What was in our heads.....

When we first started working on Plot 33 we had a vision that was about groups from different communities being able to come up to the allotment  - muck in, bring their ideas, shape what we are doing, the sun would be shining, there would be activity, chat, cups of tea, and more plans would be made. 

On Wednesday that happened. 6 Wonder Women drifted onto the site, for some it was an effort to get there and they felt unsure of what to expect. So we mucked in and between us all, amongst many conversations, we painted a filing cabinet, a wheelbarrow of lettuces, a slatted bench and some big bean can planters. We also weeded pathways and the flower bed then randomly planted sweet peas, cornflowers, spinach and beetroot in the flower bed. We had interactions with other allotment holders.

We paused for cups of tea and coffee and sat around the picnic benches soaking up the sun, while we dreamt of what we want for Plot 33 and we planned our next session. Just brilliant. We all felt better than when we had arrived. We used to have soup at our pre covid indoor sessions ....we're looking at reintroducing it gradually hopefully beginning to use produce from our plot and maybe we can cook it on site????

We were busy doing an application for funding (fingers crossed) on Friday, and the weather was pretty horrendous so Friday was a wash out. We had arranged to meet a couple of visitors on Saturday but they couldn't make it so we got on with outdoor activity between showers and started sorting the Greenhouse which is becoming a bit of a dumping ground. We are going to hold a regular open session every 3rd Saturday of the month 11am - 2pm ... anyone who would like to come along just email Anne on:  anne@festivalstoke.co.uk    Next one Saturday 19th June.
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We started to build a double compost bin from the remains of the old shed and we hammered in a fence post in order to support and straighten our existing fence (with a little help from our neighbour, Mick). in the greenhouse we sorted, weeded, sorted, repurposed, sorted and repotted and pinched out tomatoes ...see Rachel pinching out below! It involves gently pinching off any suckers that are growing in the bend  between a branch and the main stem.

Before........

and after....it does look better...honest!