Brickhouse Garden

Onegardenagainsttheworld 📖 ?... my bro hasn't even read the book yet.... surely off to a cracking start. Look at that lawn! 💪

etc

The space between winter and summer harvests commonly known as the "hungry" gap is upon us

May and June

Someone rephrased it recently as the humble gap and that is truly how it felt harvesting some of the last of the veg from over winter last week...

Humbling

Thank goodness for the world wide food chain that exists which means we can comfortably make plans for next year, a convenience that we would never take for granted or take advantage of and hence why we want to take some action

To be moved by necessity and not get comfortable with convenience is a driving force for us

Plus if you are as obsessed with food as we are then being creative with it will not be a hard task and in fact carried out with pleasure

Some ideas...

Ferments/pickles
Dried goods - peas, lentils, beans, pasta, grains
Mushrooms - fresh and dried

have been extremely inspiring for us

As are all of our fermenting friends

Grateful to be supported by such abundance

"And yet the true creator is necessity, which is the mother of invention" Aristotle

We won't be at Dawlish Farmers Market tomorrow friends

We will be back for on the 13th at St Thomas, Exeter

See you there

Why no dig?

Soil can only do everything it needs to do when it has everything it needs in order for it to do so

Soil itself exists due to the death/breakdown of all that has lived within it and gives back with everything it contains inside of itself

If it does not contain anything how can it give back

No receiving = no giving

Giving from an empty cup comes to mind

When you dig out of the soil the roots that have formed not only are you disturbing and interrupting the universe that resides within it but you are removing physical structure and, therefore, holding capacity

It is like removing your bones from your body and expecting to remain standing

Soil ecosystems collapse and we wonder why there is no capacity for water, nutrition or bountiful yield

There is no capacity for diversity in baron land and therefore it cannot cope without intervention because soil relies upon everything in order to remain a healthy and safe environment for stuff to grow

We choose no dig because we trust in our observation of nature that in order to get the most out of anything it must remain as undisturbed as possible supported by a diverse, safe and healthy ecosystem

Community in the soil breeds the community standing upon it

As above, so below

Live and let live

We watch and learn

We need your help!

Community means everything to us here at the garden because we know that if anything is to be truly sustainable we simply must allow ourselves to rely on each other

We cannot continue to expect a few farmers to feed a whole nation and so we want to see a nation that can feed itself

To do this we need to come together as communities and so we are making a LOUD call to anyone nearby that CAN help us this month

Are you free and able on the following dates...

Friday 12th April
Friday 19th April

We need help tidying up the garden ready for a productive summer and we all know that many hands make light work

If you're interested please DM or email [email protected]

You'll be fed with food from the garden, be guaranteed to grow and above all enjoy yourself

Sent with Love from the Brickhouse Garden Team

Thank you for the gorgeous pic we can't wait to hear what you did with it all

What's on the harvest list this week:

PSB
Kale
Chard
Leek
Spring Onion
Shallot
Fennel
Mustard greens
Lettuce
Parsnip
The last of the Crown Prince Squash

If you had a large box you would get all of this 11-12 items
Medium box is 8-9 items
Small is 5-6 items

Order your box today to collect from:

Kenton Village Hall Tuesday

Dawlish The Strand Centre Thursday

We offer 3 prices at each size (S,M,L) to suit individual household needs

Regular price pays for the veg at retail price
Subsidised if you can't afford the regular price
Solidarity if you can afford more

We never ask for proof

We trust for you to decide

We just love to share our good food

Worms

We love to invite worms to the party here at the Garden because we know what it means for the soil and the growing when they come to feast and poo (worm casts they call them)

When the worms come a knockin you know you're doing something right as someone else's cast off is someone else's food

Creating a circular and whole network where every part of nature can exist as itself and meet it's own needs means everything and everyone is taken care of

From the fungus and the bacteria in the soil to the birds in the sky

It means that slowly and naturally what we call pests and diseases begin to manage themselves as they should, can and naturally want to

When nature takes its course we need to do much less intervening and there is less waste or "pest"

It's truly magic right before our eyes

Our power is to be there to witness it and facilitate it's happening

It's not perfect because We have changed the shape of our landscapes so dramatically but this is where we can be of most assistance

If we want to gain more control we hand it all back over to Nature

News Leek

We love leeks here at the garden and they've been a hit at the markets

The smell when you process them is comforting somehow and we are always inspired by what our customers do with them

Here is what did with hers after the market yesterday

Leek and parmesan quiche

The recipe link will be in stories and in the bio

Don't do what she did and put the oven on 180 instead of 170

Do buy a pre made savoury pastry case if you need to

Eat well folks

TODAY

9am-1pm

THE KINGS CAR PARK
EXETER

Come get you seasonal, nutritious and delicious vegetables TODAY

CHEMICAL FREE FOOD GROWN WITH LOVE

We are back at the Dawlish farmers market tomorrow

10-3

The Strand Centre

Delicious, nutritious, seasonal veg that doesn't cost the Earth

We care for the earth and the earth cares for the veg

When you let nature take it's course what's created is something that could never be invented or mimicked

Oh so simple and sweet but not without a lot of hard work

We do it for the love of it and tomorrow you get the chance to experience this love in the form of mushrooms and leaves and parsnips and beetroot relish OH MY

See you there

We absolutely LOVE serving our customers

So much so we want to serve MORE of you

We also LOVE hearing your veg box experiences

Our customer Anita roasted her squash with honey and walnuts then put it with blue cheese on the salad

Beautiful inspiration, thanks Anita

We feed and we get feed back

Win win

Sign up NOW for your super fresh veg that you can collect the same day it's harvested

Links to sign up are in our bio

Collection hubs:

Dawlish The Strand Centre
Kenton Village Hall

Purple Sprouting is through... and just look at that COLOUR 💫 🥦

There's some beauty in the veg boxes right now!


