There are some lovely red cherries on the tree, the temptation was too much and I tried one, bad move they are still really sour.

We've already started saving seeds for next year and hope to have a wide variety of seeds by the end of the season.

As well as keeping up with watering, we've been working hard to clear the allotment and have made some tough choices about what bushes we want to keep. We decided to take several out from under the fruit trees, the space has been opened up and hopefully we will be  soon be able to put some seating in. 

We recently have some funding come in and we are looking for some more volunteers to support on a regular or ad hoc basis. If you are interested please get in touch.

Whilst weeding over at the allotment today we came across a very strange looking spider, the kind of which none of us had seen before: it was small, bright yellow and looked like a tiny octopus. I've just looked it up on the internet and it would appear it's a Goldenrod Crab Spider, the female can be bright yellow/white and has the ability to change colour. 

We had a great time at the Southminster flower show on Saturday, a big thank you to everyone that stopped by our stall  to have a chat.

We couldn't believe how well we did in the different classes: three firsts and two seconds in horticulture and our  decorated wellingtons were placed second and third.

Our Friday art and craft group created some giant flowers from re-cycled materials to decorate the stall. The petals are made from underlay and the centres were made using different materials for example necklaces, wool and even an old scourer. The group is friendly with the aim of people coming along and trying out different arts and crafts. People aren't expected to produce a master piece although we've had some lovely pictures along the way. Usually, there are several activities to choose from and a tea break mid morning.

After a busy day in the office we headed off to check the allotment. As you can see the black currents are coming on a treat - who could resist.