Learn more about the last open day😊
Work in progress – The first community allotment by Southend in Transition
Category Archives: Biodiversity
Compost bathing 21/8
Buzzing on the plot. The girls painted the new swing frame and made it more encouraging 😍🎉as before it looked a bit mighty and stern. They played, drawn and crafted the rest of the day.
Duncan found joy in sifting a tonne of compost and bagged up it awaits its use patiently. Steve joined in between preparing for the next XR actions and lend a hand to us. Join the movement details below.
Tilly found a lot of uses for the wild plants while weeding. Plenty of leaves stalks, roots and seeds to work with🤔🍴
Fiona found lots and lots of beans growing, the yellow and green variety. It seemed like we planted them just last week but the warmth and rains spurred them on:)
We harvested first leaves from the perennial kales planted this year, they are nearly filling out the netted cages we built for them. They might reach two meters so we will have some DIY ahead💪😊.
Perennial leeks were growing well, cant wait till autumn for the first harvest. I gave them some nutrition using our tad stinky compost tea😊😒 and placed the muck around the plants . That should keep them going for a while. Look out for upcoming sessions
Grape vine getting a hair cut 8/7
Weather forecast wasn’t the most encouraging but we tried anyway and apart from a small drizzle were fine out on the plot😊👌
Duncan had another go at the vine which is prolific again this year. The season hasn’t been the best with the unusual weather (wink wink climate crisis is here already) but the grape is a sturdy and reliable producer so far. It’s positioned against the greenhouse and benefits from it heating up early in the season, warmth at night, support and some wind shelter. As a result we can expect easily 40 to 60 liters of grapes and that despite Duncan thinning half of the fruit!!!
We will though thin it right down in autumn as it is completely shading out the greenhouse for the summer so balance is called for. There will be lots of potential twigs to start new plants so let us know if you want some.
Jen worked on the asparagus and sorrel bed. Weeds tried to take over and sorrel was ready for harvest so the bed looks bare now but the roots have all those goodness in them to re sprout and feed us without the need for digging, seeding, planting as the perennials will keep on giving.
I had a go at making a swing frame from scaffolding boards as the previous one was starting to creak suspiciously and our kids are growing. I might have overdone it with the height for now 🤔but am sure that under Jen’s scouts trained eye and with Duncan’s DIY skills set we are going to end up with a robust product an Olympian gymnast would be proud off.
Oh and there are so so many flowers on the plot. So much food for pollinators 💐🌸🌹
Pergola is on the up 26/6/21
An update from the Open day and follow up visits. Tilly took care of the rhubarb bed, nice to see it again and potted up 10 plus for give aways and donations. Demanding job but satisfying indeed
The plot is looking lush and abundant while tranquil thanks to so many people helping to create this space.
Shaun brought his hand drawn map of the allotments part of his art project and got involved with Clive in preparing the wood for the pergolas. They will give us vertical growing spaces and a pleasant feature to the plot.
Duncan did his mid season check on the grape vine by pruning it to encourage fruit growth.
Kath in turn helped us to experiment with the green cuttings and applied rooting gel and potted them up.m
Mia watered some of the plants and herded some snails.
Susan and Susan popped in for a chat, a nit of inspiration and some tips.
A few days later I planted runner beans , courgettes, climbing beans, potatoes, perennial onion and leeks. Strawberries are ripening as well so good time to visit
Interested? Join us on the 10th and 24th Sat 10-14 😊
Invitation to the 26/03 Taster Day and Seed Swap
Southend in Transition Community Allotment
(entrance to allotments off Hamstel Road – Garon’s end – opposite fish and chips Plaice to Be)
(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
Sun 26/03 10-14
Gardening and the big paint job to prepare the sheds for a new season and…Seed Swap! Buy, sell, swap and donate seeds. Your regular varieties and some surprises.
Sat 15/04 10-14
Enjoy some gardening and Easter Egg Hunt!! Bring the kiddies for 10:00AM
Other events by Southend in Transition Transition Drinks – 30/03 Thur 19:00 Olde Trout Taver
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 us?
- donate tools (even if broken as we might be able to fix them)
- donate seed
- donate your time
- 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 and picture attached.
Social action hours put in by the volunteers and Trustees into running SiT, events and the plot since Sept 2016: 120 hrs. Thank you all.
Kind Regards
Kamil Pachalko
07411457259
Email UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving updates for the plot.
Supplies for the plot
The warm growing season is coming to an end and we are picking the last of summer produce.
The family plot is getting on thanks to the help of Jim and Helen and generosity of Michael at http://www.Ollu.co.UK who donated the scaffolding boards. We dropped off some surplus topsoil mixed with coffee grounds onto the pile ready for when the raised beds are up.
