Green Horizons community allotment latest

Over the winter, we have kept ourselves busy digging in various parts of the allotment, writes Elizabeth Grayson.

We have prepared one area ready to set up some new raised beds which will be high enough for people who have difficulty bending or squatting to sow, plant or weed.

The cost of the materials for the beds is coming from a grant which a member of the Home Group staff successfully applied for.

We have cut almost all the hedges down to a manageable height and now have a splendid view of the countryside to the south of Ferryhill.

The preliminary clearance of another area, which hasn’t been cultivated for many years and was overgrown with a dense network of weeds and covered with rubbish, has been carried out ready for creating more vegetable patches and an area of grass, with a view to holding social activities in the future.

In the polytunnel, the spinach plants have continued to grow and we started picking in March.

The broad beans in the polytunnel have grown well and are now flowering.

Outside, we have been harvesting leeks throughout the winter and we started picking the purple sprouting broccoli in late March.

We have sown wallflowers in the greenhouse and now have 100 small plants in pots almost ready for planting out.

We are now busy sowing trays of flowers and vegetables for the summer.

We continue to hope that more people will come to join us this year to enjoy the fun of gardening and eating the produce.

Green Horizons is a community allotment, garden and wildlife area being developed at Storehouse allotments.

The service is managed by Home Group (Housing Association) Well-being 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 fundraising and small local grants.

You can find more information at durhammentalwellbeingalliance.org or contact Dean on 07796 329517.