Foxlowe Arts Centre Leek

Despite the rain, the Plant Share saw many plants exchanged and lots of donations coming to the Foxlowe.  All the leftover hardy plants  have been left on a wooden tray on the patio in front of the dancing railings.  They are available for anyone who would like them to take away in exchange for a donation.  This can be handed in at the cafe or left in one of the donation boxes (beside the inside front door and in the bar).  We will keep the tender plants in greenhouses for a while longer and put them out in June.

On the day we had enthusiastic young volunteers to help with our Citizen Science earthworm count.  Our experiment was testing the hypothesis that earthworms like soil better if it has compost materials above it than if the surface is bare.  Their expert counting recorded 35 worms under soil that had been covered by Foxlowe veg peelings for a month and only 9 under the surface that had been left bare.  We will be sending the results into the Natural History Museum to add to their data collected from elsewhere.  Many thanks to all involved.

The Gardeners have launched a Citizen Science project in the garden as part of the Natural History Museum’s Earthworm Watch.

Join us at the Plant Share from 11 – 12 noon to explore the Foxlowe Garden and find out how to get involved!

The earthworm experiment was started at the April Seed Share, when we covered one site with vegetable peelings (from the Café kitchen) and left the other bare (control).  We will be digging down to see which site the worms prefer and what sort of worms are there.  For the survey we’ll be digging under different types of garden surface (grass, bare soil, plants, layer of comfrey leaves) to see which type the worms like best. No need to bring tools, just be prepared to get your hands dirty!

There will also be the chance to win a very special Misco chocolate lolly by guessing the number of brandling worms in a jar of compost.  The winners will be those whose guesses are closest to the number we’ve counted into the jar.

Anyone who would like to join us will be very welcome.