Dear friend,
It has been great to be back, visiting some of our friends in the community and delivering lots of tasty veggies and flowers to them, all free and fresh for local residents as part of the Community Harvest Project.
As part of this project, we distribute fresh fruit and veg to where it is most needed in the communities surrounding St Ann’s Allotments and we are always striving to do more! If you are a St Ann’s Allotment plot holder or local gardener and have harvest you could contribute, we’d love to hear from you. Or, perhaps you could join our Tuesday morning volunteer sessions on The Nursery, which has a particular focus on the Community Harvest.
We are currently looking for a Horticultural Project worker to join TeamSTAA! This role is key to the Community Harvest Project and supporting the local community. You’ll find further details on the role and how to apply within this newsletter.
Our Autumn and Winter workshop dates are to be published very soon, including a few new workshops so keep your eyes peeled for those! In the meantime, take a look below at what workshops are taking place this month – we’d love to see you there!
Best wishes,
Kayleigh
Learning Opportunities
City & Guilds – September Enrolment
Our City and Guilds Practical Horticulture qualification is well underway.
We are very proud to be the only site in Nottingham City to be delivering one of the top 5 City & Guilds courses! We will be enrolling more learners in September, so please do get in touch for more information on this course.
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.
Our next Open Event: Thursday 1st August, 4pm.
Join us to learn more about the course units, meet the course leaders and see more of the project sites where the sessions will be held.
Places are starting to fill up for our September intake so this is a perfect chance to learn more. Make sure you register your interest below and we will be in touch when the open evening is available to book.
If you are unable to attend and have any questions, please email learning@staa-allotments.org.uk.
Job Opportunities
Interviews will be held: Tuesday 23rd July
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 13th July
Introduction to Wildlife Garden Design – 13:30 – 16:00 – £35
Andy from Sherwood Garden Consultancy will help you explore areas of garden design that focusses on maximising wildlife and nature rich gardens. We will discuss how to design, renew or redesign your green spaces and gardens.
Saturday 27th July
Planning Your Winter Veg Crop – 10:00 – 12:30 – £30
Join Jen on The Nursery and learn how to spread your harvest across the year with our winter and spring crop workshop. No need for a barren garden come December, join us to discover how to design for winter feasting.
On the Orchard
The Community Orchard runs free events for all ages.
New Shoots, every Tuesday in term time, 09:30-11:00
Community Open Day, Saturday 27th July, 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 SESSION*
Our new monthly Friday gardening session on The Community Orchard is great for those who would like to join us in relaxed setting, meet new people and enjoy the outdoors.
See below for our upcoming dates!
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 75-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.
Please click here if you would like to book on to our public tours. If you are interested in a private tour or a talk at your venue, please enquire by emailing kayleigh@staa-allotments.org.uk
