Between September 24 and October 2, Master Composters and Gardeners inspired hundreds of people to try home composting and organic gardening at a series of Great Big Green Week events.

Highlights included a composting stall as part of the Kendal Torchlight Carnival, on September 24 - one of the largest and oldest night-time parades in the northwest.

Children attending the Big Green Weekender at Allotment Soup, in Barrow-in-Furness, were encouraged to get involved in a special compost bin card game, to help them decide what could and could not be composted. “They liked learning about the fact you need a mix of greens (nitrogen rich material such as kitchen scraps and garden trimmings) and browns (such as straw or cardboard),” said project coordinator for Cumbria Master Composters, Frankie Kennett. “But they loved looking at all the creatures in the compost best of all!”

Volunteers also held troubleshooting workshops in Wem Harvest Market, Whitchurch Blackberry Fair and at Bayston Hill’s eco event, in Shropshire, to help people improve their composting results by getting the mix just right.

North Somerset Master Composters took working wormeries and bokashi bins to libraries, community markets and local fayres. “The team also had an electronic microscope, which gives a fascinating safari of springtails, pseudoscorpions, centipedes and mites,” said project coordinator Kate Eastment. “A highlight for visitors to Weston Central Library was a sighting of blaniulus-guttulatus, commonly known as the spotted snake millipede, whose pink polka dots are a remarkable sight!”

In Aberystwyth, Master Gardener volunteers talked to residents at the Go and Grow Festival promoting gardening and local food across the Dyfi Biosphere. “We’ve been working in the new garden since June, planting up community vegetable beds with our volunteers,” said project coordinator Jade Phillips. “It was lovely to invite people to come and harvest some of the food and learn about what they could be doing themselves.”

David Garrett, Garden Organic’s Head of Knowledge Transfer, added: “With a wealth of knowledge and brimming with enthusiasm Garden Organic volunteers have been inspiring people around the UK to garden sustainably at home and compost their organic waste. Every conversation helps to plant the seed for positive environmental changes in our own homes and gardens.”