Now that winter has set in, writes Home Group community allotment volunteer, Elizabeth Grayson, we are keeping ourselves warm at the allotment by digging out the compost heap and digging over this year’s vegetable beds and covering them with plastic sheeting to stop the weeds from growing.
Because the autumn was relatively mild and sunny all cultivated flowerbeds and our wildflower patch stayed in full bloom until the snow came.
We also continued to pick courgettes in the polytunnel and the sweetcorn just about ripened sufficiently to eat.
We had a few red tomatoes and plenty of green ones in the greenhouse and polytunnel, which have now been turned into chutney.
In early autumn our plum tree was so laden that some of the branches broke. As well as eating the plums straight from the tree, we had plum crumbles and jam.
We managed to get one large pumpkin and that was also turned into jam.
Some of the broad beans we planted in the greenhouse have germinated and we are about to plant them out in the polytunnel to overwinter with the spinach plants which didn’t get planted outside in the summer.
We are really hoping that more people will come to join us in 2025.
Green Horizons is a community allotment, garden and wildlife area being developed at Storehouse Allotments.
The service is managed by Home Group (Housing Association) Wellbeing and Recovery Service. It is open to all adults but is particularly geared towards adults with disabilities. It is managed by volunteers and financed by fund-raising and small local grants.
You can find more information about referrals at www.durhammentalwellbeingalliance.org or contact Dean Whelan on 07796 329517.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
