August newsletter 2022

Dear friend, August 8-14th is National Allotments Week, with the theme this year being ‘Bugs, Bees and Brocolli’ – acknowledging the importance of gardening with nature in mind. If you have an allotment and would like to contribute to a citizen science project with Buglife, you can find surveys here for adults, and for children aged 2-12.August…

July newsletter 2022

Dear friend, First of all, we’d like to give a warm welcome to all our new subscribers – there are now over 600 of you receiving our monthly newsletter! Thank you for your ongoing support and interest in STAA. We think this is probably a good time to ask you all what you think of…

June newsletter 2022

Dear friend, A huge thank you to all of the volunteers who support us with their skills, dedication and enthusiasm  Volunteers are at the core of STAA, integral to all our delivery, and we’re so proud to celebrate their achievements this National Volunteer Week. We’ve also launched our Summer workshop programme, including planning your winter…

Our 14,000-mile visitor

Each year in May I spend a significant amount of time looking up at the sky. Not only do the warming temperatures trigger the formation of impressive cumulonimbus clouds (the huge fluffy ones), but we’re treated to the return of Swifts to our skies.  These birds undertake one of the world’s longest migrations of any…

Tabbouleh recipe by Stuart Bower (Volunteer)

Ingredients  For the tabbouleh  ½ cup spring onion tops, finely sliced ½ cup nasturtium leaves, chopped ½ cup climbing spinach, chopped ½ cup parsley, chopped ½ cup mint, chopped ½ cup coriander, chopped (optional) 200g tomatoes, finely chopped  200g sweet July-harvested gooseberries  100g cooked kasha (cracked buckwheat)  For the dressing   ¼ cup olive oil Juice and zest of 2 limes 1 tsp sugar Several fresh basil leaves 2…