Dig Deep has Water!!

Water has finally arrived at Dig Deep. The site will be transformed this summer because of this and we expect bumper crops of healthy, well-fed vegetables.

Big thanks to Thrive Homes who paid for the installation and also our fantastic volunteer team from BRE who dug the trench, designed the system and fitted the tap and fittings. They also came back on the day to help us celebrate the switch on. Thanks guys!

Holly from the Watford Observer was there to record the switch on and here's what they had to say:

"Water flowed for the first time in a South Oxhey allotments on Thursday (January 31) thanks to the efforts of volunteers.

The Dig Deep project - a partnership between Three Rivers District Council, Ascend and Farming for All – saw a new mains supply connected to allotments off Kilmarnock Road.

A working party from Watford company BRE dug and laid a water pipe and four staff members will each give a half day every month to assist with the expansion of the site.

The site already has a rain water collection system but the mains supply will prove particularly important in summer months, Ascend says. The project was funded through a grant by Thrive Homes who will also fund the installation of a new 800 litre rainwater storage tank later this year."

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/10202345.Ascend_allotment_in_South_Oxhey_gets_water_supply/

What a Summer!!!

Well we've had an incredible summer at Dig Deep, despite the weather. The wheat field has grown fantastically, some frogs have arrived in our pond and our clay bricks have cured in the newly rebuilt cob oven. 

Volunteer Frances inspects the wheat field in spring for signs of rust and weeds.

Our pond acquires its first resident

The newly rebuilt cob oven

Volunteers Steve, Lel, Frances, Gary and Annie proudly show off the clay bricks they've made using a brick former constructed by Volunteer Neil, It works a treat!

The wheat has finally grown ears, watch this space for harvest time.

A group Photo taken when Volunteer Russell (Tall chap at the back) had his last day with us.

It's always sad to see a friend leave the group but we were very happy when our resident frog had brought his chum along for a swim!

Gardeners Question Time at Dig Deep


Last Wednesday night at ASCEND, we were delighted to welcome Radio 4 Gardeners Question Time. Chairman Peter Gibbs visited our Dig Deep gardening project and was very impressed with the horticultural achievements.  The panel of Bob Flowerdew, Matthew Wilson and Christine Walkton answered lots of gardening questions with great knowledge and wit.   Peter Gibbs visited the plot and was blown away by what we have achieved.
Tune your radios to BBC Radio 4 on the afternoons of 1st and 3rd of June, when you will be able to hear the programme. 


Dig Deep Volunteer Russell (centre) with Farming For All's Jude and Ali (Right) and Matthew Wilson and Bob Flowerdew (left)

Allotment Panorama taken this spring!

Wheat Field

We took on the challenge set by the real bread campaign to “Bake our own Lawn” http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/ this involves planting our own wheat, milling it and making bread that we can bake in our clay oven.  We have planted Amaretto wheat provided by St Albans farmer Howard Roberts and the first shoots have begun to appear.

Redbournbury Mill in St Albans (which is a mile from Howard’s farm) has also agreed to mill the wheat for us and let us visit the mill for tea and buns with a guided tour on 07^th June. We will also be visiting the farm that day where we will see the workings of the farm then walk through the fields down to the mill for our tour in the afternoon. Watch this space for the finished results!

Watford FC Business Club Corporate Day

We had a fantastic corporate day on 15^thMarch with members of the Watford FC Business Club. They helped us to dig over the area for our wheat field. It was full of broken glass, rusted metal and a lot of rocks. They also helped plant vegetable seeds and flowers across the plot. Dig Deep Volunteer Russell (above) led an activity to help clear an area of woodland space to plant wild flowers seeds including Cosmos to encourage bees to the plot. There were members of Watford Football club present who also helped on the day. One time Watford FA Cup finalist player Neil Price made tea for all the team.

Team Building Day

Dig deep hosted a fantastic team-building day on 17^th April. We built a Cob and woven willow planter to provide more growing room for mint that was propagated by the Dig Deep volunteers last October. One of the students attending was originally from the Gambia and was able to adopt traditional house building techniques used there to build the planter. We mixed grass with clay and water and trampled it together linking arms and using our boots as a mixing tool. We even sang a traditional Gambian house building song as we worked.

5 Students attended the day and built a smoker and smoked meet, cheese, olives and nuts over the course of the day. They also built a fire and cooked sweet potatoes, corn on the cob and mackerel fillets for their lunch. The day was a great success.