This was a short visit and we enjoyed the low sun. As a bonus nature provided Alicja with materials for a beautiful bouquet.
See you on Sunday 23rd Oct
Taster Day 06/08/16 and Tamalpa Life Art Process
We arrived on the plot with a busy schedule in mind.
Duncan and Fiona were hard at work keeping the weeds under control who seem to be encroaching from each side of our remote plot. Oh yes, community allotment is not only glamour you see:). We had a discussion with Duncan on the pros and cons of a grass path vs a mulched path. Not sure we got that settled. What’s your preference and why?
Soon enough two visitors arrived and put themselves to the task of gathering black berries – free food forever!. W have not put one ounce of work towards the brambles and they still produced lots of lovely berries for us.
Even more visitors arrived and after a short chat and tea threw themselves into planting our two apples trees. They will need plenty of watering in the coming weeks but we could not wait anymore as the pots were more likely to dry out then if we put them in the soil.
Then came the turn for some composting – we filled the bins with garden green waste, covered with some used coffee grounds and watered them. Last Taster Day’s bins seem to be doing well with the materials slowly moving slower. I’d like to start up making somecomfrey tea to fertilize the beds but also as I found that the remaining sludge is a great compost activator so we could use it in the bins.
We took part in the http://www.bigbutterflycount.org/ and spent 15 min walking the allotments spotting butterflies. Some of us went old school and had print outs and some downloaded the app for the phone. No one felt an expert in recognizing butterflies but the materials were quite self explanatory and soon we were marking off first findings. In all honesty I don’t have much appreciation for the white butterflies especially after they found a hole in our brassica bed netting and their offspring devoured the plants but thinking of them as performing an important pollinator function helped me appreciate that nature is about relationships and that sometimes we get and sometimes we give. All in all we counted 26 butterflies and around 5-6 varieties (ie. large and small white, gatekeeper) as some of them were not willing to perch down for us to allow more accurate inspection.
Following a scrumptious lunch we set off on to the green for the Tamalpa workshop with Donna who kindly offered it to us prior to her trip to the states.
We walked, we moved and swayed and sat and drew about our experiences. It felt great to connect in this way with our bodyscape in nature and hear from everyone about their experiences. It reminded me of the different ways of observing activity I tried during the Permaculture Design Course and how it helped me and others see our surroundings with new eyes and get fresh insights.
That’s it for now and see you on the 27/08 for the next Taster Day.
Upcoming Taster Days at the SiT community allotment
Sun 10/07 10-14 – regular day with good company, food and learning new skills, bring your drill:). Lunch time planning for a network to start up projects helping communities unite in these unsettling times. FB event, please share.
Sun 24/07 10-14 Poetry on the Plot – featuring spoken word as we liked it a lot the last time around. FB event, please share.
Visit us to plant, catch the sun, grow, water, sit, enjoy, drink tea or just chat.
How you can help us grow:
-
donate tools (even if broken as we might be able to fix them)
-
donate seed
-
donate your time
How to find our little plot MAP
And a write up of one of the days at the plot.
Gardening and conversing on the 11/06
This is the best time of year to be in the garden. Warmth from the sun, gentle breeze, plants largely look after themselves. This seasons changing weather makes the weeds happy as well and we get a regular work out on the weeds.
We had a good go at the tool storage and like the way it is going to keep them organised plus Fiona will be very pleased with the upcoming potting table next to it.
Sara has brought us a tool from Spain made from copper which is said to keep away slugs and a cross between a 3-pronged cultivator and a hoe and helped our brassicas by cutting down the tops of the German Alpine Spinach to make it more bushy and not to crowd out the other saplings and applied some used ground coffee around the plants to feed them.
Jason visited us for the first time and cracked on with cutting the grass which enjoys the rain and sun and needs to be seen to each time we are there. The plot looks more presentable thanks to the teams persistence.
It was great to observe the interactions on the plot, in a space 15m by 9m people can find a quiet space for themselves tending to the plants and can also join together in work and conversations flow.
A perk of the day was meeting Dan from Essex Bees tending to his cuties. He was generous and we tried fresh honey and wax straight from the comb. Delicious.
We finished off with a lunch with a rise salad followed by fruit and so the day came to an end.
Feedback from Jason:
I am quite nervous and feel a little uncomfortable when meeting new people, but everyone one was very nice and friendly which helped a lot. It was also nice to get my hands into the soil, and see a modest result for my efforts. The tool room looked great, and the food was very nice too. Looking forward to doing it again soon. Thanks
Next plot day will be on the 26/06 Sunday 10-14 and looking forward to seeing you for a cup of tea or a dig depending on what you feel you need.
Kamil
Southend in Transition Community Allotment 