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Nature recovery and climate resilience via community agro-ecology (edible ecosystems). Agro-ecology, permaculture

Community Scale, Environmental Enhancement, Habitat Management and Creation.

08/11/2026

Gratitude to Finn, who has been busy mulching our bush cherry trees today using the cuttings gathered by the Open Spaces team a couple of weeks ago. A huge thank you to them as well. It's wonderful to see those materials being put to such good use, helping retain moisture, suppress weeds, and enrich the soil as they break down.
It's also been a joy to spot quite a few Clouded Yellow butterflies still zooming around. Considering they're long-distance migrants that travel to Britain from continental Europe, every sighting feels a little special. Their bright flashes of yellow bring a welcome reminder that summer hasn't entirely loosened its grip just yet.
Meanwhile, the scrub is alive with winter birdsong. A particular favourite is the family of Long-tailed T**s that regularly use the corridor. Despite their delicate appearance, these tiny birds are remarkably hardy and highly sociable, often travelling in family groups that stay together well beyond the breeding season. Watching them move through the branches like a small, chattering procession never fails to lift the spirits.
Days like these are a lovely reminder that even as the seasons turn, there's still so much life, movement, and quiet beauty to be found in the landscape around us.

21/10/2026

🌿 Wind, Weather & Preparing for the Future 🌿

The wind has certainly been keeping us busy today! A few repairs were needed on our polytunnel after some strong gusts swept across the nursery site, but that's all part of growing in Cornwall. 💨🌱

Despite the challenging weather, our young lavender and cone flower is thriving and being carefully nurtured in the polytunnel for next year's terraced garden spring planting.

Just look at these beautiful plants beginning their journey! 💜

As our climate becomes warmer and periods of drought become more common, we're making thoughtful changes to our terraced gardens to help them flourish for years to come. Rather than replacing the traditional fruiting plants that visitors know and love, we're enhancing the planting scheme by introducing carefully selected Mediterranean species and drought-tolerant companions.

Why? 🌞
• Mediterranean plants are naturally adapted to hot, dry conditions.
• Their deep root systems help them cope with extended dry spells.
• Mixed planting increases resilience and biodiversity.
• Less water demand means a more sustainable garden for the future.

This approach, often called "climate-smart gardening", helps create a stronger, more resilient landscape while maintaining the character and productivity of the terraces.

By blending traditional fruiting plants with aromatic Mediterranean favourites such as lavender, we're creating gardens that are not only beautiful and wildlife-friendly, but better equipped to cope with the changing climate.

Sometimes the best way to preserve a garden's future is to help it adapt. 🌿💜

Treloggan Community Page Cornwall College University Centre: Newquay Newquay Town Council Drew Creek Mayor of Newquay

21/10/2026

😀

19/10/2026

Gratitude at Polwhele

I just wanted to express my gratitude for all the support and hard work I’ve seen at Polwhele over the last few weeks.

Our Monday volunteers have been doing a tremendous job getting the no-dig garden back into fantastic shape for the growing season ahead. Their dedication and effort have made a real difference, and it’s wonderful to see the space coming back to life.

Finn, our dedicated Newquay University Centre student, has been busy with some grassland management, including pretending to be a cow! We're hoping to see something special growing there next year, but more on that in a future post.
He has also been planting strawberries and sowing green manure on the terraced garden he has been working so hard on. His enthusiasm and commitment have been a huge help, and the results are already beginning to show.

For me personally, this support has been a welcome weight off my shoulders. My volunteering has taken quite a toll on my body over the last couple of years, so having such amazing volunteerd around me means more than I can say.

Thank you all. I appreciate every one of you, and Polwhele is a better place because of your hard work and dedication

Cornwall College University Centre: Newquay Treloggan Community Page Newquay Town Council Drew Creek Mayor of Newquay

14/10/2026

With Cornwall College University Centre: Newquay – We just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉

14/10/2026

🌱 A Huge Thank You to Our Volunteers and Partners 🌱

Firstly, a very big thank you to Finn, our dedicated student volunteer, who generously gives up 4 to 5 hours of his time every Sunday to help in the garden. Your hard work and commitment are hugely appreciated.

A heartfelt thank you also to our fantastic Monday volunteers. Your efforts in the no-dig garden have certainly not gone unnoticed. They have been busy trimming, clearing and mulching, helping to make the space accessible once more and looking wonderful.

Thanks also Abigail and the Council's Open Spaces Team. After a challenging summer dealing with drought conditions across local green spaces, they have still found time to support us by keeping pathways open and giving the main orchard area its autumn cut.

💚 Thank you all for your time, energy and dedication. This naturalistic food system will be awesome for the next generations to come because of your efforts, love and persistence.

🌿 What has been happening in the garden?

