Here is Ben and 'mini Ben' last wednesday.

Such lovely weather, the site is really starting to come to life now, and the seeds we sowed a couple of weeks ago are begining to germinate now too, and it's becoming apparent that I did indeed have the help of my two daughters, as all sorts of intersting mixtures of seed are appearing in some of the pots :$ - oops!

Our 40 mixed sunflower seeds are growing at home now too, and we intend to bring some to the site and brighten up the entrance area, for everyone to enjoy!

We also continued to dig over the beds remove weeds and dig in barrows full of course sand.

I started a new bed for comfrey.

I'm interested in trying harvesting some nettles to make our own fertiliser for later on, waste not want not! However I believe we are now Nettle free, so perhaps a walk of the site and sounding area.

New day, new faces

We started our new Saturday sessions in the most beautiful sunny weather.


Linda and Owain came along and did a lot of watering, to counteract the sun's drying effects on the soil. They also weeded out the larger of our onion beds before the early season weeds could take too firm a grip.


Sally, who recently enquired about joining us came along for an introductory look round before she had to go to a prior engagement. We hope to see Sally again, maybe on Wednesday.


Then another set of new folk, a family of four, arrived by bicycle. They arrived in two parent-and-child groups, having struggled to find the site. No wonder: who took down the allotment site notice? Anyway, it wasn't long before Chris, Amy, Abie and Chloe had been whisked around the site on a guided tour, then got stuck into some weeding: this time going to work on the bed of garlic and shallots. They left, all smiles, looking forward to next week.


A successful morning all round and the first of many regular Saturday sessions we hope. If all goes well, the Saturday sessions will allow more people to come along and take part in Dig In.

Seeds of growth

Lots of seeds being sown today. The little paper pots were all made by Kathy using a wooden former, a huge pile of newspaper, and an endless supply of patience. This is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than lots of plastic pots which use lots of oil in their production. If we all use less oil, we might not need our 'leaders' to attack so many gulf oil states. Hey, Dig In builds the road to world peace! When the seedlings grow, we can pop the whole thing into the ground and the paper pot just rots down into the earth and produces less root disturbance (= stronger plants = more lovely veggies.)

Two new visitors today: Owen and Linda came along for the first time to see what we do. They braved a heavy shower of rain as we did the grand tour of the site, and Owen even got his hands dirty with the seed-sowing. They're both lovely people and we're all hoping they'll stay with us and help the project to grow.

So: world peace, lovely veggie, and wonderful people - not a bad day's work.

Brown is beautiful

Mary spotted this fungi today and pointed out how lovely it looked. No other reason for blogging this except that 'lovely' is, well, lovely.

Jostaberry

What's Sean doing in that hole?

He's preparing the ground for the replanting of our new jostaberry bush which we'd previously put in the wrong place. A recent visitor to Dig In pointed out that we'd planted it too close to a gooseberry, and that jostaberries need a good deal of space. So Sean ventured out into the drizzle and put some muscle into digging a new hole for the bush. He fortified the soil with a good measure of fertiliser and set the bush in firmly, together with a stout stake for support as it grows bigger.

So what is a jostaberry anyway? Well, it's one of the new 'superfoods' - packed with vitamins and goodness, but don't ask me what it tastes like: at least, don't ask me until later in the year when we've harvested the fruits of Sean's labour.

Tracey's 'taters

Here are the early signs of success for Tracey's potato experiment.

Last Autumn, Tracey planted some seed potatoes in the polytunnel to see if they'd be happy through the Winter and find out if they'd emerge in the Spring. Well, they certainly look well enough. We gave them a good watering today, just to help the underground tubers to swell into something big and delicious. We also earthed them up: that is, we piled more soil over the greenery. This encouraged the plant to produce more potatoes and keeps the sun from getting through to the tubers which would turn them green and unuasable.

Actually, I could have told Tracey they'd grow. Every year, when I dig up my potato crop, I somehow always manage to miss a few. The following year, the forgotten tubers grow and emerge into the sunlight, usually in the most inconvenient place such as a recently-sown seedbed of the following crop.


Unlike me, Tracey had the good sense to put her potatoes exactly where she wanted them to grow.

Pumpkins galore

We now have lots of pumpkin seeds, thanks to the generosity of Stonebridge City Farm. They've donated us lots of seed which will be used as part of a schools project, culminating in our second annual Pumpkin Festival on 30th October. We will give out pumpkin seeds and plants to encourage schools, as well as individuals, to grow pumpkins which are then entered into various displays and competitions at the festival.

Last year we had competitions for the biggest pumpkin (it was truly enormous) and for the best-decorated pumpkin. There were also lots of activities, including pumpkin food tasting, pumpkin carving, pumpkin games, and a pumpkin beauty spa.

Many thanks to Stonebridge City Farm, who are based in the urban heart of Nottingham. They run their own growing projects, as well as giving city people a chance to meet farm animals and enjoy a beautiful little haven within a few minutes' walk of the city centre. As well as taking a look at their website, you may wish to check out their online petition to save part of the farm from being converted into a car park.

"Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got till it's gone,

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot" Joni Mitchell