Derek, one of our plot holders kindly took some photographs. I wonder if you can name any of the mushrooms? You can view the complete set here.
|
|
||
|
On Saturday 8th October, we had plot holders and members of the public take part in a fungi forage in Sutton Park. This was one of our free courses as part of our lottery fund and was delivered by the Sutton Park Rangers.
We are offering free courses in horticultural and gardening techniques over the coming months. They will be an integral part of our successful bid for a Lottery Fund grant to develop the Community Garden; hence our ability to offer them free of charge. The courses and workshops will be led by specialists in various fields, including Frank Hardy, who was Vice Principal of Pershore Horticultural College.
Places are limited but you can request up to 2 places for as many courses as you wish. All courses will be at Court Lane Allotment unless otherwise stated. Below is details of workshops and courses available. There is a sign up form here.
Everyone is welcome to our free Autumn Fair on Sunday, 2nd October. There will be home made cakes, jams, pickles, local honey and other produce. There will also be activities for children and stalls from community and charity groups as well as crafts stalls. There will also be the opportunity to see our Community Garden. Supporting John Taylor Hospice
Our very own Julie Trahearn, Chairperson of Court Lane Allotments Association. It was a wonderful surprise to all (especially to Julie) when she was nominated for Pride of Britain Awards for the Central region. So it was a joyous moment for Court Lane Allotments when she won it.
ITV Central news came to the allotments yesterday and announced Julie as the winner live on air. You can watch a video of the charming Kate Fisher giving the award to Julie on the ITV website. Julie has written a little something about how she feels about receiving the award.
Julie has been invited to London next month where she will take part in the national Pride of Britain Awards 2011. Let’s wish her all the very best. Thank you to all who attended yesterday and made a lot of noise to celebrate Julie’s achievement. There are photos below that you can view as a slideshow or you can view them here. On Sunday, 21st August we held a fun dog show. It was a day filled with fun, food and an awful lot of rather cute canines. Below is a photo slideshow or you can view here.
Click on the above link for a poster advertising our upcoming events: A Fun Dog Show (for plot holders and members of the public) on Sunday 21st August 2011 @ 11am. A Plot Holder night with a folk band and jacket spud (for plot holders and their friends and family) on Saturday 27th August 2011 @ 7pm. Our bee colonies at Court Lane Allotments have been very busily collecting nectar and turning it into lovely honey. We have extracted a second super last week and this batch of honey is much lighter in colour than the batch we had at the Spring Fair. This reflects the different flowers that the bees have been foraging on.
There are jars of honey for sale in the Court Lane Allotments shop at £4.50 per lb jar. The site shop is open every Saturday and Sundaybetween 11am and 3pm.
Quite a few people have been asking for more photos of the little garden we were involved in at Gardeners’ World Live show. We aim to please, so below is a photo slideshow. You can also view it in larger form here.
We have been invited by the NSALG and BDAC to complete a show garden at this year’s Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC, Birmingham. The garden is part of the “Edible Patches” competition and was designed by one of our plot holders. Most of the plants were grown from seed, by a small number of our plot holders. Our garden represents what we are trying to do at Court Lane Allotments, complete with apple tree, beehive, pond and a variety of herbs and wild flowers to increase biodiversity, which is the ethos behind the Community Garden redevelopment. Our garden is entitled “A Tasty Little Space” and gives a snapshot of all the wonderful produce that can be grown in a small space.
We are delighted that the Edible Patches gardens have been awarded a RHS Silver Gilt medal. Members of the public are also encouraged to vote for whichever of the eight gardens is their favourite. Updated to add: We were thrilled that GWL visitors voted us their favourite of the 8 Edible Patches. We received a commemorative engraved glass dish as a prize. Thank you to everyone who voted. Photos of the garden can be seen below and you can download design plan here.
A little write up about our recent Spring Fair. Thanks to Ken Simpson for the words and photos.
Our Spring Fair on May 22nd was a roaring success – not least because of the gale force winds tearing across the site. Several of the gazebos had ambitions to become hang gliders. However, this did not deter our loyal supporters from the local community, other allotment sites and our own plot holders from supporting us. In fact we had visitors from as far away as Berkshire. (We think they happened to be visiting friends in the area – we don’t advertise that far afield). This Fair must have broken a number of records in terms of attendance and the speed at which our offerings were consumed. We opened at 11.00 a.m. and by 12.30 p.m. the home produce (which, at the outset, ran the entire length of the marquee) was all but gone and people were still coming through the gates. Our apologies to all of you who turned up to find that we had sold out. Demand was such that the barbecue had to be hastily re-stocked. The ice cream was also soon exhausted and Court Lane Honey was devoured in an amazingly short time (Its uniquely natural taste even converted several people who professed not to like honey). Our visiting organisations all thanked us for having a great day; John Taylor Hospice, Eco Sutton, The National Vegetable Society, The Greyhound Gap, Birmingham Community Arts and the Artists from The Cube in Erdington. The archery range was very popular and the bouncy castle was never empty (although we had to restrain several over-excited adults). The demonstration of spinning attracted interest from all ages and the jazz pianist added a relaxing atmosphere to the marquee. After a full day we counted the cost, balanced against the slight damage to a couple of gazebos we were more than gratified to find that we had raised a significant amount for Association funds and our partnership with John Taylor Hospice. We would sincerely like to thank all of you for your efforts and support. We also value the many positive comments made in appreciation of our open days. We welcome you to our future events which will be advertised on this website, locally and in the press. You can view photos below or go direct to slideshow. |
|
|
|
© 2008-2011 Court Lane Allotments Gardeners' Society |
||
Recent Comments