Blog

shampoo

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF THE FOREST GARDEN

Our work doesn’t stop at the allotment gates but carries on every day of the week across Moulsecoomb and beyond.
Last week we helped forage for ingredients to make home made shampoo at Moulsecoomb Primary and the Bevy community pub for an event run by House of Cultural Curiosity as part of the British Science Festival.
shampoo
prizes
We entered fruit and veg, cakes and jams at the Bevy garden show and cooked a Harvest Feast at Moulsecoomb Primary while Stephan from Brighton Permaculture Trust got children to squash the apples and pears grown and harvested by the children at the school to turn into juice.
picking apples
apples
apple press

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open day pizza

OPEN DAY 2017

The sun shone, the bees buzzed, the pizzas flew out of the oven and the cakes into people’s grateful mouths! What a fantastic open day with nearly 200 people visiting; old friends and new from all walks of life including Kayla Ente from Bhesco, Rich Haworth from The Living Coast and blogger Ian Chisnall from Ashdown Audio Visual Pupils from Patcham House, Varndean and Brighton Aldridge Community Academy showed off the skills they’ve learnt. One lad who’s been excluded from… Read More »OPEN DAY 2017
moulsecoomb primary school

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITY

As a governor at Moulsecoomb Primary School for over a decade I’ve seen the chipping away of school budgets. It’s got to the point where it is national news; with all headteachers complaining that they haven’t got enough money to deliver the education that all our children deserve. At our school we have lost nearly£200,000 in the last four years – with another £210,000 to follow. I was invited to help out atMoulsecoomb Primary when former head, Mr Davies, was… Read More »EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITY

KEEPING FIT ON MAYORAL DUTIES

It’s hard to keep up with Mayor of Brighton and Hove Pete West as he flies past on his tandem, off to yet another event, hoping not to catch the mayoral chains in his bike chains.   It put a few peoples noses out when he decided to break with protocol and support 27 different charities, but for small groups like ours to be chosen was a welcome shot in the arm needed in this climate of never ending cut… Read More »KEEPING FIT ON MAYORAL DUTIES

LOOKING BACK 2016

Eco-cabin finally complete, first pupil to get a qualification in Creative Craft, being picked as one of the Mayors charities – its been another great year for Moulsecoomb Forest Garden.   However, the background is that life is becoming increasingly difficult for small charities.   I recently attended a meeting held by Sussex Community Foundation with Vanessa, one of our trustees. Sussex Community Foundation, who have been long-term supporters of our work, were launching their new report ‘Sussex Uncovered‘. In… Read More »LOOKING BACK 2016
pizza making in our clay oven

VOTE FOR US

WE CAME SECOND IN BAGS OF HELP SCHEME WINNING £10,000 AND RECEIVED £500 FROM AVIVIA We need your votes Can you spare a few minutes of your time and help support our work teaching people with disabilities how to cook. Vote ten times so we can win £5,000  (voting ends 17th November) https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/16-2095 We are also up for funding thanks to Tesco’s ‘Bags of Help’ scheme. The money will make a real difference to us, and will go towards improving… Read More »VOTE FOR US

VOLUNTEERING AT THE FOREST GARDEN

Guest post by Stuart Bullen As someone who’d done some volunteering in the dim and distant past I had been feeling that I should get involved in something similar for a while. I wanted to use my background and interest in all things environmental and geographical, so I made the initial step of contacting the excellent ‘Active Student’ volunteering team here at the University of Brighton, to enquire about their Staff Volunteering Scheme. This allows staff the opportunity to undertake… Read More »VOLUNTEERING AT THE FOREST GARDEN
pumpkins

CUT TO THE BONE

Last week seventy people came to our regular community garden drop in days which are open to everyone two days a week for 50 weeks of the year. Some were local residents, students on placements and one refugee but the majority were people with learning disabilities. And all of them have talked about services being cut, centres being shut, benefit forms getting more complicated and general support ebbing away. One of our volunteers works for the council finding placements for… Read More »CUT TO THE BONE
end of year

LOOKING BACK 2015

It’s been another jam packed year with the most important development being the forest garden becoming an open college. Two pupils from BACA are the first students to take our GCSE equivalent course and more schools are contacting us asking about our work and in particular these qualifications.   But this isn’t about being an exam factory but about the quality of the intervention for pupils, many of whom struggle in a conventional classroom. Much of our work is one-to-one… Read More »LOOKING BACK 2015

WINNING AWARDS FOR OUR OUTDOOR EDUCATION

It’s been an award-winningcouple of weeks for the garden culminating in national acclaimfor our educational work.  We won third prize in Brighton’s annual City in Bloom for best wildlife garden and best community charity garden (Moulsecoomb Primary were we run gardening clubs won Gold for best school grounds) winning a national award was the icing on the King Alfreds cake. The People, Environment and Achievement award (PEA) focused on our on-going work in Queensdown Woods backing onto our gardens (turn… Read More »WINNING AWARDS FOR OUR OUTDOOR EDUCATION