Drastic measures to control slugs and snails on site.....

With all the rain slugs ans snails are proving a real problem on site this year. Our newest volunteers Mike has come up with a way to help us. Here he is with a selection of our molluscs on route to be fed to his chickens.....

New Bees - 2 new colonies!

Helen Turner and Mary Venning have been looking to revive the Apiary. A stray colony has come by itself about a month ago to take up residence in Hive No 1.Helen has been feeding them 1:1 syrup to encourage them to stay. When we had a look at them they seemed active and happy with plenty of new brood in evidence. They were occupying 2 frames and we saw the queen!
Then on Monday 25th we went along to Pearson's farm to collect another colony, courtesy of Lee. We went in the evening hoping that most workers would have come home for the night. We taped up the hive and moved it to Dig-in, untaped it and left it on top of the Bessant Hive.
Then on Wednesday 27th we inspected the new colony. There were bees on 4 frames and again we saw the queen, so did David and Edwin. (Note to self- get more rubber gloves!) We moved the occupied brood box onto the stand and placed two supers above it without the queen excluder. This is so the bees will be encouraged to move up into our accommodation.Later we can return Lee's brood box to him.
We now have to see if they stay with us or decide to go back to Pearson's farm as I'm not sure if it's 3 miles away.Watch this space!
Mary

Saturday 23rd June- a little bit of sunshine...

After so much rain the grass and weeds have grown very well indeed.We had a good session on site today with a visit from a new volunteer and her daughters.Richard and I made an impact on the grass around the lower part of the site, cut down the 3ft high grass ready for the mower!you can see the beds with onions in now.We had to be careful as the grass was full of frogs but they were carefully placed in the pond by Cicely.Well done all- looking good.

Taming the Jungle!

The Workskills group visited the allotment to prepare the sensory beds for replanting next week. The beds were rather overgrown, so the students got stuck in thinning the plants and weeding the beds. Here are some of their comments:-

It was good fun. We got fresh air. We did planting and weeding. I am looking forward to going again. - Alex

It was a very great feeling to work outside with the plants, flowers and many other types of wildlife, also getting some fresh air.- Matthew

I was a bit shocked how fast it had grown and I was excited about doing the weeding. - Becky

The hemlock Happening well dressing under construction

Hemlock Happening 2012

Well dressing step by step- thought this mught be useful for anyone having a go.

Dig In AGM 2012

This year's AGM was held at the Carnegie Centre, Stapleford on the 23th June. The event was very well attended, with guest speaker Alan Withington providing a wonderful presentation of some of the site projects undertaken, as well as a talk on the benefits of providing wildflowers and other habitats for pollenating bees and to attract other beneficial wildlife to the allotment.

Mention was also given to the success of numerous groups and organisations such as First Steps and Pulp Friction, which Dig In have the pleasure of working with (including a special thanks to Stapleford Town Council), and the positive health benefits which volunteering at a community allotment provides, not to mention the terrific events and workshops we have planned for this year.

An update on the progress of the planned composting toilet, and recognition of the positive work undertaken by our outreach worker, Lauren Kinnersley, came as part of the Chair's report from Tony Payne, and a financial report was provided by our treasurer, Kathy Holmes. 

Sadly, both Tony and Mary Venning stepped down from their respective roles as Chair and Secretary on the committee, and I would like to thank them for their hard work and commitment to the project. Although the officer roles of Chair and Treasurer have been filled, we are still short of a Secretary. If anyone feels they are able to fill this rewarding position, or would like a chat over what duties and time commitment this would entail, then please contact either Kathy Holmes or myself.

A special thanks to all those who provided the very tasty buffet on the night.

David Gell
Dig In Chair