Southend (East) Allotments and Garden Society Look at this lovely honey currently being spun…

Dan Golding posted in Southend (East) Allotments and Garden Society Dan Golding 19 August 19:44 Look at this lovely honey currently being spun out from the hives at the allotment … South Side produced more than the North Side, but the ones “up North” have only been there for a few weeks so they have worked hard 🙂

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A lot of tea and a bit of work….

This happy crowd are our first offical group visitors, Some members of  SEEOG   (South East Essex Organic Gardeners). They have been great supporters, with help, advice and donations. We had the flags out for the occasion, and tea…lots of tea.

The visitors got a guided tour of the plot, they were most impressed by the vertical gardening up and over the shed.Some concerns were expressed about the roof under the weight of our impressive pumpkin!

We then had a discussion about suggestions for winter planting, over a cup of tea, and then it was time for lunch….

Vic and Ducan then tackled the sadly blighted tomatoes in the greenhouse. It was an experiment, since they couldnt get the daily TLC they really need. Recipes for green tomato chutney were swapped.

We are excited and hopeful about the melons

The others set to weeding some of the beds, and digging up more potatoes, we really have had a good harvest.

And then, all to soon it was time to leave. Thank you, everyone, for coming. Thanks to Sharon for donating a pile of books and some seeds, and to Vic for a tray of seedlings ( and for planting them!) We hope to see you again soon and to welcome many more visitors to the plot.

Good effort 6/9

Another work day and even more pictures.

 

Pictures depicting work plan for today, netting up brassicas, pumpkin spreading vines over the bed, phacelia flowers feeding bees in between the pumpkin vines, chard has taken off, the scrumptious pumpkin flowers, a hedgehog in the corner of the plot!, the ends stages of paining a beautiful shed, yields of onion, tiles painted green ready to be written up with organic growing techniques. A picture of wilderness encroaching and brave Duncan standing in its way. For lunch we had a squash frittata and merignues and fruit leather for dessert.

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Sitcomma Excursion

Last Saturday we were lucky enough to visit our second permaculture land centre.    Sitcomma hopes to one day achieve this status so as a permaculture learner centre, these trips help us to experience, learn and research  the wonders of these magical places and I confess have a jolly good time in the process.  Lambourne End outdoor adventure centre in North Essex, 1hr in our bus from Southend, does so much more than the name lets on.  

After a warm welcome from our host for the day- introducing Tony

We firstly toured the centre place, a holiday home feeling set of single story dorms, and planning/ teaching rooms..  Set around a big square court. grape and kiwi vines adorned the canopies.  To think Kiwis happily growing in England! this must be magicplace.

Lambourne end receives visits from an amazing variety of  backgrounds form the likes of business people on team building courses although a great many of the visitors are disabled physically, mentally or emotionally and often a mix of all the above.  Sounds daunting but the atmosphere around this place is so relaxed and positive.

Huge pool suitable for practicing in Kayaks.   For the larger Canadian canoes a nearby canal is visited.

Traditional bell tents, for the happy campers.

One activity they run is a ‘make your own Pizza’ day, learning and good fun especially when a brilliant clay oven is to hand.

After the pizza has gone down, first one to the top of this monster climbing tower.

Challenges like climbing or caving in this network of underground tunnels allows anybody, not just the nervous perhaps, to build their confidence and fear control skills.

Low ropes over pond for more confidence building, with a summer algae rich pond you would try extra hard not to fall in eh?

Exploring the senses with a nifty trick.  Hold a mirror under the nose and see the world from the perspective of a tree frog.  This really makes the hairs of the back of your neck stand on end.

Fiona admires the awesome wood and cob round house, built with the help of bank workers.  They benefit from the stressless environment and the health benefits of physical, outdoor work as well as practicing team building skills.  Lambourne end gets a wonderful roundhouse.  Win win.

The land learners, like sponges soaking up all the permaculture wisdom around them.

 

Polytunnel chillies growing like wildfire.  Could it be the ready source of  natural fertilizer from all the animals on the farm.

Wildlife pond can be used by biology degree students. Tony informed us they have introduced a particular species of carp as an experiment,to combat an overbearing duck weed.

An open field area, home to just grass snakes and grass hoppers etc. A nice block of high-rise flats, clean tarmac roads no messy foliage, that’s neater. A tongue in cheek way of raising the awareness of the importance of green spaces to these kids, who perhaps may actually become town planners one day.

Holy cow! Some beast.

Don’t tickle him, he wants a good hard scratch.

Meet Freddy.  scallywag of a goat. He has the habit of constantly testing the fencing around the field in order to reach that particularly juicy looking nettle just out of mouths reach.

Tony and his girls

The well though through infrastructure within Lambourne end includes a pair of clever compost toilets, minimal water usage and of course the free fertilizer after a year or two.

I’m the king of the castle!

 

We were astounded by Lambourne ends facilities, the multitude of ways in which they serve the needs of some of the most needy people in and around Essex, the interconnectivity of the different aspects of the farm and it’s other guise as an activity centre.  This is what permaculture looks like in the flesh.  It all looked so natural and easy, that we conclude is the result of careful planning, planning and planning, and once all is planned and in place, that is when the real journey of constant change and adaption begins.