Sunny Sunday plot gathering

A late summers day brought out all the faithful attendees to the plot plus a few newbies to join in the fun.  We were greeted with the beginnings of autumn tinging the leaves of our still producing glorious grapevine.

We quickly realised there were still plenty of fruits on our crab apple tree after the first pickings last time, so Fiona, Sarah and Helen got to work harvesting the higher up crabs for more home made vitamin c packed jams and jellies.

Meanwhile Duncan and Kamil unloaded a load of donated top soil into to our Hugelkulture raised beds in the children’s plot ready for planting up next time with lots of perennial herbs, all over-seen by chief fore-man Nella.

No words are available for the lunch only pictures could get close to describing our lovely pot luck delights.  So feast your eyes on this lot:

We have wonderful neighbours at the allotment and one of them Steve came bearing carrots which we readily and thankfully received.

We have potted up a great number of strawberry plants which we are nurturing on in the greenhouse which will be on sale at St laurence orchard Apple day on the 7th October.

The warmer weather after the rain brought out our friends the Slow worms, which delighted the children no end.  We were pleased to have been joined by Claire of Conscious kitchen  Southend who we were excited to talk with about Southend food network, Ayurvedic cooking classes with Sarah, and diet as medicine with Dr Helen.

We will be at the aforementioned Apple Day at st Lawrence’s Orchard on the next open day so please come and visit us there and sample the yummies we have prepared. The next plot day is Sat the 14th October all welcome, no matter the weather.

Peace and Love

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Harvest Festival 2017

Last weekend we surprised ourselves with the abundance of produce and friends who came to the plot.

Before we started feasting though we cracked on with removing dead grass, Duncan combed the grass with lots of determination and I swear I could hear the grass having a sigh of relief having lost bushels of dead hay. Later on Duncan went off with the new strimmer and was very impressed with its efficiency. One day when we have more volunteers than work we will go back to the manual tools but for the sake of efficiency we are resorting to battery powered tools. 

Sarah started work on potting up the strawberry runners using some of our very own compost. Last year we must have had around 50 and they were quickly gone to friends gardens. Can we make 100 this year and get some donations to help us buy materials as needed? Remember to give your strawberries a haircut this time of year to remove dead leaves and the roots will spring new leafs before winter still. Give the plants space even foot wide to let the plant have a chance to deliver on its fruiting potential and not fight off other strawberries. With runners when you pot them cut the leaves off if there are too many. The root might dry out otherwise if the leaves have to transpire too much moisture.

Fiona painted signs for the allotment so it will be easier for prospective plot holders to get hold of the contact details of the main site society and also smaller signs for us so people can get to use easier.

We delivered lots of wood which will be used to build a pergola over the storage area which can be used for climbers such as our favourite (!) shark fin melon or an actual favourite which is the grape.

The families kept on streaming in and while some of us measured the plots to be able to create designs for the orchard and family plot others prepared the gazebo, tables and food and of course harvested the food.

We had our very own cherry tomatoes, welsh onion greens, grapes (10kg), courgettes, gem squashes, corn, kale, donated aubergines and cucumbers and anything else I might have missed. There was food a plenty and we rested while chatting.

Kids played and ate and played, it was a joy to see everyone relaxed and entertained.

At the end Piotr and his daughter offered us a gong bath which everyone enjoyed after a tiring but wonderful day. The vibration took everyone on a journey of relaxation and although only short everyone looked refreshed. Amazing what different interests and skills get brought and shared at the plot. Here’s to more surprises.

 

And some lovely comments from everyone:

Thanks for coming today. Please let me know how it was for you and I will include your feedback in the next blog post. It will help us and others understand the impact the project is making. It could be a word/sentence/ picture or paragraph describing yours or your child’s experience. As an example but not to limit you: What Connections have you made, what did you Learn, what did you Notice, what Physical Activity did you do or what did you Give to others of the project. Cheers and see you again.

SAT 20:48

Eleanor

food, chat, friends and fun outdoor play for the children

Lester

Grapes

SUN 10:56

Louise

Nice to meet friendly people, lovely food, great playing opportunity for Samantha. She had loads of fun in the family plot with all the toys and play kitchen. And yes, grapes! Oh, and I learned about bananas being used to encourage tomatoes to ripen!

SUN 21:11

Laura

I enjoyed how my sense of well-being changed as I intermingled with gentle people. The sharing of each others food really resonated with me, eating, laughing, sharing and talking outside of your comfort zone has a positive impact on your mental health. To see people coming together to grow, dig and share their knowledge reminds me that I’m not alone in wanting a better future for me and my family. Thank you SIT for providing that

 

SiT Community Allotment Taster Days Sat 09/09 10-14 presented by Southend in Transition

Southend in Transition Community Allotment
(entrance to allotments off Hamstel Road – Garon’s end – opposite fish and chips Plaice to Be)

Where you can learn how to grow food, look after your garden, take fresh produce home, meet new people over a shared meal and exchange ideas on how to help the community thrive.

Taster Days – Volunteers and public welcome

Sat 09/09 10-14
Harvest festival – with the juicy grapes making a return this year and lots of tomatoes, pumpkins and green onions gracing us we will feast on food prepared at home and on the day.

11:30 tea and short tour of the plots
12:30 lunch

Come in anytime for a cup of tea

Saun 24/09 10-14
Gardening and a bit more of citizen science – the Big Bug Hunt – spot them and record them

Other events locally:

Transition Drinks – 28/09 Thur 19:00 Olde Trout Tavern

SOUTH EAST ESSEX ORGANIC GARDENERS Talk “Turning My Life Around” 18/09 8 pm

Apple Day Sat 7/10 11-14 St Laurence Orchard

Learning opportunities

Compost making

Wise watering

Soil fertility

Weeding

DIY:

water catchment and storage

Tool shed

Potting table

Materials storage

Starting new plot – digging

Visit us to plant, catch the sun, grow, water, sit, enjoy, drink tea or just chat.

How you can help?

• donate tools (even if broken as we might be able to fix them)
• donate seed
• donate your time – volunteer occasionally or on a regular basis
• leave us a review here (thank you Louise) and here

Where is it?

Click to find our little plot off Hamstel Road. Link to MAP

Past days

The Good Rot… and other stuff

Kids dig potatoes

Kind Regards

Kamil Pachalko
07411457259

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