The ESC project that we have been co-hosting with Green School Village is drawing to a close, and with it a sense of nostalgia as winter arrives in Shipka. The volunteer team have been absolutely amazing and we wish them well as they start to return home, or onto new ventures. They supported the community of Shipka in so many ways - helping the elderly in their gardens, improving outside spaces, designing and building polycultures, coordinating the writing of a solidarity project to improve a sports club for the local youth and in their general cheerful attitude to help in whatever way needed :) From their arrival at the end of spring to their departure this winter, they team have experienced all four seasons in Shipka.
This week we have been working hard on preparing an exhibition held at the local mayor's office, preparations of which have been going on for sometime. A selection of digital and analogue photos taken throughout the experience are on display with the aim of disseminating the project and showing the wide range of activities completed. In the below photo you can see Ruxandra Brad, whose photography and graphic design skills were invaluable in getting the photos on the wall!
 |
| Some visitors to the exhibition |
Ruxandra also created an info board for The Butterfly Polyculture that the ESC team planted out in the centre of Shipka in October. The graphic contains some basic information about what polyculture planting is, the function of the polyculture design (ie, to attract butterflies) and a little about each of the main plants featured, in both Bulgarian and English.
 |
| Markus and Rux creating The Butterfly Polyculture with Veska, the mayor of Shipka |
 |
| The Info Board |
Throughout late summer and autumn we've been collecting, drying and storing seeds from various gardens, vegetables that we've harvested and also from local people to add to a seed library that was gifted to the community of Shipka. The idea is that of a simple seed exchange - local growers can try to grow some different plants and in exchange bring a seed of their own to add to the stock. Many F1 hybrids are being grown now in the village, but lots of locals spoke with fondness about heirloom varieties of vegetables, and we were able to add some heirloom squash seeds to the collection. It was presented to the mayor and will be housed in the mayor's office and available for the whole village to access.
Welcome to our Online Store where you can find Forest Garden/ Permaculture plants, seeds, bulbs and Polyculture multi-packs along with digital goods and services such as Online Courses, Webinars, eBooks, and Online Consultancy. We hope you enjoy the store and find something you like :) It's your purchases that keep our Project going. Yuu can also find our full list of trees. shrubs and herbs for forest gardens on our website here
To check our photo album of the volunteers' experiences see here. To see what seed's we have on offer from the Bionursery see here.
 |
Regenerative Landscape Design - Online Interactive Course
Want to learn how to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes? Join us for our Regenerative Landscape Design - Online Interactive Course from May 1st to Sep 13th, 2023.
We're super excited about running the course and look forward to providing you with the confidence, inspiration, and opportunity to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes, gardens, and farms that produce food and other resources for humans while enhancing biodiversity.
Regenerative Landscape Design Online Course
You can find out all about the course here and right now we have a 20% discount on the full enrollment fees. Just use the promo code RLD2023 in the section of the registration form to receive your discount.
We are looking forward to providing you with this unique online learning experience - as far as we know, the very first of its kind. If you are thinking of reasons why you should do this course and whether this course is suitable for you, take a look here where we lay it all out. Looking forward to it!
We're super excited about running the course and look forward to providing you with the confidence, inspiration, and opportunity to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes, gardens, and farms that produce food and other resources for humans while enhancing biodiversity.
|
| Regenerative Landscape Design Online Course |
You can find out all about the course here and right now we have a 20% discount on the full enrollment fees. Just use the promo code RLD2023 in the section of the registration form to receive your discount.
We are looking forward to providing you with this unique online learning experience - as far as we know, the very first of its kind. If you are thinking of reasons why you should do this course and whether this course is suitable for you, take a look here where we lay it all out. Looking forward to it!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Support Our Project
If you appreciate the work we are doing you can show your support in several ways.
- Make a purchase of plants or seeds from our Bionursery or Online Store
- Consider joining us for one of our Courses or Online Courses
- Comment, like, and share our content on social media.
- Donate directly via PayPal to balkanecologyproject@gmail.com or via FTX Pay
If you appreciate the work we are doing you can show your support in several ways.
- Make a purchase of plants or seeds from our Bionursery or Online Store
- Consider joining us for one of our Courses or Online Courses
- Comment, like, and share our content on social media.
- Donate directly via PayPal to balkanecologyproject@gmail.com or via FTX Pay
