EVENTS

10th November

WACG Garden Visit, Kilchoan

Join us on the 10th of November at the West Ardnamuchan Community Garden, Kilchoan for a tour of the site to see how it has progressed over the last year, followed by afternoon tea.

13th November 

Volunteer Training day and lunch

Lochaber Environmental Group would like to invite you to our Zero Waste training day and lunch at the Rural Education Centre, Torlundy on Saturday the 13th of November at 12 noon.
This will be a chance to bring together all our composting volunteers for a catch up and an update on the project so far.
With the launch of the new Zero Waste Plan in June this year we are welcoming some new additions to the project as we broaden our aims to include more aspects of waste reduction in the home.
So if you would be so kind as to join us for lunch afterwards Marina Fraser from Zero Waste Scotland will introduce the new developments and will answer any questions we have. Reservations required so please let us know by the 4th of November.
 

September 2010

Moidart Produce Show

Though it marked the last show of the year Moidart Produce Show was a great finish to a lovely summer in Lochaber. Exhibiting the finest in local produce, and crafts this is a day out I would reccomend to anyone. We enjoyed a fine selection of compost entries in our competition and had a leisurly afternoon answering questions on composting. We also took the opportunity of introducing our new projects that we will be working on over the comming months these are Love Food Hate Waste, Peat Free Compost and Stop The Drop.  

August 2010

Lochaber Agricultural Show

As we near the end of summer and our show season Lochaber show did us proud with several very fine entries in both our compost competitions and our small model made from recycled material category so thank you to all those who entered.    The weather did little to dampen spirits and  the day was filled with events, good food and fun.

July 2010 

West Ardnamurchan Games

The sun shone on us as we enjoyed the day in Kilchoan the questions came in steady and quite a few on composting toilets... the posh kind so we will have to research this and see if we can bring you some links to point you in the right direction. We had some lovely compost entered in our competition so thank you to the 2 entrants!.. come on surely we can do better next time. Many thanks to our little helpers who kept the plants well watered.

July 2010

Morvern Games

Morvern Games went well on Saturday the 17th of July, the weather came good and there was great local support.  We had some lovely compost in our compost competition and lots of people took part in our Give It A Grow seed sowing. We enjoyed answering all the questions and had a really fun time. Thank you to all those who came to see us we hope to be in touch soon.

June 2010 

Compost Network Event and Summer Barbecue, Cuil Bay ,Duror

On Wednesday the 16th of June Liz Paul hosted an informal Open Day and Barbecue where we were joined by Lochaber College Rural Skills Students who showed their work in the kitchen and herb gardens. A great day to learn more about our Home Composting Project and chat about and share composting and gardening tips and advice.

To get in touch and find out more about home composting please email Liz at:

compost@lochaber-environmental-group.co.uk

May 2010 Glencoe 

Home composting had a very successful event at Glencoe National Trust Visitors Centre to celebrate compost awareness week. We were joined by guest speakers, Calina MacDonald from the Skye Food Company, Cameron and Moira Thomson from the Seer Centre and Marina Fraser from WRAP.
Calina MacDonald spoke about the practicalities of growing and using local produce in the Highlands and Islands and what makes it more sustainable. This was an interesting insight into issues specific to growing in the area as well as discussing different ways of getting your produce on the market locally. Calina also spoke on the benefits of buying local with reference to reducing food miles and getting the freshest produce.

Cameron and Moira Thomson gave a thorough presentation on soil and its origins and how we can build on the ground we have even in poorer landscapes. They also presented their findings of growing produce using rock dust. This was an in depth look at global soil condition and changes in climate as well as what we can do to improve growing conditions and crop yields in our own gardens.

Marina Fraser came as a Waste Reduction Advisor to talk to us about her project Love Food Hate Waste. This is aimed at reducing food waste in the home and she spoke on how to make the most of what you buy. A very useful presentation to get us all thinking about what we throw away and how much we could save. Marina also discussed several solutions from freezing and bargain buys to managing your shopping list.
We enjoyed a delicious locally produced lunch laid on by Blubell Croft and would like to say congratulations to our compost competition winner of the day for your fine compost and thank you to all those who brought along a sample of their best compost to compete.

