Digging The Dirt we need you!

Join in a Lewisham wide project all about the wonders of soil! (Guest Blog Maria Devereaux from Wild Cat Wilderness)

You might not think much about the soil beneath your feet - just dirt or mud. But soil is a living system, essential to life on Earth. It grows the food we eat, supplies vital nutrients, and supports natural ecosystems teeming with billions of organisms. Soil helps manage water, regulate the climate, and provides the raw materials and foundation that make our planet habitable.

The problem is that Earth’s healthy soil is rapidly disappearing. This loss threatens our food supply, ecosystems, and air quality, while accelerating climate change. The good news is that we can all work together to restore soil’s health and that’s what our borough wide project is all about.

So if you would you like to help you can get involved in a fun, educational community project. This includes free training, soil health testing, seed sowing, arts and pottery. Plus there’s an opportunity to be part of the Lewisham Community Gardens Trail and an exhibition in June.

I am Maria, the Project Coordinator from the Wild Cat Wilderness, a community greenspace in Catford and a Lewisham Local charity project, which includes Good Food Lewisham. We are running a project entitled Digging the Dirt - the world beneath your feet from March to June 2026, which is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. We are working with Kim Norton a local ceramic designer who specialises in soil and who was part of the Soil exhibition at Somerset House in 2025, Soil the World at our Feet, which inspired this project. As part of our project at the Wild Cat Wilderness there will be a Soil Festival on the18^th April and a Summer Solstice Exhibition to show any creative outputs from the project on the 20/21^st June.

There are several opportunities for gardens/ greenspaces to get involved.

• Become a Soil Hero

If you are part of a local group we are looking for people to help with project and spread the word. We will provide some training and information all about soil health so you can pass this onto others on the 8^th March at the Orchard Gardens. For more information and to enroll (x1 person per garden/greenspace) please email me at wcw@rgtb.org.uk

• Take part in “Soiled” 

Check your soil health by burying some calico for x4 weeks and participate in a collective community piece of art to be exhibited at the Summer Solstice Exhibition. We will provide the calico and instructions and then you return the results back to us to form part of a communal art piece.

• Lewisham open gardens day

Be part of a self-guided trail across the borough of greenspaces with an open day and map in conjunction with Good Food Lewisham on the 19^th April.  

• Hands on workshops, talks and films about soil, sustainable gardening, growing advice and composting. Dates to be announced. We are also looking for local experts to get involved so get in touch.

• Grow a bee friendly plant or herb 

Sow some seeds to plant at you greenspace. We will provide the seeds and instructions.

• Pottery sessions 

Using natural clay you can make seed pods, seed bombs and soil critters (the microscopic organisms that live in the soil). Jo Pearl will be running the soil critters workshop on the 30^th May. Jo is an activist artist who has been focused on making work about the biodiversity hidden in soil and Jo’s work was also part of the exhibition at Somerset House. The seed pods and soil critters will then be part of our Summer Solstice Exhibition.

This is just a small part of the overall project, which includes free outdoor education session for schools, storytelling, family activities, creative writing and more. You can find out more by visiting our website www.wildcatwilderness.org for a full list. You can also sign up to our newsletter to be kept up to date.

To get involved with any of these free opportunities please email Maria

wcw@rgtb.org.uk - with the subject matter ‘Digging the Dirt’ and state which garden/greenspace you are part of.

We look forward to Digging the Dirt with you

Maria

Maria and her trusty team at last years fantastic plant sale at Wild Cat Wilderness.

To help you locate your local community gardens like wildcat Wilderness check out the

Good Food Lewisham map

Good Food Lewisham Map