Dear friend,
Autumn is my favourite season, and with the hot weather and rain we’ve had this year, the colours are set to be stunning! I hope you enjoy the display over the next few weeks.
Autumn is also one of our busiest times, as we look forward to hosting our biggest event of the year — Apple Day on the Community Orchard, Saturday 22nd October 12-3pm. There will be apple tasting, pressing and juicing, apple-themed games, a creative workshop for kids, and light refreshments.
Best wishes,Holly
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Autumn workshops
Autumnal centrepieces and floral Halloween decorationsSaturday 22nd October, 10:00-13:00, £35Make a terrifyingly beautiful flower pumpkin and table display to brighten your home and delight visitors. Enjoy being creative with seasonal foliage, and make two items to take home with you.Propagation: Create your own soft fruit gardenSaturday 12th November, 10:00-12:00, £25Take away cuttings, divisions and rooted plants to establish a fruit garden in pots, in a garden or an allotment. We will be looking at currants, rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries and more.Introduction to honey bees and beekeepingSaturday 12th November, 13:30-15:30, £30Join us for an indoor session, with our enthusiastic resident Beekeeper. We’ll look at a ‘virtual hive’ to give an insight into the fascinating world inside a hive, and what that means for a beekeeper.Learn how to build compost bins from wooden palletsSaturday 26th November, 10:00-12:00, £30Everything you need to know to build your own wooden pallet compost bin at home, demonstrating carpentry techniques and design possibilities, as well as the principles of good composting.Christmas wreath making – event will be online soonWednesday 7th & Saturday 10th December, £35Join us for a relaxing and creative session using natural materials to make your own Christmas wreath using fresh and dried foliage gathered from the gardens and hedgerows of St Ann’s Allotments.Make your own festive willow decorations – event will be online soonSaturday 10th December, £35Create unique decorations like trees, stars or reindeer using traditional Scandinavian designs that can be strung together to great effect, making Christmas ornaments that will last for years.
On the Orchard
The Community Orchard runs free events for all ages every month. This month featuring two half-term events – Play, Grow & Eat includes a free meal cooked onsite with fresh ingredients.New Shoots, every Tuesday 09:30-11:00 from 6th SeptemberApple Day, Saturday 22 October, 12:00-15:00Play, Grow & Eat, Wednesdays 19th & 26th in half term, 11:00-14:00Adventure Play, Thursdays 20th & 27th in half term, 13:00-15:00
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 Tuesday 18th OctoberThis 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.Apples and WoodlandSaturday 22nd October, 10:00-14:00Join us for a varied day – we will complete the construction of our pond viewing platform and finish our meadow management work for the season.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.
Winter guided heritage tours
We’ve launched our programme of winter tours – continuing on the second Saturday and last Wednesday of each month through the colder months. Winter is a great time to visit St Ann’s Allotments, with more chance to peek through the 32 miles of hedgerow.
Autumn apple season – blog post by Jen
A is for Autumn and Apples on St Ann’s Allotments. With over 2,000 fruit trees on site, we are surrounded by bejeweled beauties, fit to burst. The Community Orchard is home to a whole array of these trees, featuring 30+ varieties you’d never see in the supermarket. With our fantastic volunteer team, we’ve been picking, tasting, and parceling up fruit over the last few weeks, all headed to local food banks and community cafes.
Having worked our way through all these delicious fruit, we wanted to share our three top picks for apple varieties, just in case you are planning on getting an apple tree, and our favorite bit of kit – an apple-picker. If you already have a tree and are struggling to reach the juiciest apples at the top, the apple-picker is a must have! Read our top picks and tips here.
