We've been working with the blessing of the former school's Trustees at a disused school in inner city East London for about a year, with a group of volunteers from marginal sections of the community (people who have had issues with criminal justice, homelessness, addiction, social isolation, mental health or have come from the refugee community). We are trying to build a community composting project that will take in waste food and green waste from the local area and compost, then use the compost to grow vegetables on site on a no dig, organic basis. We have cleared the site, build new beds, are installing a native hedgerow, small orchard and will be experimenting with mycoculture and hydroponics, as well as growing leaf vegetables and herbs for local consumption from a series of raised beds. It's early days but we hope to make something magical at the site. We'd like to thank Charles for donating a starter delivery of compost (which we hauled onto the roof) that helped us to grow our first harvest of squash and kale. The food grown was donated to a local food bank, to a group of women dealing with chronic mental and physical health issues and a local refugee centre.
