The next workshop is Papermaking on Saturday 25th June, 2pm-4pm. Booking is essential, please send an email to reserve your place to our bookings email.
These workshops are free of charge thanks to funding from Comic Relief.
Sunday, 29 May 2016
Willow Obelisk Workshop
We held a willow obelisk making workshop on Saturday, led by Joy Killowe. Here are a few pics of the workshop taking place. We were lucky with the weather and everyone could spread out on the orchard without the fear of whipping or being whipped with willow! Everyone made impressive obelisks to take away for their gardens.
The next workshop is Papermaking on Saturday 25th June, 2pm-4pm. Booking is essential, please send an email to reserve your place to our bookings email.
These workshops are free of charge thanks to funding from Comic Relief.
The next workshop is Papermaking on Saturday 25th June, 2pm-4pm. Booking is essential, please send an email to reserve your place to our bookings email.
These workshops are free of charge thanks to funding from Comic Relief.
Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Hawthorn
The hawthorn tree is in full blossom at the moment, absolutely smothered, and looks fab!
The grass got its third mow of the year today so there's plenty of grass cuttings for the composters to deal with again!
We sowed some runner beans, a little later than we normally would, but this was due to all of the seeds sown a few weeks ago failing. Lets hope this little lot germinate for us.
We also sowed some wild flower seeds from Grow Wild in our small wildlife area. The area is doing quite well with at least one of the birdboxes we made being occupied. We won't be looking to see if the other box has been used until probably October, just in case it could still be used for a second brood.
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| Hawthorn, aka May Blossom |
The grass got its third mow of the year today so there's plenty of grass cuttings for the composters to deal with again!
We sowed some runner beans, a little later than we normally would, but this was due to all of the seeds sown a few weeks ago failing. Lets hope this little lot germinate for us.
We also sowed some wild flower seeds from Grow Wild in our small wildlife area. The area is doing quite well with at least one of the birdboxes we made being occupied. We won't be looking to see if the other box has been used until probably October, just in case it could still be used for a second brood.
Saturday, 21 May 2016
Windy Saturday
A bit of a blustery one today at DigIn. Absolutely LOADS of seed sowing and potting on done today, the polytunnel is bulging at the seams.
It was Angela's birthday too, so we had chocolates as well as the tea & biccies at break time - thanks Angela!
Here's a pic of one of the vine cuttings from when we pruned the vine in January. Its amazing that a dead-looking twig about 6 inches long when pushed into the ground in January can actually produce flowers in a few short months. These flowers would go on to become grapes if we let them, but they will need to be removed as the cutting is so small it wouldn't be able to support them.
Here's a pic of a newly emerged dragonfly. It seemed to have fallen into the pond and was struggling, so we moved it to a safe place on the decking for it to dry out & regain some sort of composure. I think you'll agree, a fine looking specimen to grace our wildlife pond. I think we'll name it 'Lucky'. Does anyone know the species?
It was Angela's birthday too, so we had chocolates as well as the tea & biccies at break time - thanks Angela!
Here's a pic of one of the vine cuttings from when we pruned the vine in January. Its amazing that a dead-looking twig about 6 inches long when pushed into the ground in January can actually produce flowers in a few short months. These flowers would go on to become grapes if we let them, but they will need to be removed as the cutting is so small it wouldn't be able to support them.
Here's a pic of a newly emerged dragonfly. It seemed to have fallen into the pond and was struggling, so we moved it to a safe place on the decking for it to dry out & regain some sort of composure. I think you'll agree, a fine looking specimen to grace our wildlife pond. I think we'll name it 'Lucky'. Does anyone know the species?
Wednesday, 4 May 2016
Childminders' Cook and Eat Session
Lovely weather for a busy morning at Dig In! Old friends Draycott Childminders and Stapleford Childminders came to get their gardens sorted for the spring and to try some tasty healthy food cooked by the fabulous Mary and Angela. Dig In volunteers watered, planted potatoes, potted on salads and also tried some tasty healthy food!
Sharon and team pull up the giant parsnip!
Look at how many hairy legs it's got!
Digging over the Draycott plot.
Digging over the Stapleford plot.
Sowing seeds...
And covering them up.
Time for Rainbow Couscous, Moroccan Checkpeas, Raita and Coleslaw! That's Angela and Mary in the background.
Saturday, 23 April 2016
Busy Saturday
A brilliant day at DigIn today. A bit chilly at first, but when the sun came out, lovely & warm!
Three new people came to give DigIn a try today, it was lovely to meet them all. We had a busy day with 11 of us in total.
We spent the morning watering the seedlings in the polytunnel, planting a few broad bean plants and peas in one of the sunray beds and continued digging in the overwintering phacelia. This has been in the ground since about last October and is a green manure. It should improve the soil structure where it has been growing and provide nutrients to the soil now it has been dug in. If left, it has a lovely purple flower that bees love, so we're going to sow some more and maybe leave some of it to flower for the bees and other beneficial pollinating insects.
Three new people came to give DigIn a try today, it was lovely to meet them all. We had a busy day with 11 of us in total.
We spent the morning watering the seedlings in the polytunnel, planting a few broad bean plants and peas in one of the sunray beds and continued digging in the overwintering phacelia. This has been in the ground since about last October and is a green manure. It should improve the soil structure where it has been growing and provide nutrients to the soil now it has been dug in. If left, it has a lovely purple flower that bees love, so we're going to sow some more and maybe leave some of it to flower for the bees and other beneficial pollinating insects.
First cut is the hardest!
The orchard grass got its first cut of the year on Wednesday. The grass was very long and still a bit wet, but it has to be done sometime, and Wednesday was the day. Strength mustered, oil topped up & fuel added to the mower and lots of determination saw the job done, but it took all and a bit more of the 2 hour session we had. So many trips to empty the grass collector! Still, we do have all of the cuttings on the compost heap now, so that should provide a good bit of moisture & nitrogen to the compost to enrich the beds later in the season.
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| Tidy! |
Monday, 18 April 2016
Pond Creatures
The pond is showing us that spring is definitely here! Lots of tadpoles have now emerged from their frogspawn stage and there seem to be snails everywhere. Here's a close-up of one of the snails & some tadpoles enjoying a bit of warm sun. Thanks to Sal for the pic.
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