Welcoming everyone back to our allotment
Throughout the winter, Anni and our Jolly volunteers met as often as the weather permitted to clear and sort out the allotment for the coming year. We bought two new storage boxes, which Duncan kindly installed, and some new tools. Fiona and Brian mulched the paths (the mulch was once again kindly donated by Treeworks Brian Hennessey) while Duncan began clearing and moving our new allotment space.
What a joy to see the return of old friends and welcome new guests to our first Step Outside group of the year. We were delighted to welcome Sue, who is currently a volunteer at Jolly Blandford and now at our allotment too. We also welcomed new guests, Paul and his wife Tess, who attend our Wimborne Jolly group and Anne and John, who are regulars at our Wimborne St Giles Jolly group.
Garlic has been sown and is growing well. The blackcurrant bushes have been pruned, and gooseberries and strawberries (donated by Mary) have been added to our fruit border alongside the rhubarb and currants.
Sue helped sow squash and courgettes at the sowing table with Sarah, and David sowed sweetcorn and French beans. Anne planted the peas, which had germinated from the last sowing, while John got stuck in with sowing too. Gerry, David's daughter, also planted peas while Diane planted turnips and early beetroot and Anne and Fiona harvested kale and purple sprouting broccoli. Gerry, David and Diane sowed the second early Charlotte potatoes and Duncan and Brian harvested leeks while Max planted sweet peas and other flowers.
After all that hard work, we all thoroughly enjoyed a well-deserved sit down, a cuppa and a delicious cream tea with homemade scones made by our lovely founder, Sarah.
Recently, Anni had a meeting with Hayley (National Trust’s Head Gardener and allotment organiser) where Anni proposed using the vacant plot next to ours to grow cut flowers until the new raised beds were made, and creating a small pond to attract wildlife and insects into our garden. She also proposed having a polytunnel for undercover work and planting preparation. We are delighted that the National Trust have very kindly agreed to all our requests.
Currently, all the seeds sown are taken home to Anni’s polytunnel and all the flowers are grown there too, including cosmos, zinnias, dahlias and gypsophilia. Anni uses the flowers to create pretty seasonal flower arrangements for the tables at our Jolly Days. We are looking forward to having the polytunnel; it’ll be a dry and warm place to work in during the cooler summer months, but it also offers us the opportunity to be able to extend the Step Outside activities into the winter months. Anni will be able to grow everything onsite at the allotment, giving her arms and car a much-needed rest from taking everything home with her and ferrying it back and forth!
A big thank you goes to Lance and Archie from Eco Sustainable Solutions in Christchurch, who dropped off a load of compost that they kindly donated. By adding it to our beds, we’re giving them a real boost – better drainage, more nutrients, improved moisture retention, and stronger soil structure. It’s the perfect recipe for happy, healthy plants (and it even helps protect against erosion). We’ve also begun to lay cardboard on the area covered with the donated compost. This is an easy, no-dig preparation for our new flower beds. We also topped up the compost on the vegetable beds.
The vegetable garden aims to grow seasonal produce, which our guests can take home and enjoy after harvesting. We do ask for a voluntary donation in exchange, as this enables us to buy more seeds to plant for future crops.
