In the last garden session of the year in December, our volunteers at Miller Fold Allotment pruned our grape vine which had happily sprawled across half the polytunnel during the growing season. Grape vines are best pruned around the winter solstice as their sap starts to rise early in the spring and thinning them out means there’s more grapes to enjoy the year after!  This marked a ‘putting to bed’ of the garden after a busy year of planting, growing and harvesting and clearing at Miller Fold Community Allotment over the past year.

Last January the garden was looking slightly dog-eared and unkept but since then the community gardeners have worked hard to create a productive, functioning hub for local food growing and events. We’ve cleaned, cleared and planted the polytunnel, cleared paths, repaired the water butts, installed hedgehog and toad houses, painted the noticeboard, pruned currant bushes, made a new sign for the garden, and started remodelling the bird feeder. In the past year we have grown broad beans, lettuce, peas, rocket, sprouts, cabbage, runner beans, carrots, radishes, dill, parsley, tomatoes, chard, spinach and coriander, and harvested apples, blueberries, plums, strawberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, raspberries. We’ve also run sessions making bird feeders, apple juice using local apples, and willow weaving!

Projects for the new year include creating a willow sculpture, revamping our bug hotel, pruning the apple trees and prepping the beds ready for another full-on year. We’re in the garden almost every Tuesday morning from 10am till 1pm. Feel free to join us for a session, or pop in and say hello on your way past. We’re a friendly bunch and always happy to have a chat over a brew and a biscuit.

For the past month Prospects have been running free weekly Christmas craft sessions to encourage the local community to have a more sustainable Christmas. These were organised by the Outdoor Learning officer, Sonja, with support from different Prospects project officers. All the sessions were fully booked and hugely popular.

In the first session Robert joined us to make beeswax wraps, which are a reusable plastic free substitute for cling film and make a great Christmas gift. These are very easy to make at home too and make a fun holiday craft. Next was wreath making, led by Helen, the Community TreeACTION officer. We used locally sourced willow, Scots pine, Leyland cypress, holly, and ivy, making a sustainably door decoration.

The week after we made a selection of plastic- free Christmas tree decorations to showcase sustainable decorations, but also to help decorate our entry to the Ernest Street Babtist Church Christmas tree festival. The festival featured local charities and organisations who decorated their trees with a ‘who we are’ theme. Our wood cookie baubles and popcorn garland definitely stood out!

This week we finished off the sessions with Brandon leading a wooden reindeer making session using hazel coppice from Hyndburn’s woodlands. The attendees used handsaws, power drills, whittling knives, secateurs, and loppers to make their reindeer from scratch and they all looked brilliant!

Thank you to everyone who came along to the sessions and joined in with the festivities! And to Ernest Street Baptist Church for inviting us to the Christmas tree festival. Watch this space for more session next year. Seasons greetings everyone!

St. Wulstan’s year 5/6 class have been collecting clean soft plastics to take back to supermarkets. They pack the single use plastic packaging in bread bags to compress the plastic as much as possible which saves space when the plastic is transported to the recycling plant. Outdoor learning officer, Sonja Bottomer, has been working alongside the students and Bob Turner of the Laudato Si Movement to write campaign slogans on the bread bag blocks to encourage others to take action.

Last week eight students from the St. Wulstan’s eco-committee took these bread bags to Morrisons in great Harwood to be recycled. They stopped off at Turtle Bee zero waste shop in the high street to experience a plastic-free way to shop and helped refill a customer’s groceries!

Some of the bread bag blocks that the St Wulstan’s pupils have made, and instructions on how to make them, are currently being displayed at Turtle Bee to encourage recycling. Keep up the good work St Wulstan’s!

You can find your nearest soft plastic supermarket collection point here on the recycle Now website: https://www.recyclenow.com/recycle-an-item/plastic-bags-and-wrapping?postcode=BB6%207JQ#locator