It’s good to serve our community
We’ve been busy in our gardens in Millennium Square, in the middle of Bristol’s busy city centre. These gardens have been looked after by Edible Bristol since 2014 and recently we’ve been reinvigorating the herb garden. We’ve made paths, emptied out a lot of plants that had seen better days, and have begun to plant up new crops. Many of the herbs are for culinary use but we’re also looking at herbs for making teas such as lemon balm, fennel and mint. We’re also adding basic medicinal herbs, such as calendula for skin balms and feverfew for migraine.
We’re also very conscious that there’s a need across the city for food that’s culturally appropriate for all of the 91 communities whose culture isn’t based in the UK. For many of these communities, herbs and spices are what makes their traditional cuisines as bright and vibrant as they are, so we’re looking into and working with them to ensure there’s something for all. Did you know there’s a specific sage to Somalia for instance? Salvia somaliensis is a beautiful plant, loved by bees and vital for Somali cooking. Our community gardeners have been vital to this work and, as always, have been at the centre of the work, building the soil and the paths and planting as well as learning about the plants and bringing suggestions of their own. And they all now know how to build paths in gardens using old timber and a determined attitude!
It’s also been lovely to see the trees blossoming in the gardens this month. Sitting under them, drinking tea and chatting is as important to what we do as all the work. Just as with any garden!