Latest update…….

Waking to the sound of commotion outside the bungalow, we realized that it was not Tuesday (as we had previously been told) but Monday that the reporters from the Sentinel local newspaper would be arriving to take pictures and ask questions for an article that would be published the following day about the bungalow and the benefits of green student living.  Luckily, we managed to pull ourselves together, and were out dressed and washed within five minutes, shovels and spades to the ready, with beaming smiles to show the world how enjoyable sustainable living really is!  Chatting to Kathy the reporter about the joys of growing your own veg and seeing a project such as this come together so well!

Student dig ideas for Good Life at Uni - http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Students-dig-ideas-Good-Life-uni/story-13589553-detail/story.html

Events of the week also include - receiving a compost bin from a guy on ‘freecycle’, which we’ve been diligently using to deposit all of our bio degradable kitchen waste in, which we hope will provide fertile soil for the garden in the spring.

And also…..finding that the keys given to us by accommodation lead us to a bike shed that was not only completely insecure but also full, making it completely useless for anyone in Barnes requiring somewhere to put their bike.  But not to worry, we now have a bike rack being delivered which we plan to secure to the side of the house in the next few days.   We just hope Keele will make room for more cyclists living on campus in the future!

Author: Jack Mills Davidson

Week 1

Carl, James, Scott and I began fresher’s week by moving into what we hope will by the end of this academic year, be Keele’s first sustainable student bungalow in Barnes.  Over the first few days there’s been a lively atmosphere in the bungalow as friends have been round most days enjoying catching up after the summer break and working together to create the raised beds (to avoid digging into the electricity cables beneath) in the garden for planting vegetables.  We’ve spent much time discussing plans for the LiveGreen: Keele project and along with a few deliveries of soil, gravel and wooden planks - a few days working in the garden has paid off with the raised beds that are now near complete.

Events of the week include Jack being delivered to work in a wheel barrow, having Gym Class Heroes offer some help with the garden (yet to be given) and Luke’s granddad paying a visit to offer sound engineering advice for irrigation systems in the garden. 

The wooden planks have some history having been used previously to build the ‘Forth Bridge’ in East Scotland, and now also making history in helping to erect bases for the beds which will soon become our vegetable patches.  We are hoping to, during the winter months; grow beetroots, broccoli, cabbage, capsicum, lettuce and such like, fuelling us through the cold winter ahead. 

Meanwhile, Luke our new project assistant has got hold of a washing line, so that we can save some cash and energy through using the dryers less.  We’re looking into a water drainage system off the roof into a water butt, which could be used to irrigate the vegetable patches with.  This would prove useful, decreasing water usage and keeping the vegetables in constant supply.

Luke, Faye, Manny, Ben, Mark, Anais, Connor and Danny to name but a few have been helping out with the ground work in the garden and this has been invaluable in getting the project steaming ahead - many challenges and plenty more ideas - all in all a great first week!

Author: Jack Mills Davidson