April 2010 Arisaig

Jo Markland hosted our recent compost network meeting in Arisiag Where we enjoyed a tour of Jo's garden to see how she makes and uses her compost and lots of chat and networking over tea and cakes. 

February 2010 Ardgour

Even the snow didn’t stop the brave gardeners who ventured out on one of the wildest days in February to attend the Compost Network Event in Ardgour. We all met at Ard Daraich Hill Nursery owned by Norrie and Anna MacLaren and were warmly welcomed to started our tour in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a cake. Once everyone had defrosted we had a chance to meet and have a chat about composting and swap ideas and tips from what to feed worms to do you use urine to activate you compost heap? After we made a dash for the garden Led by Norrie to have a look at how he and Anna work their compost heaps. Using the plastic bins to start the process they include any degradable household/garden waste and let it work on its own for a while. Then the product is moved to larger heaps where it can be layered between sheets of cardboard recycled from the local shop and more nutritious compostables such as seaweed and manure. This is stored in bays until it is completely rotted down and can be used. To finish off the tour, and to give us all a break from the wind and snow we went into the polly tunnel to see some of the final product and how it is used. Wood sided beds are filled with compost where it is used to grow herbs, vegetables etc for home use.

December 2009 Strontian

Another sunny but cold  day for our intrepid compost enthusiasts.  This time we met in Strontian at Buebell Croft, where Bill Barber showed us around his croft and gave us the opportunity to look at his various compost systems, and find out how he uses the end product.

Being on a croft gives Bill the advantage of having the most efficient composters on hand 24 hours a day doing the work for him!   With cows, pigs and poultry he has both a ready supply of compost material and instant accelerators for the bins he has with household and garden waste.

Bill grows a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs using his compost, and he showed us his vegetable garden and polytunnels, where fresh manure is dug into the beds making some of the richest polytunnel beds you can imagine.  (Polytunnels often suffer from poor soil conditions and the ground inside them can become very hungry in quite a short space of time if not kept well topped up with fresh compost)

The aim of these network events is not only to provide information and  guidance on composting but to also  to help  encourage Lochaber  composting enthusiasts to go out and spread the word about the benefits of home composting both to the environment and to the  garden

Tea and cakes seem to be a good way to help develop this network  and so we  ended the day   in Bills very welcoming cosy kitchen, with log fires burning;  tea and lots of delicious home bakes - and plenty of chat about compost and gardens and how best we can encourage more people to become involved in both composting their own kitchen and garden waste and putting it to use afterwards.

 
November 2009 Acharacle 

A sunny Sunday saw 19 Master Composter Volunteers meeting in Acharacle where we were welcomed by Becky Dacre of Sheilfoot Organics, and given a tour of her market garden.  Becky employs a variety of  compsting methods,  from the traditional 'pallet' built compost boxes, to the less traditional hot composter made out of a freezer (compete with steam funnel in summer time). I was particularly interested in her 'wind rows' where she composts her perennial weeds.  These are long lines of compost - which Becky covers with a black ground cover mulch - she leaves these rows to break down, and then plants straight into them - with raised rows of strawberies and herbs showing the success of this method.

The trip to Becky's was followed by a visit to Ardsheallach Lodge Kitchen Garden, where we fitted in  a tour of Jill Gosney's fabulous potager and polytunnels, but first we gathered for a cosy network lunch of soup, sandwiches and many cream meringues in the hotel. 

Around five years in the development this garden is well worth a visit to see what is possible from the most unlikely materials - (she started with fairly marshy, reed infested west coast paddock).  Again it was fascinating to see the different methods that people employ to turn their kitchen and garden waste into compost.  Here Jill composts everything including mussell shells - although I didn't find out how long they take to break down or if she sifts them out of the compost before using it

Everyone agreed that this type of event was a really valuable opportunity to learn new methods of composting, network with like minded people, and be motivated to go home and try something new!