BOOK NOW for Willow wreath workshop - places limited

Don't forget you must book to attend the FREE Willow Wreath workshop.  Places are limited.

To book, please send an email reserving your place to:

bookings@diginstapleford.org.uk

Willow wreath workshop Sat 9th December, 1pm - 3pm

Autumn Harvest Celebration Event 2017

All are welcome to attend our annual Dig In Autumn Harvest Celebration event at the Albany allotment site, Pasture Road, Stapleford. The event is open to the public from 1pm and will run until 4pm on Saturday 21st October 2017. There will be lots to see and do for all the family, along with a warming selection of soups, cakes and refreshments. Please see flyer below for further information.

Public Events for 2017

Saturday 8th July 
1pm - 4pm  
Summer Celebration at Dig In
Tea, cakes, craft activities, relaxation therapies, smoothie bikes with Pulp Friction, refreshments, fruit kebabs, jams & preserves, tombola etc.  Seasonal produce and plants grown on the allotment will be available for a small donation, subject to availability.

Saturday, Early September - date TBA
Stapleford Carnival Ilkeston Road
Dig In will be there!  Come & see us.

Sunday 17th September
Meet at DigIn at 10.00am for 10.30am depart
Sponsored Bicycle Ride and Sponsored Walk for Dig In
The ride will be about 15-20 miles and the walk about 5 miles.
If you would like to join in and help us raise funds, please choose either the ride or the walk.  Sponsor forms will be available from DigIn from 1st July.  Call in for a form at Dig In any Weds or Sat between 10am & 12 midday, or drop us an email to enquiries@diginstapleford.org.uk

Saturday 21st October 1pm - 4pm
Autumn Harvest at Dig In
Apple pancakes, apple pressing, smoothie bikes with Pulp Friction, pumpkin carving, chutneys & preserves, activities, tombola etc.  Seasonal produce and plants grown on the allotment will be available for a small donation, subject to availability.


Dig In is run for the benefit of the community by volunteers.  Events are Free entry but a donation may be suggested for certain activities.  Any donations welcome to help us with running costs.

Additional events, eg. pond dipping, bug hunts and art workshops are yet to be arranged so please check on Facebook, this blog, or pop in and see us any Weds or Sat 10am-12 midday.

We look forward to seeing you!

(One of) the hazards of organic gardening!

Doing a spot of weeding in the tomato/lettuce bed & I found this whopper!
Needless to say, it now has a new home ...

Sat 17th June Cooking Workshop

Some pics from the workshop.

What's cooking? Flatbread and 3 soups: leek & potato, carrot & coriander and parsnip & apple!

Soups a-cooking ...

Flatbread beginnings ...

Blend that soup!!  Faster !!!

Weds 14th June Cooking Workshop

Some pics from the workshop.

What's cooking?  Vegetable curry & Naan bread, that's what!

Broad beans fresh from the plant

from the pod ...

... to the curry ...

Make some naan bread to go with that

Happy cookers!

Cooking Workshop Sat 3rd June

Here are some pics from the Cooking Workshop, held on Sat 3rd June.

What's cooking?  Herby garlic bread,  mackerel pasta salad and apple & blackberry crumble.  Yum!

Purrfect

Here are some pics from the cooking workshop held on Weds and funded by The Big Lottery Fund.  Farah showed attendees how to make Tortilla, salsa and salad dressing to go with it - tasted amazing!!!
All of the salsa ingredients are being grown on the allotment this year, although not all ready just yet!

Come and have a Purrfect day at DigIn, you'll Bee ever so welcome ...

Yummy grass!

DIG IN AGM

Yes its that time again...DIG IN will be holding its AGM on saturday May 20th at  10.15.The AGM will be held at the polytunnel (or outside depending on the weather) . We use this opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the year as well as going through the formal governance necessities. Our committee will stand down and a new committee elected. Existing volunteers can stand again or new members are very welcomed into the fold. The formalities will be followed by a committee meeting which you will be welcomed to stay for.

We hope you can join us- please let us know so we can gauge numbers for refreshments- yes ... refreshments available too- How can you resist!!!

 

Bug hotel in action

This sunny weather has caused a lot of activity in and around a bug hotel, made at DigIn about 2 years ago.
Its mounted on my garden shed in full sun and has been used as a nest by leaf cutter bees and mason bees.  Its easy to spot the difference between the two species; the leaf cutters use parts of leaves to seal their nesting tubes and the mason bees use mud.
The tubes have been sealed all winter and the new bees are now emerging.
See the picture and short video for some action!
You can see the tiny holes in the mud where the new bee has pushed its way out.  On the roof of the lower bug box you can see bits of mud that have fallen from the upper bug box as the new bees emerge.

Heres a short video clip... if you have trouble viewing it on Apple Mac, enable Flash for this site on your computer or use the Google Chrome browser which gives an option to use Flash on the page which has the video.

Saturday, 25th March 2017

There will be no gardening session at DigIn this Saturday 25th March. We are holding one of our regular meetings but instead of being in the polytunnel in the cold we will be holding it at the Equalized club in Stapleford. All welcome to join us there.
Meeting starts at 10.15am.
Ring the bell at the side of the door if its closed and wait for someone to let you in.

Spring has Sprung!

Signs of Spring have finally arrived at the allotment!
We were greeted by a frog chorus on Wednesday, hundreds of frogs have descended on the pond to mate. There's a lot of frogspawn already! The pond is so clear at the moment, we can see all the way to the bottom making it easier to see the other interesting occupants of the pond. We've counted 5 newts, so that's really good news.

Winter Work

We've had great work going on during this winter at Dig In, getting some jobs done that we've been wanting to do for ages!

 First off we tidied up and tidied out the polytunnel, then donned face-masks...

 ...and removed all the old dusty woodchip to mulch soft fruit.

 We had a sunny cuppa that day, surrounded by all the stuff from the polytunnel!

A couple of weeks later, our woodworking team re-designed and re-built the staging so it is lower and more solid. Ready for loads of plants!

 

Meanwhile, lots of us have been taking compost out of the giant compost bins and spreading in on all the beds. Here the compost is being sieved before being barrowed to its new location.

Theres also some actual horticulture happening too! Here we were planting onion sets and garlic so they get a head start.

And here we're digging up weeds in the soft fruit plot.
Happy times!

Mistletoe (no wine though)

A mild and windy morning on the allotment today. Karen spotted this mistletoe growing on one of the Bramley apple trees! This is fab news as we've been trying to get some to grow for years. Last winter/spring we squished lots of seed into a number of our orchard apple trees so I'm really chuffed that one of the seeds has actually taken.

Saturday, 18th February 2017

There will be no gardening session at DigIn this Saturday 18th February. We are holding one of our regular meetings but instead of being in the polytunnel in the cold we will be holding it at the Equalized club in Stapleford. All welcome to join us there. Meeting starts at 10.15am.

Saturday 14th Jan, 2017

There will be no DigIn gardening session on Saturday 14th Jan 2017.

We are holding one of our regular meetings but instead of being in the cold polytunnel, we are holding it at the Equalised Club in Stapleford.  All volunteers are welcome to join us at the meeting - it will be in the warm for a change.
The meeting starts at 10.15am if you want to join us.