Our Story so Far.... From The Garden Kitchen

Nettle Hill, a strange name, Nettles being an excellent source of food, and habitat for butterflies such as the red admiral, peacock and small tortoise shell. Nettles are places of transformation, seeing changes from Caterpillar to Chrysalis to Butterfly.

Nettle Hill itself has been through its own transformation during this lockdown period. Lockdown has afforded us time to re-evaluate and consider our desire and purpose for Nettle Hill. What do we see for Nettle Hill and for the future? -

We see an opportunity: -

To transform the land, to grow food, to become an eco- conscious environment, to offer creative activities on the land.

We see a garden, flourishing with life and community.

We began during Lockdown to establish a small allotment on the site, seeking to grow vegetables and become more self- sufficient and sustainable, we planted fruit trees, developed an area for Forest school exploration, a mud kitchen and an art and craft area for children to explore.

We have become more and more aware of the need for us to cultivate the land and environment around us and are making every effort to become more eco- friendly and green in our use of the site.

Sustainability effects every area of our lives and as such we decided to open a plant- based Garden Kitchen, inviting everyone to the table to enjoy the fruit of our labours. Inviting each one to experience freshly prepared meals from the seasonal growth.

The table is a part of everyone’s’ life and as such is a shared corporate and community event, eating together, sharing together.

What is on the table? On our table are all sorts of dishes prepared purely from plants. Sustainability is one of the major drivers for us, realising that we need to prepare the world around us for generations to come, we need to re-examine our use of resources and work to establish communities that flourish from the surrounding local environment.