A huge thank you to Westinghouse for donating their time to build a polytunnel. This will allow us to continue our quest to become more sustainable by selling vegetable boxes!
This will be, amazingly, our 6th polytunnel on site – something we are proud of. Our first polytunnel will always remain the Learners polytunnel. It is spaced out so a group can gather round and learn the fundamentals of growing food. We also encourage schools, nurseries and community groups to visit the site, this is set out perfectly for them. In this polytunnel we grow tomatoes, corn and peppers, plants with simple sewing needs and quick to harvest. This way the Learners can understand the whole process in an environment that is spacious and comfortable. We also grow our herbs and variety of mints (including pineapple mint which is always a shock to our visitors!) This is usually of particular interest to our visiting schools, due to the sensory elements.
Our other polytunnels, including the one that has just been built by Westinghouse, are all more commercially structured, providing maximum growing space. This way we can grow a variety of different produce, ready for our vegetable boxes that will be on sale for all visitors to West Lakes Science Park. Westinghouse had a few challenges against them; whilst putting up the polytunnel, as usual the land was hard to dig, and this caused delays. We had to rely on other partner organisations donating tools and time to allow us to dig the land. We didn’t have to wait long thanks to Clemmy Mossop for coming to our rescue and helping us progress to the next stage!
As well as the land being an issue, the weather never seemed to be on their side either. It may have dampened their coats but did not dampen their spirits! They continued with their plans and powered through. As well as the polytunnel being needed to provide produce for the vegetable boxes, our kitchen is finally up and running with water and electricity – so we can start running our cookery courses at Goodlives! The thought that a Leaner could plant a seed, turn that into a carrot, harvest it, peel it, cut it and make it into a batch of soup was once a dream, thanks to the amazing help of companies such as Westinghouse it means it’s now a reality! We hope to see you all again soon for a well-deserved vegetable box – or maybe even some of Di’s famous carrot cakes!!
