Harvest Event Best Ever!

Wow! the weather stayed fine and 233 visitors attended our Autumn Harvest 2014 event. I think the total visitor numbers are probably a record for our events to date and everyone had a fantastic time.

Many, many thanks to all who gave up their time preparing the event activities and those who put much effort into volunteering on the day. A special thanks to Alan Withington (RCAN) for helping with the construction of the new refreshments shed and tombola donations, John Hempsall for the apple variety identifications, Jill Carter and the Pulp Friction team, the ladies who worked tirelessly to provide a tasty feast of food and refreshments during the event, Tracey Lloyd and Kathy Holmes for the pumpkin carving workshop, Karen Fry for the apple pressing, Dave Wood for the poem, Claire Swain for the knitting, Helen Turner for the nest box workshop, ASDA Long Eaton and Boots for assisting with the tombola donations, Stapleford Town Council for their support and the gentleman from Frank Key who pleasantly surprised us by donating a wheelbarrow to Dig In on the day. Last but not least, Roy Oldershaw for being our welcoming 'man on the gate'. There are others too numerous to mention, but thank you all.

As the saying goes, a picture speaks a thousand words...

Autumn Harvest Celebration Event 2014

Come and join our free admission family fun day event celebrating the Autumn harvest. The event will take place on Saturday 18th October 2014, between 11am and 3pm at the Dig In community allotment, Pasture Road, Stapleford. NG9 8HZ (map)

Activities include apple pressing, pumpkin carving, apple pancakes, chutneys, preserves and more.

If you have an apple tree in your garden, but are unsure of the variety, please bring one of the apples and a leaf along to the event for identification by an expert.

Looking forward to another brilliant event at the allotment - everyone is welcome to attend and there is no need to book, just turn up on the day.

Decade of DIG IN event

A big thank you for everyone who attended our Decade of DIG IN event on Saturday 23rd August. Apart from a short, light shower, the weather stayed warm and dry, which added extra icing on the celebration cake generously provided by ASDA Long Eaton, along with fresh fruits and other ingredients for the cream teas.

The event was attended by over 100 visitors and from the comments and feedback received, was enjoyed by both guests and helpers alike. Many thanks to the volunteers, groups and funders who have supported us over the years and we look forward to the next decade of DIG IN.

A special thanks to Alan Withington (RCAN), who pulled out all the stops to ensure the new catering shed was usable on the day and for much of the infrastructure development. Stapleford Town council for their generous funding and support, Pulp Friction for the wonderful ice cream and wine, Tracey Lloyd on the musical instruments, Jon from ASDA, Pete and James on the drums, Claire on the face painting, the local knitters for their contributions towards the community blanket and the hard work of the DIG IN committee, volunteers and local community who made it possible.

We hope to see everyone back for our Harvest Celebration event on the 18th October 2014.

Thanks for the poem from Dave Wood, local poet- to celebrate DIG IN's tenth anniversary. Dave has been involved with DIG IN since we started, supported us at events, got his hands dirty and sung our praises when needed. Cheers Dave!

o the corn! - for dig in's tenth anniversary

ten ten and here's to the golden years 
the laughs the jokes - and o the corn!
the stories then - the chuckling of the ears
it's once upon a ten that they were born
the laughs the jokes - and o the corn!
the spuds - the greens - and (phwoar) the fruit
dig in's weathered more than many storms
and now ten years promises its hoots
the stories then - the chuckling of the ears
the poet rhymed us with his daft nibbed pen
the pumpkin had us dancing without fear
we'll keep on digging in our dance again
the stories then - the chuckling of the ears
ten ten and here's to the golden years

DAVE WOOD

Workshop floral and herb arrangement 2014

Here are some floria and herb arrangement workshop we did today, everybody enjoyed doing this workshop and soon start doing some of our own now we know how to do them.

This one shows the table set out with the 3 other people have done.

Recycle lanterns

Here are some of the recycle lanterns we did in this morning session from recycle tin cans. What we did was got the can with some ice inside it, then used a nail and a hammer to make our designs onto it. You have to have some sort of solid to make it really work out well. We found out with the warm weather we had to work a lot faster on it before it melted. Everybody enjoyed making them and hopefully make more at home.

Now you see it, now you don't

30 children from Wadsworth Fields Primary School enjoyed trying fresh produce at Dig In on Thursday 12th June. A salad of just-picked lettuce and spicy mustard leaves went down well, but the favourite was broad beans, straight out of their velvety pods. 

Karen