Dear friend,
We hope you are all enjoying the Summer sunshine. It has been a busy month for us here at STAA and an even busier few months ahead. Here’s just a snippet of what we’ve been up to!
Our City & Guilds students have completed their first term!
A huge huge congratulations to all our learners for passing their assessments with flying colours – we can’t wait to see you again in September after a well earned Summer break, joined by some new students who are enrolling for the Autumn term.
Last week we harvested a tremendous 22kg of produce! It’s safe to say that we really are in our peak harvesting season. We have introduced an additional Thursday morning session throughout August with a specific focus of harvesting for the local Friday ‘Foodprint’ on wheels, plus our weekend Community activities. More details on this session can be found below.
The Community Orchard have achieved both the Green Flag Community Award for another year and received further funding towards our term time, Tuesday morning New Shoots sessions!
Although there is a short pause in workshops throughout August, our Autumn programme starts in September. You will find some firm favourites such as wreath making and willow weaving, plus a few new workshops so make sure you scroll down and take a look!
And finally, this month we say our farewells to Jen. Jen is moving on from STAA to a fantastic opportunity to work and study at RHS Wisley. We could talk about Jen and her achievements forever, but we have just about managed to collate this into a short farewell below.
We wish you all the best!
Farewell Jen!
It is with immense pride that we say “au revoir” to Jen as she leaves us to start work and further training at RHS Wisley in September. Wisley is the flagship garden of the RHS and one of the UK’s most visited and best-loved gardens, attracting around one million visitors each year.
Jen’s contribution here at STAA has been immense! Starting out delivering workshops on the Community Orchard, she became a core member of the Orchard team in 2011. Her energy (and willingness to play dobby), her warm hearted enthusiasm for the outdoors and her geek-like knowledge of apple varieties on the Orchard have inspired many, many local children and young people.
In January 2020, Jen took on the role of Horticulture Project Lead and set about creating an accessible horticulture area on the old nursery site. Under her stewardship, the area has been transformed from a derelict barren site to the amazing, productive, welcoming space it is today.
As if all that wasn’t enough, Jen led on the successful development of our City & Guilds centre accreditation, the establishment and delivery of
the Practical Horticulture course and our popular weekend workshop programme. Many hundreds of participants, volunteers and partner organisations have been inspired by Jen’s passion and enthusiasm for growing over the last 4 years. Wow – what an impact she has made on all of us!
On behalf of all of us – best of luck Jen, enjoy every minute. They’ll love you just as much as we all do xx
City & Guilds – September Enrolment
We are excited to have new students joining us this Autumn Term for our City & Guilds Practical Horticulture Course.
The support and feedback we have had since announcing that we are a City & Guilds accredited centre has been outstanding. We are very proud to be the only site in Nottingham City to be delivering one of the top 5 City & Guilds courses!
There is still time and a few more spaces left to enrol on the course this September. Please do get in touch with us on learning@staa-allotments.org.uk for further information, or head to our website.
A reminder of the two course routes available:
Pro Gardener: which focusses on fundamental practical skills in horticulture such as pruning and plant identification.
Grow Your Own: which will develop your skills in growing and maintaining growing spaces and improving soil fertility.
Upcoming Workshops
Why not purchase a gift card for our workshops, so you can share our horticultural, floristry and seasonal crafts experiences with friends and family.
Saturday 7th September
Make your own Autumn Wreath – 10:00 – 12:30 – £42
Join Jo and get crafy making your own Autumn wreath to take home, filled with seasonal flowers and foilage.
Planning your Cut Flower Garden – 13:30 – 16:00 – £30
In this informative session, Jo will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to start growing your own sustainable blooms.
Saturday 21st September
Harvest from the Hives: Honey & Mead – 10:00 – 12:30 – £35
Join Pete (The Bald Beekeeper) and explore how bees use different pollen profiles to make honey and learn how to make the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage.
Wildflower Lawns & Meadows – 13:30 – 16:00 – £35
Andy of Sherwood Garden Consultancy will share his knowledge and experience to take you through the different types of wildflower meadows and how to establish and maintain one in your garden or allotment.
Saturday 5th October
Weave your own Willow Flowers – 10:00 – 12:30 – £35
Join Lucy and flex your creative skills as we show you how to weave using natural materials. Take your creations home with you at the end of the session!
Cider Making & Apple Tasting – 13:30 – 16:00 – £35
Join Leo Jordan from Blue Barrel Cider as he shares the art behind cider and perry making. Learn how to pick, mill and press fruit and get the chance to try different heritage and cider varieties on the Community Orchard.
On the Orchard
The Community Orchard runs free events for all ages.
New Shoots, every Tuesday in term time, 09:30-11:00
There is no Community Open Day this month but will return Saturday 28th September, 12:00-15:00. Click here, to book your free ticket!
Youth Sessions, every 2nd and 4th Saturday.
These sessions are for local young people of St Ann’s to spend time on the Orchard, learning and crafting. For more information and to book: contact Sarah at sarah@staa-allotments.org.uk.
Volunteering & Gardening Sessions
A wide selection of volunteer sessions to help maintain our beautiful open spaces all year round!
Tuesdays at the Nursery, 10:00-14:00
Digging, sowing, pruning, clearing, building, watering, harvesting! All things food and flower focused for a productive garden.
Wednesdays at Oliver’s, 10:00-14:00
Help maintain a beautiful display garden for visitors to enjoy, and promote its heritage features.
Volunteer inductions:
Wednesday 17th July 10.00 – 12.00
Friday 19th July (online) 11:00 -12.00
This 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.
If you have any questions about volunteering or social gardening, please contact Lucy at volunteer@staa-allotments.org.uk or visit our volunteer page.
Volunteer opportunities:
We are also looking for tour volunteers to help us with our guided tours on the last Wednesday of the month.
If you think this might be for you, please do get in touch with me at kayleigh@staa-allotments.org.uk for further information.
*NEW GARDENING SESSIONS*
Community Harvest Session – every Thursday on The Nursery through August 10-11.30
As it is peak harvest season, we have added in a new short harvest session for August only. This session will have the specific purpose of enabling an additional harvest for Friday delivery to the local ‘Foodprint’ on wheels, plus our weekend Community activities.
You can sign up on Eventbrite here: Community Harvest Thursday Sessions
Please meet at the Ransom Road Gate at 10am.
Gardening for All on The Community Orchard – next session Friday 6th September, 12 – 2pm.
These sessions are a perfect opportunity to come and spend time in our ‘Little Garden’ on St Ann’s Community Orchard to meet, chat, do some gardening and enjoy the space.
Pop in anytime between 12pm and 2pm.
Talks & Tours
We offer both regular guided tours, private tours and private talks to learn more about the rich history of St Ann’s Allotments.
On the last Wednesday of every month, we lead walks around St Ann’s Allotments, 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.
You can book on to our public tours here. If you are interested in a private tour or a talk at your venue, please enquire by emailing kayleigh@staa-allotments.org.uk
