Natural World Products ‘No-Dig’ Garden celebrates second anniversary with homegrown food

A group of 35 hardy community gardeners gathered at the Kinnego Bushcraft Centre in Lurgan recently for a Community Roots event to celebrate the second anniversary of the Natural World Products ‘No-Dig’ Garden.

Developed by Natural World Products in partnership with the Kinnego Bushcraft Centre, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council and the local community, the space, which was originally a patch of unused grass full of perennial weeds, is now a productive food garden which is planted up all year round.

Sharon McMaster, Community Growing and Outreach Manager at Natural World Products explained the background to the ‘no-dig’ garden:

“Natural World Products processes brown bin and green waste from across the ABC council area. Thanks to the recycling efforts of ABC residents, 22,300 tonnes of brown bin waste is collected from across the borough and composted each year.

“As part of our ongoing community outreach, we aim to showcase to the public how our peat-free compost made from this waste can be used as a valuable resource to grow food at home or in the local community.

“Working together with the council’s team at the Bushcraft Centre and local participants, we were able to create a ‘no-dig’ garden space from scratch, using only cardboard, our peat-free New Leaf compost and woodchips. The garden now grows food and is a thriving space used for educational workshops.

“At our Community Roots event, we had a presentation, then enjoyed harvesting beetroot and planting up our over-wintering garlic. It was a sunny, frosty morning and we warmed up with some homemade soups and baked goods, all made using fresh produce from our recent harvests. It was a lovely way to celebrate our work and wrap up the current growing season.”