Autumn Plot Holders’ Day: Planting Over 800 Spring Bulbs
Our Autumn Plot Holders’ Day was a busy, good-humoured morning that brought plenty of activity to the site. Volunteers soon spread out across different tasks, some painting the pallet fence along the pond a deep forest green, others strimming the future orchard area or marking out the space for our second, smaller pond, which we plan to dig over winter. It is always a bit of a surprise that when no matter how chaotic things may look from a distance, just how much work gets done and how fast
The main effort, though, went into planting more than 800 spring bulbs across the site — along the pond fence, on the mound behind it, and through the mini orchard. The mix included English bluebells, crocus, giant snowdrops, daffodils, muscari, iris, brodiaea, alliums, anemones, ranunculus, ixia and scilla. If all goes to plan, next spring should bring a riot of colour and provide an early food source for pollinators.
Everyone, including the children enjoyed helping with the bulb planting, so much so that taking photos nearly got forgotten. Thankfully, one family arrived a little later, and a few spare daffodils meant the youngest helpers still got the chance to plant some bulbs of their own.
We also planted two climbing roses which will grow over our recycled arch made from two old doors, added a donated apple tree, and mulched around the orchard trees to protect them through winter. Planting has also begun in the new pond area, helping to establish vegetation early.
Practical jobs were tackled too, we moved some donated paving flags to behind the shed to make room for the digger to come in and level the ground ready for the new polytunnel, a key part of our site improvements.
It was a pleasure to welcome Deb Simmonds from Food Futures, author of the Lancaster District Allotments Review, who last visited two years ago when the site was just beginning to take shape. Seeing her response to the progress since then was a lovely recognition of just how far we’ve come.
By the time we finished, around 2pm, the temperature had started to drop, a reminder that autumn is well and truly here. Despite the cold, it was a productive and positive day, with plenty of visible progress and a strong sense of shared achievement.
Our thanks go to everyone who took part, and to FoodFutures North Lancashire, Pots of Possibility, and the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund, whose support continues to make such a difference to the site.
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