EMERGING FERTILITY FEEDBACK LOOPS & WATER NETWORKS

‘Allotment Soup’ is a long term Art Gene project, actively working with local people since 2015 to establish the ‘Isle of Walney Community Growing Space’. Led by Art Gene Artists/Directors Maddi Nicholson and Stuart Bastik alongside project Artist in Residence Hannah Brackston from the projects inception in 2015-19, and Dr Vincent Walsh as Ecological Designer from 2020-21.

This community resource occupies a field, leased from Barrow Borough Council on Mill Lane, Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Much more than just an allotment the design of the site, interventions and actions on it are about growing food, habitats, new ideas and people – all simultaneously. The field is a site for play and social connection but also for environmental activism and strategic re-wilding of both local habitats and people.

This year Ecological Designer Vincent Walsh has created a series of hands on expert-led workshops. These workshops will introduce you a range of ecological interventions which will promote sustainability, build resilience and encourage biodiversity, supported by Oakmere Homes. Read more about how Art Gene are working with Oakmere to encourage native wildlife and flora back to areas around Barrow here.

The program of works implemented of range of interconnected ecological features across the allotment. The main aim of the works was to increase the biodiversity of the site, through the planting of cover crops and wildflowers. This was accompanied with large Hugel Mounds in different areas of the site, planted with a range of perennial food plants, and comfy for nutrient uptake and biomass.