Finn has been helping increase the depth of soil within the terraced beds, whilst adding mulch and green manures to prepare the area for a slightly different planting scheme as increasingly dry summers become more common.

Building healthy soil is one of the best ways to improve drought resilience. Organic matter acts like a sponge, helping the soil retain moisture for longer, whilst mulch reduces evaporation and keeps roots cooler during hot weather.

Green manures, often called cover crops, help protect the soil between growing seasons. They suppress unwanted plants, reduce erosion and add valuable organic matter back into the ground. Some, such as clovers and vetches, are nitrogen-fixing plants, working alongside beneficial soil bacteria to capture nitrogen from the air and make it available for future crops. Other plants are known as dynamic accumulators, sending roots deep into the soil to bring minerals and nutrients back towards the surface where they can benefit surrounding plants.

🍆 A little seasonal bonus!

Our Monday volunteers have found and left a couple of courgettes and trombone squash available for anyone who would like to collect them and enjoy them at home. Trombone squash is particularly good in a Sri Lankan-style devilled dish.

🐭🐸 Looking after wildlife too

As part of the orchard maintenance, some areas around the edges are intentionally left uncut. These margins act as wildlife corridors, allowing creatures such as harvest mice, toads, insects and other small animals to move safely between habitats. These corridors provide shelter, nesting opportunities and food sources, whilst helping wildlife avoid predators and maintain healthy populations. By managing the site in this way, we can continue producing food while supporting the rich biodiversity that makes the garden such a special place.

Thank you once again to everyone who helps care for this wonderful community space. 🌱💚

Newquay Town Council Drew Creek Mayor of Newquay Cornwall College University Centre: Newquay

29/09/2026

🌱🍅 Look who we found hiding among the hundreds-and-thousands and current tomatoes!
While checking on our drought-resistant tomato trials at the nursery site, we uncovered this little stowaway. A bright-line brown-eye moth caterpillar lounging between the foliage like he owns the harvest.

We’ve been experimenting with tomato varieties that can handle the kind of brutal dry spells Polwhele has suffered this year and with El Niño shaping up to make next year even tougher, we’re changing how we plant, how we water, and how we build resilience into the soil. More organic matter, more mulch, more clever planting… and yes, more drought-proof plants.

If you’re the kind of grower who loves the slow, meditative harvesting of tiny fruits, these varieties are a joy. If patience isn’t your thing, maybe stick with your beef eaters. This one is definitely for the tomato-obsessed.

🍅 Tomato tip of the day
When planting your tomato plugs, bury almost the entire stem and leaves below ground with jist the tips showing. Every submerged section will sprout roots, giving you a bigger, stronger, more drought-resistant plant than if you plant it level at the base. It feels wrong, but it works beautifully.

We’ll be bringing this variety to Polwhele next year, ready for whatever the weather throws at us. And yes we’re still on the lookout for free organic matter from tree surgeons or landmanagers (chippings, hedge cuttings)… wink wink.

🐛 A few fun facts about the bright-line brown-eye moth (Lacanobia oleracea)

Common in UK gardens, especially where tomatoes, brassicas, and other veg are grown.

The caterpillars look dramatic, but healthy, high-yielding plants can shrug off their nibbling with barely any impact.

Adult moths are actually quite striking, chocolate-brown wings with a crisp, bright line across them.

They’re part of the noctuid family, one of the most diverse moth groups in Europe.

Caterpillars feed mostly at night, so spotting one in daylight is a treat.

Isn’t he beautiful? A tiny nuisance, yes — but also a reminder that a thriving garden is full of life, not just crops.

Cornwall College University Centre: Newquay

16/09/2026

🌿 WHY WE KEEP SCRUB AND TUSSOCKY GRASSLAND AT POLWHELE

When you visit Polwhele Permaculture Gardens, Newquay, you’ll notice we don’t “tidy” every corner. Some areas are scrubby, uneven, or full of tall tussocky grass. That’s not neglect. It’s deliberate ecological care.

🪵 Across the UK, scrub and rough grassland are often labelled as “overgrown”, but that word is misleading. “Overgrown” suggests something has grown beyond its natural size. In reality, what people mean is “encroached” or “left to grow” and those processes are completely natural. They’re also essential for wildlife.

⚠️ Unfortunately, land management, even for conservation programmes often target scrub and tussocky grassland for removal, even though these habitats are among the richest and most important for biodiversity.

🌱 SCRUB: A POWERHOUSE, NOT A PROBLEM
Scrub provides shelter, nesting sites, warm microclimates, and huge insect diversity. It supports birds, small mammals, reptiles, and pollinators. These dense, tangled patches are living infrastructure for wildlife.

