The beginning of September already. The hottest, driest summer anyone can remember ended with a little rain. The rainwater collection tanks and damp meadow gratefully absorbed it, but where the ground was compacted, the rain barely made an impression. Rainwater … Continue reading End of summer working party
We know that a full-sized plot is a big commitment and, depending how much time you have, it can be a lot of work. This is one of the reasons that we decided to test out a slightly different way … Continue reading Would you like to try growing your own food?
Just a select few today, so we had another go at the nettles and bindweed, and found a frog or two… The small amount of rain this week hasn’t made much of a difference to the extremely dry soil, but … Continue reading August Working Party
July’s working party was another opportunity to thin and trim the vegetative exuberance of early summer. We concentrated on a ‘chop and drop’ of the comfrey in the mini food-forest, and on pulling bindweed elsewhere on site. Comfrey is deep … Continue reading July working party
It was very windy, and the butterflies were sitting it out on this plum tree – so no purple wings were actually seen, but the underwings are definitely Purple Hairstreak! This is a butterfly that is reliant on Oak Trees … Continue reading Purple Hairstreak(s)
It was brilliant to have Mark and his drone back to capture (from the air) our progress on the project site. Here (below) are some of the shots – if you want to see the ‘before’ shots, they are here. … Continue reading Progress seen from the air
The sudden burst of wet weather following the very warm, dry spring has resulted in an explosion of nettles across the project plot, so today’s working party set out to pull those up and give the fruit trees and bushes … Continue reading Nettles and (Ragged Robin) petals
Wonderful to see a clutch of Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars on a patch of nettles on the project plot this week. Along with many other butterfly species, they’ve had a rough ride with the recent wet springs, but hopefully the dry … Continue reading Lots of lovely caterpillars!
It’s brilliant to be able to wander round (in wellies!) in the mini nature reserve and spot who is currently living there. The willows that we pollarded at the end of last year are sprouting nicely. The other trees (willow, … Continue reading Spotter’s Guide
Paul and Jo, and Adele and Polly are our first takers for the raised beds – and it’s exciting to see them growing things already. If you’d like to rent one, two or four raised beds instead of a whole … Continue reading First tenants for the raised beds
Urban Allotment: climate resilience & community 