Nurturing our Community CIC

28/08/2026

Time to move on to the next season
We’ve started preparing for our autumn and winter crops after what has certainly been a very mixed summer growing season.
Where we managed to keep up with watering, we had some great successes. Where we couldn’t, the crops struggled — but we also learned some valuable lessons for next year.
Our tomatoes were particularly interesting. The baby plum and salad tomatoes performed very well considering the prolonged high temperatures. Our three varieties of cherry tomatoes were a different story. They produced exceptionally long trusses, but with very little fruit set, and the fruit that did develop remained quite small.
The cucumbers produced excellent vegetative growth, but the high temperatures caused most of the young cucumbers to abort. If we experience similar conditions next year, we’ll look at growing more of our cucumbers outdoors.
The courgettes have done beautifully, the rhubarb is growing like a w**d, and our globe artichokes are now beginning to fill out.
But perhaps the biggest lesson from this summer isn’t about what we grow — it’s about water.
Where we could keep the crops watered, we had success. So one of our priorities for next year will be to harvest and store more rainwater, giving us greater resilience through long, hot and dry periods.
And now the growing cycle starts again. 🌱
We’ve begun sowing kale, kohlrabi, rocket and oriental greens, with more autumn and winter crops to follow.
Even our sowing process is about making the most of what we already have. We’re reusing donated seed trays and recycled compost. The compost is sieved through an old mushroom crate to give us a finer growing medium, then it’s simply a matter of filling the trays, sowing, labelling and watering.
Reuse what we have, waste less, grow food, learn from the results and do it better next time.
Every season teaches us something, and this summer certainly taught us plenty.
🌿 Want to experience nature? Join NOC.
Tomorrow’s workshop is from 10am until 1pm with Kim and Michelle.
Come along, get outdoors, experience nature, learn something new and meet people. No experience is needed — just come along and get involved.
🌱 Nurturing Our Community — growing more than just plants.

25/08/2026

16/08/2026

🌱 A WORKSHOP WITHOUT A CLOCK

Yesterday we had a lovely number of NOC members joining us throughout the day — each arriving and leaving at their own leisure.

That's an important part of how we operate. We don't stipulate that everybody must arrive at a particular time or stay for a set number of hours.

Come when you can. Stay as long as you want. Join in at your own pace.

John and Sue joined Lawrence early and got stuck into the w**ding and watering. And one observation quickly became very clear — thistles are incredible survivors! Even after the prolonged drought, they certainly haven't given up. 😄

Later, Celia arrived with her friend, and Celia joined in planting the leeks and kohlrabi.

Celia's friend, a lovely lady well into her 80s, spent the day with us too. With the temperature quite high and some of the work physically strenuous, there was absolutely no expectation for her to join in with the manual work.

Instead, she strolled around, kept an eye on what we were doing and did a little supervising. 😊 Then, when she'd had enough of supervising us, she settled comfortably on one of our benches, umbrella providing some shade from the sun, and enjoyed reading her book.

And that is participation too.

Nobody should feel that they have to dig, w**d, plant or lift things to belong at NOC. Sometimes participating means working alongside everyone else. Sometimes it means learning, talking, watching or simply enjoying being outdoors in good company.

Kim, Paul and their young Spanish relative joined us later and brought the workshop to a close, planting Japanese spinach and helping us tidy up at the end of the day.

Different ages. Different abilities. Different arrival times. Different levels of participation.

But everyone sharing the same space and contributing in whatever way suits them.

No pressure. No clock. No expectations.

🌱 Come and go as you please. Do what you can. And most importantly — feel part of the community.

One for all, all for one.

Nurturing Our Community

09/08/2026

🌱 Lawrence is on his way to Robin’s Nest!

Fancy having a chat, seeing how we train our tomatoes, or just getting stuck in?

This morning we’ll be:

🍅 Training the tomatoes
💧 Putting on the watering
🌱 Planting leeks, Japanese spinach and kohlrabi
🧅 Harvesting onions
🥒 Picking courgettes
🍅 Harvesting tomatoes

And if you’re up for it, roll up your sleeves and get involved!

We’ll be at Robin’s Nest from 9am today.

Come along, have a chat and join in. 🌱

08/08/2026

🌱 NOC Weekend Workshops
Today’s workshop is with Kim and the ponies, along with getting hands-on and making compost. 🐴🌿
Tomorrow Lawrence will be running a special workshop. We’ll start with the tomatoes, plant out our leeks, kohlrabi and onions, harvest some of our courgettes and overwintered onions, and continue setting up our irrigation system around the growing areas. 💧🌱
Plenty of practical work — learning, growing, harvesting and building together at Robin’s Nest.
🌿 Come and join us, get involved and learn by doing — everyone is welcome.

