If you’ve visited us over the last few weeks you’ll have noticed that some big changes are happening here. We are creating a Kitchen garden, which will supply seasonal ingredients to our restaurant, with zero food miles!
Because we only opened in June last year, our previous vegetable garden was situated on the land of one of Babylon’s owners. An on-site kitchen garden will be a wonderful asset.
Rachael’s plan for The Kitchen garden (above).
We have removed the leylandii that bordered our greenhouse. These large trees were were blocking light to the planned kitchen garden area, and unlike other naturalised species (like our beautiful sweet chestnut) they don’t provide a hugely positive benefit to the environment.
But they aren’t going to waste! The wood from these leylandii are being reused throughout our site. The large logs are being used to create a ‘bug hotel’, providing a home for butterflies, bees and other insects. These important creatures pollinate flowers and control other unwanted garden pests, and are finding it increasingly difficult to find hiding places. Our bug hotel will give them a safe, cosy home.
The remaining wood from these leylandii will be chipped and used to create the paths around the kitchen garden.
Rachael is keen that our Kitchen garden will use the ‘no dig’ approach. This improves the health of the soil, allows plants to thrive and is beneficial to the environment. You can read more about the no dig method from Charles Downing.
We’ll be keeping updated on how we are progressing, and you can come down, have some food and see how we’re getting on with this exciting project.