📸

The landscape is beginning to change here at the garden and activity is picking up

The broad beans went in to the ground last week with help from our first regular volunteer Rosie (top right of second pic, forgot to get a close up) to get the ground ready with our municipal compost from our local council

It fills our heart that local food waste doesn't just go to waste because there is no such thing as waste only things out of place

The ginger and turmeric are comfy in their pot beds with a bit of worm poo for food

We are playing with Kale this year and seeing if we can grow some perennial trees for ongoing bountiful leafy crops

And the seeds have arrived so we are excited to see what these little guys are made of over the coming year

Such fun

Grab your veg box that suits your needs via the link in our bio

With the passing of Imbolc we like to notice the changes we can feel and observe in the land and in ourselves

The warmth of the Sun that seems closer and higher in the sky, the longer days and the bloom of some beautiful flowers

We feel privileged to be with the garden to see the change, be part of it and learn from it

The cauliflowers are peeping, we are catching up on neglected beds which constantly tell us tales of what came before and what is now and we are sharing beautiful food from the garden and our new growing community

The sowing of the seeds will commence in due course, we are in the midst of a huge seed order from our faves .seeds

Change is happening

Such a beautifully warm welcome from the Dawlish locals on Saturday thank you we had a blast

Our loves include doing real things with real people in real life and this certainly tickled those boxes

Grateful for our supportive gang who showed up for harvest and pack

Our stall went down a storm and we can't wait to keep building on the food available that is sourced locally and bringing it to the community

We now have a veg box collection site at The Strand Centre on a Thursday so if you're in Dawlish and want your veg grown with love on your doorstep then head to the link in our bio to have a look at our wonderful selection that doesn't cost the earth in all manner of ways

Next market at The Strand Centre Dawlish
Saturday 2nd March
10-3

Tell your friends

Come join us at Dawlish Farmers market tomorrow
10-3
The Strand Centre



We have topped up a few bits from and some wonderful mushrooms from Dart Valley Fungi

So we hope we enough to fill your boots

See you there

Pic 1 large
Pic 2 medium
Pic 3 small

At Brickhouse Garden we feel very strongly about accessibility and equality and of course in particular when it comes to food

We want our food to be enjoyed by everyone and so we have created 3 boxes at 3 prices to suit differing household needs

The love is there to be spread so that's what we shall do

You can find all the info on our sliding scale prices on our website the link is in the bio

If you want to chat about anything please email or DM us we love to hear from you

Or come down to The Strand Centre in Dawlish on Saturday for the farmers market 10 - 4

See ya there

Harvest day for with our Holly and some delicious leafy greens 🌱🥬🧅
What a day to be in amongst the growing 💚

MEET THE TEAM

Ahoy Mateys,

A wee update...

A lot has shifted in the last few years since Brickhouse Garden opened its gates and we are excited for what the future holds.

We would like to introduce the team who will be taking care of Brickhouse Garden in our third year of existence while also giving thanks to those who came before and those still around for this pretty epic adventure we are embarking upon.

Pic 1 is our Holly who has just graduated from a year long level 3 diploma in regenerative agricultural practices Holly had her placement with Brickhouse last year and loved it so much she's taken it on as her own to continue to watch it flourish. Holly loves wild swims, walks on the Moors and making ferments amongst other delectable dishes that we get to enjoy regularly.

Pic 2 is our Eva who also graduated last year from but on the level 4 diploma in regenerative agricultural practices. Eva is a mum of 2 younguns who is driven to connect more women and kids with food and land. She is also working to restore nature with the Beaver Trust. Eva also loves swims, walking hills and all things outdoor.

Pic 3 is our Sarah who graduated with Holly on the level 3 where she was placed on a local mushroom farm growing gourmet mushrooms. Sarah is joining the Brickhouse gang to deepen her connection with herself and community growing on the land and the community. Sarah loves bathing in the salty brine of the sea, adventures in her van and being creative with the bountiful veg from the garden.

The team share common values of nature restoration, people and land connection and we look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Calling all evolunteers to help pick grapes on Tuesday, 3rd October from 9.30am.

We’ll serve lunch and open our delicious wine to celebrate the occasion!

If you think that you’ll enjoy a day in the vineyard, please email [email protected] to register your interest by Sunday 8pm.

We love our fresh tomatoes 🍅
Sweet & crunchy 😋

•

Look what’s in our veg box this week! 😋

Pretty salad bags ready for today’s veg boxes! 😍🌸🌱

 

We got some “kind of cute” pictures of the ladybird larvae and one in metamorphosis to a ladybird. Ladybirds feed on aphids, so it's awesome to see them thriving in the garden, helping us to keep the aphid populations under control as part of the natural pest management we encourage. 😀

We are restarting our veg bags this week. It’s been a slow start to the growing season and we are providing small bags until the hungry gap is over later in June

🍅It’s tomato planting day! 🍅
Today the team are planting various varieties of tomatoes in our polytunnel.

•

Join us for a special evening in June, raising money for our beautiful friend, Sarah.

Enjoy live music, a delicious 3-course dinner by Pickle Shack and of course produce from our very own garden. Raffle with prizes to end the evening.

All the details on Sarah’s Gofund page are below as well as the Eventbrite link to book event tickets.

Thank you 🙏