunnel that we have used for lengthening the growing season. Our strawberry patch on the top tier had become tired and wasnt producing anymore so that is where we sited the new tunnel. It was a squeeze and involved plenty of planning, head scratching and body contorsions but in the end fitted into the spot perfectly. We had a successful end of season growing courgettes, peas, turnips and salads in it.

The vegetable beds themselves, our terraces, were underwater for most of the year, having had almost continuous rain from the June right through till late this year. We took the opportunity to mulch them with local farmyard manure.

And whilst the rain and the worms were incorporationg it into the soil we got on with sowing and pricking out all the vegetables that we would be planting tinto the borders and growing in the tunnels and greenhouse this year,

We also continued with learning al about food hygiene and preparing healthy, nutritious meals, using as much home grown fruit and vegetables as possible.

We learnt how to make scrumptious two course meals as well as simple satifying lunches...oh and lots of puddings (but they always contained fruit)

As the season went on, despite being late getting onto the veg beds for the poor weather, our produce began to swell and grow and ripen.

We even grew some of the more exotic stuff, such as watermelons, peaches, apricots, chilean guava which were fun to try.

We learnt how to use the fruit for making jams so that it lasted longer, and even turned the wild garlic from ou woods into a delicious wild garlic salt seasoning.

We have harvested nearly everything from the grounds now. there are some apples on the trees, and kale, garlic and leeks still in the veg beds, oh and of course the sprouts ready for our Christmas meal. We will have a little rest for a month or two now and then get ready to start it all again next year.

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A little Leicestershire Cart finds a home at LionMouth.

11/4/2024

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Written by Bob Simpson

In January 2024 Roger Thresher, who was then head gardener at Bradley Gardens near Wylam, got in touch to say that they were having a clear out and there was something heading for the skip that might be of interest. It was the skeleton of a handcart with not much flesh on the bones. The wood was mostly gone but all the metal work was still intact. Being someone who cannot abide the ease with which we are prepared to use landfill and who also enjoys bringing back to life things that are broken and seemingly dead, I asked him to bring it round. I had no idea what I was going to do with a handcart but it seemed like an interesting project.

Over the coming months I set about replacing all the woodwork, cleaning off all the iron fittings and figuring out where all the bits went. When it was made it was clearly a substantial little vehicle that had been crafted for a lifetime of work. An intriguing feature to the cart was a cast iron plate which bore the name of the company that originally used the cart: Austin Berridge Limited, Herbert Avenue, Leicester. How a cart from a small business in Leicester ever found its way to a walled garden near Wylam I doubt if we will ever know.

Restoring the cart was an absolute pleasure. Handling the various hinges, handles and brackets that would have been touched by workers every day of their lives was a powerful thing to meditate on. Who were these people? What did they talk about as they hauled their handcart round the streets of Leicester? What did they think about their lot in life? I was reminded of the decorators in Robert Tressell’s book ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’. Written in 1914, the book tells of the daily grind of a group of decorators and sign-writers, highlighting their inability to recognise the exploitative and unjust conditions under which they worked.

The biggest challenge in restoring the cart was to make the wheels. I very quickly developed a deep respect for the wheelwright’s art. Fortunately, the hubs were reusable [just about!] and I had the original rims. It was therefore easy to work out the dimensions of the wheel and to make the spokes and outer part of the wheel or what I later learned is called a felly. Traditionally, fellies are made of ash, a tough, durable and flexible wood used widely in the making of domestic and agricultural implements. I bought some ash planks from Hexhamshire Hardwoods. Located near Whitley Chapel on the edge of Hexhamshire common, a visit to this wood yard is a step into a world that is slower and kinder. The proprietor, Richard Ferguson, and his son Graeme are always welcoming and happy to chat about wood and the projects for which it is used. Richard was interested to learn that the ash was for fellies as it had been many years since anyone had bought wood to make a wheel.

Once the cart was restored there was the question of what to do with it? It struck me that members of the Berridge family might be interested in acquiring it. To my surprise an internet search of the name ‘Austin Berridge’ came up with a link to firm in Leicester dealing in curtains and blinds. I phoned and found myself speaking to the current owner of the business. She was able to fill in quite a lot of detail. The firm was started in the early part of the last century by the Berridge family. The firm specialised in curtains and fittings such as poles and pelmets. The firm was very successful and provided its service to the big houses and some of the more wealthy folk of Leicester. Her husband had joined the firm in the 1960s as an apprentice and in 1984 had bought the firm. The last member of the Berridge family, at that time an elderly lady, had given up her shares in the business and all links between the business and the Berridge family came to an end. The current owner of the business was not interested in the cart and suggested that I use it as a garden ornament. She said that her husband, if he were still alive, would have been interested in the cart and the history of the Berridge business but it was clear that it was not something that she herself had any desire to follow-up. She did, however, point out that Herbert Avenue was a street at the back of the current business where the firm used to have its workshops.

I also contacted the Leicester Museum Service with the idea that they might be interested in obtaining a piece of local commercial history but they weren’t.
The first outing of the cart was a trip down South Terrace with our four grandchildren as passengers. It was great fun with the children waving at interested onlookers as we trundled by.

Bob seen here second from the right with his finished renovation project.

When we passed Diggy and Nigel’s house, they kindly offered to let us store it in their back yard. They also came up with the suggestion that Lionmouth might be a good home for the cart. Lionmouth Rural Centre is a non profit community organisation that promotes the wellbeing of vulnerable adults through the provision of meaningful, practical and creative activities and notably gardening and horticulture. The response back from Sharon at Lionmouth was very positive. She had already had the idea for a trailer from which they could sell plants and produce in the summer. It was great to know that the cart’s days as a working object were not over and it would be happily re incarnated and put to excellent use at Lionmouth. Nigel and I delivered the cart on 1st November 2024.

The cart will be on show from next Spring next to the new Rainforest Cafe, hopefully brim-full with salads, vegetables and cut flowers for sale to the public.

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A year of Vegelantes

A little Leicestershire Cart finds a home at LionMouth.

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