Dear friend,
Have you seen Spring bulbs emerging yet? It won’t be long before we can celebrate the first daffodil of the year, shortly followed by bright tulips, delicate cherry blossom, and huge magnolias 🌸 The long, verdant leaves of these daffodil shoots in the photo above were spotted on our Nursery garden.
Last weekend we took part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch with Bac-in community group who recorded 8 species on their walk around St Ann’s Allotments, including bullfinch and sparrowhawk.
P.S. If you’d like to receive news like this in your inbox each month, join our mailing list here.
Spring workshops
Make your own Spring hardy hanging basket — Fully bookedSaturday 11th February 10:00-12:00, £35Come along and create a lovely, large, moss-lined basket, full of hardy colourful flowers and mini shrubs as well as gorgeous Spring bulbs to brighten up your garden, with Tracey from Outside The Cave.Fruit tree pruningSaturday 11th February 13:30-15:30, £30Leo Jordan will share the art behind fruit tree pruning. Come along for a masterclass in all aspects of orchard tree care including how to rejuvenate old trees and prune new trees to achieve the perfect crop.Learn the principles of seed sowingWednesday 22nd & Saturday 25th February 10:00-12:00, £25Growing plants from seeds has its challenges. Join us for a morning to discuss the principles of seed sowing and nurturing seedlings to learn how to successfully raise healthy plants. Spring foraging walkSaturday 8th April 10:00-12:00, £25A relaxing and practical morning finding food in the hedgerow and gardens of St Ann’s Allotments. Depending on the arrival of Spring, we’ll be gathering plants such as wild garlic, nettles, jack by the hedge, hairy bittercress, fat hen & hawthorn leaves.Learn how to compost and improve your soil fertilitySaturday 8th April 13:30-15:30, £25Bring a jar of your own soil along to test and investigate, learn about a variety of techniques to improve soil like creating the perfect compost and making your own liquid plant feeds. We’ll also look at how and when to sow plants to use as green manure. Dawn chorus walkSaturday 13th May 05:00-06:30, £12Experience one of the greatest spectacles of nature with this dawn chorus walk led by Holly James, a local bird ringer. Learn why birds sing, and which species you can see and hear. Here is a short clip from the walk last year.Make your own Summer hanging basketSaturday 13th May 10:00-12:00, £35Come along and create your own lovely 14-inch, moss-lined Summer basket to take home. You’ll learn how to select a good range of trailing and semi-trailing plants, construct your arrangement for maximum impact & care for it to create a long-lasting display.
Guided tours
We lead walks around St Ann’s Allotments on the last Wednesday of every month, 1:30-3pm. The 1.3-mile guided tour takes you to our Heritage Display Garden and Nursery, telling the 700-year story of how this 32-acre site changed from pasture and orchards, to Victorian pleasure gardens, to working-class allotments. Including stories of people who lived here and the grassroots campaign to save the site from redevelopment.Find out more and book tickets here.
On the Orchard
The Community Orchard runs free events for all ages.New Shoots, every Tuesday in term time 09:30-11:00Play, Grow & Eat, Wednesday 15th February, 11:00-14:00Adventure Play for ages 8-12, Thursday 16th February, 13:00-15:00After School, every Wednesday in term time from 22nd February, 15:45-17:00Community Open Day, Saturday 25th February, 12:00-15:00
Volunteering
Volunteering continues as usual, with so much to help with at this busy time of year!Tuesdays at the Nursery, 10:00-14:00Digging, sowing, pruning, clearing, building, watering, harvesting! All things food and flower focused for a productive garden.Wednesdays at Oliver’s, 10:00-14:00Help maintain a beautiful display garden for visitors to enjoy, and promote its heritage features.Volunteer inductions, 10:00-12:00 on:Wednesday 8th FebruarySaturday 11th FebruaryThis is an introductory session for anyone interested in volunteering at STAA. Receive a tour of our projects to find out what you might be interested in, and an opportunity to meet people and ask questions.Preparing for Spring wildlife at Urban Nature, 10:00-14:00Saturday 11th February & 25th FebruaryIn this session, we will continue woodland and clearance work, as well as preparing for Spring, including preparing nest boxes for National Nest Box week!Suitable for all abilities and levels of experience, tools provided. Just dress for the weather! 🌦️If you have any questions about volunteering, please contact Lucy at volunteering@staa-allotments.org.uk or visit our website.
On the blog
This month on the blog, Paul updates the Victorian “three P’s” (peace, privacy and pleasure) with a vision for the future by David Attenborough.Read all about it: https://staa-allotments.org.uk/news/