🌾 TUSSOCKY GRASSLAND: A REFUGE FOR THE OVERLOOKED
Those big, shaggy grass tussocks support voles, shrews, slow worms, lizards, spiders, beetles, and ground‑nesting birds. They create warm pockets, hiding places and hunting grounds. Rough grassland is one of the most important and most misunderstood habitats in Britain.

🌳 WHERE SCRUB MEETS GRASSLAND: THE MAGIC ZONE
The edges, where scrub blends into grassland, are biodiversity hotspots. These transition zones support more species than either habitat alone. They’re messy, patchy and full of life.

🧹 THE REAL PROBLEM: “TIDYING” NATURE
Across Britain, scrub and rough grassland are being cleared because they look “untidy”. But tidy landscapes are often ecologically empty. When scrub is removed:

• 🦎 reptiles lose warm refuges
• 🐁 small mammals lose cover
• 🐜 insects decline
• 🐦 birds lose nesting sites
• 🦋 butterflies lose egg‑laying plants
• 🦊 predators lose prey
• 🌐 whole food webs collapse

Many of our most threatened species depend on exactly the habitats people keep cutting back. Calling these areas “overgrown” hides the truth: they’re not excessive, they’re natural, and they’re needed.

🌍 WHY WE PROTECT THESE HABITATS AT POLWHELE
Our goal isn’t to make the gardens look manicured. It’s to make them alive and productive in food.

By keeping some qreas scrub, tussocks and wild edges, we’re supporting:

• 🐭 dormice
• 🐁 voles and shrews
• 🐍 slow worms and lizards
• 🌌 warblers
• 🦋 brown hairstreak butterflies
• 🐞 beetles, spiders, and pollinators
• 🦊 the predators that rely on all of the above

These habitats are the backbone of a functioning ecosystem. They’re not “overgrown”; they’re working for wildlife and working for us.

🌼 A LIVING LANDSCAPE
So when you walk through Polwhele and see bramble thickets, rough grass, or scrubby patches, know this:

Those “messy” areas are doing more for wildlife than any tidy lawn ever could.

They’re warm, sheltered, insect‑rich, species‑dense, and full of ecological stories unfolding every day.

This is why we maintain them.
This is why they matter.
This is why they stay. 😃 😊

Cornwall College University Centre: Newquay Newquay Town Council Drew Creek Mayor of Newquay

15/09/2026

Have you spotted flying mustard this year?

Clouded yellows butterflies are bright, zippy and the exact colour of mustard. They have been zooming around Polwhele and our nursery site at Fairpark, St Columb minor like a tiny ray of sunshine. Last year was the first time the species was recorded at Polwhele since we first managed the site, 7 years back. This year, there have been quite a few.

They’ve travelled from southern Europe and North Africa, riding warm winds into Cornwall. They’re here for our long grass tussocks, clover patches and scrubby edges. You know the messy bits we keep on purpose for wildlife that most want is to rip out.

Fun clouded‑yellow facts:

They’re one of the UK’s most exciting migrant butterflies.

They rarely sit still. Blink and you’ll miss the mustard flash.

They can produce multiple generations in warm years.

Their caterpillars love clover, trefoil and other plants found in rough grassland.

Want to see one up close? You very well might have the chance if joining us at Polwhele Permaculture Gardens on Sundays, 10.30–14.00. We’re building up soil in the soft‑fruit terraces and planting winter trees and shrubs at the moment. We would love to see you.

Newquay Town Council Cornwall College University Centre: Newquay Drew Creek Mayor of Newquay

15/09/2026

Meet Voley, the surprise star of our Sunday volunteering session!

Finn, our legendry volunteer and work experience student and I spotted this baby bank vole wobbling around with a tick the size of a pea stuck on his nose. After a gentle removal, Voley immediately brightened up, sprinted up Finn’s arm like a tiny acrobat and then zoomed back into the long grass. Absolute legend.

We keep long grass tussocks and wild patches at Polwhele on purpose because they’re home to bank voles, harvest mice, woodmice and even a few cheeky rabbits. Sure, the voles and rabbits have munched a couple of saplings this year (rude), but they’re part of the ecosystem and we’re here to share the space with them.

Bank vole fun facts:

Bank voles can have 3–4 litters a year. Tiny but mighty.

They love tussocky grass, bramble scrubb and hedgerows.

They’re a favourite snack for owls and stoats, making them vital to the food web.

If you fancy joining us for wildlife‑filled Sundays, we’re at Polwhele Permaculture Gardens, 10.30–14.00. We’re currently building up soil in the soft‑fruit terraces and planting trees and shrubs for winter. Come get muddy with us. You never know who you might meet whilst working the land.

Newquay Town Council Cornwall College University Centre: Newquay

Address

127a Powhele Road
Newquay
TR72SZ

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