How Kitchen Farm's Native Plants Are Transforming Newenham.
From Nursery to Nature.
At Kitchen Farm, we’re committed to fostering a sustainable and vibrant community. Recently, you may have noticed that our plants have been relocated from our retail nursery. These plants are now part of our exciting verge planting program at Newenham, where they will thrive and contribute to a beautiful, resilient ecosystem.
In April, we hosted a Native Plant Sale featuring a diverse selection of native flora, chosen to thrive in our region. The sale included vibrant wildflowers and hardy shrubs, perfect for enhancing and beautifying your garden. Following the sale, the unsold stock was available at our cafe, providing a delightful opportunity for customers to purchase unique native varieties while enjoying a wonderful dining experience.
However, with the arrival of winter, we have moved these native plants from this space in preparation for verge planting. This critical step ensures these plants don’t become root bound in their pots and can thrive in the soil with the onset of the wet and cooler weather.
Planting during winter allows roots to establish during the cooler months, leading to stronger, more resilient plants in spring and summer. This timing aligns with their natural growth cycles and local climate conditions, vital for their health and longevity.
Verge planting is a program we’ve undertaken at Newenham; the residential development where our emerging farm is located, to create a biodiverse environment along street verges, enhancing the community's overall wellbeing and sustainability. Using a wide array of plants, incorporating native varieties helps build a resilient ecosystem s well as creating an abundant and beautiful place for the community to belong.
Planting native species offers numerous benefits:
Soil health and regeneration: Native plants are well-adapted to local soil conditions and climate, requiring less water compared to non-native species. Their deep root systems improve soil structure, increase water infiltration, and prevent erosion.
Supporting local wildlife: Native plants provide habitat and food sources for local wildlife, promoting biodiversity.
Natural resilience: Native plants are more resistant to local pests and diseases, reducing the need for chemical interventions.
Environmental benefits: A biodiverse landscape improves air and water quality, sequesters carbon, and offers aesthetic and recreational benefits.
Our approach at Kitchen Farm is seasonally based, meaning our retail nursery or plant shop evolves with each new season. As a new business learning and growing in this space we are also working out the best systems to grow our plants and the best format to display and sell our plants. As we transition into winter, we have decided to reduce our retail offer as people become less focused on their gardens, and more focused on staying warm and cosy. We have also decided to integrate our plants into our courtyard, to provide customers with a beautiful dining experience. This will continue to evolve over the coming weeks and months.
We hope that by immersing our plants into this space, customers will not only enjoy being surrounded by nature, but further learn about different species and will be able to shop for plants that are locally grown in our climate, with love, care and organic inputs.