05/08/2026

🐞 Close your eyes for a moment and imagine life in a New Forest field...

Rabbits, deer, mice, moles, badgers, foxes, hedgehogs, frogs, toads, newts, slow worms, grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, bees, dragonflies, owls, kestrels, buzzards, woodpeckers, robins, blackbirds and countless other creatures all call it home.

Together they create a delicate balance. On their own, however, some can become destructive.

Since day one at Robin's Nest, learning to work alongside wildlife has been one of our biggest challenges. This year, the rabbits developed a taste for our brassicas and lettuce, while the field mice discovered just how sweet our tomatoes are!

The easiest solution would have been to eliminate the problem. There are plenty of traditional methods available, including the use of rodent poison.

But that's not the NOC way.

Instead of eliminating wildlife, we ask ourselves a different question: How can we prevent the damage while protecting nature?

Our first line of defence is simple – stop them getting into the polytunnels. That's why we're now laying chicken wire beneath the tunnels to prevent rodents from tunnelling inside.

Why does this matter?

Because if a mouse eats poison, it doesn't end there. Around Robin's Nest we regularly see owls, kestrels and buzzards, all of which depend on rodents for food. A poisoned mouse can poison the very birds of prey that help keep the rodent population under control.

Nature has spent thousands of years creating this balance. At NOC, our role isn't to fight it—it's to understand it, protect it and work alongside it.

One small change can protect an entire food chain. 💚🌿🐭🦉🍅

05/08/2026

🍌 Christine's Healthy Recipe is Back! 🍫
Everyone needs a break now and then, and after a well-earned holiday Christine is back with another simple, healthy recipe for our NOC community.
This week she's sharing a delicious chocolate banana yoghurt dessert that's quick to make, naturally sweet and perfect for the whole family.
🥣 You'll need: • 1 ripe banana
• Greek yoghurt
• A couple of teaspoons of cocoa powder
Simply blend everything together until smooth, then chill in the fridge. That's it – a healthy dessert that's ready in just a few minutes.
🌿 If you prefer a caffeine-free alternative, simply replace the cocoa powder with carob powder. It has a naturally sweet flavour and makes an equally delicious dessert.
A huge thank you to Christine for continuing to inspire us with easy, affordable recipes that show healthy eating doesn't have to be complicated. 💚
🌳 We're also excited for this year's carob harvest in Malta. Our partners at VNVN, together with the Malta Blind Cooperative, will soon begin harvesting the carob pods. VNVN has generously donated part of this year's harvest to NOC, allowing us to share this wonderful natural treat with the equine therapy community, petting farms, animal sanctuaries and other organisations that care for our four-legged friends.
If your equine therapy centre, petting farm or animal sanctuary would be interested in receiving some carob pods, we'd love to hear from you. Just send us a message.
Together we're showing how communities can work across borders, turning nature's gifts into opportunities for wellbeing, inclusion and friendship. 💚

04/08/2026

Two weeks away... and nature wasted no time! 🌱🍅
These photos tell the story perfectly. While we've been busy behind the scenes building new partnerships, working on grants and developing the future of NOC, the tomatoes have been doing what tomatoes do best... growing!
In just two weeks, the laterals had gone everywhere, the plants had reached the roof of the polytunnel, and what was once neat and tidy had become a proper tomato jungle.
This evening we spent just over two hours bringing two of the three beds back under control. Every plant was retrained onto its string, unnecessary laterals removed, airflow improved and the crop opened up to the sunlight once again.
The reward for all that hard work? Around 5 kg of delicious, chemical-free salad tomatoes and another 4 kg of sweet cherry tomatoes harvested in a single evening.
This is organic growing in the real world. Plants don't wait for us. If you miss a couple of weeks during the peak of summer, they'll soon remind you who's really in charge! But with the right knowledge and a little bit of effort, they quickly come back under control.
At NOC we don't just grow vegetables—we teach practical, sustainable techniques that anyone can use at home, without relying on chemicals.
Fancy getting involved?
Come and join us this Saturday at our weekly workshop at Robin's Nest, Vagg's Lane, Hordle. Whether you're a complete beginner or an experienced gardener, you'll get hands-on experience with no-dig gardening, pruning, training tomatoes, harvesting and much more.
Everyone is welcome. Just bring suitable footwear, a drink, and your enthusiasm—we'll provide the rest! 🌱🍅💚