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Autumn bliss on the Co-ordin8 allotment

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It’s that time again! When gardeners everywhere reap the rewards of their hard earnt labours, take stock and put the garden to bed as well. However, there are still some joys in stall as the Co-ordin8 Allotment Group found out on their recent visit to their balmy allotment in Preston.

pink flowers in the midst of green on the Co-ordin8 Allotment
Still some colour to be found on our Co-ordin8 Allotment. We will leave these cosmos for the seed!

The allotmenting year had not come without its challenges this year… A dry growing season, torrential hail in June and gusts galore. As a result some things did better than others. Our lettuce were excellent as were our potatoes. Soft fruit in the form of gooseberries came up trumps but blackcurrants were poor due to our dry and breezy site.

Students got to take their produce home to enjoy with friends and family and also made new friends on the field, sharing a hand, advice and a well earned cuppa!

When crops had bolted all was not lost as seed was able to be harvested by our students to save air miles, costs and use in one of our popular ‘Seed Swaps.’ Cut flowers and interesting and unusual veggies were used in art and cookery sessions.

  • a host of different coloured and textured flowers: yellow, pink, red and the green of their shoots
  • large sunflowers with brown middles, and petals that are black and tinged with the traditional yellow of a sunflower
  • a large sunflower with a bee just off centre of the middle
  • a close up of a sunflower, almost hidden in the middle is a bee
  • a hornet is resting on a big green leaf in the autmn sun
  • butternut squash sitting in a field with the green leaves around then, ready to be icked
  • a big sunflower head in a fields, the centre has the seeds picked out in the shape of a smiley face
  • white seed pods are on the table and a plastic container is filled with big white seeds (which look like kidney beans) and a hand is delving into the box of seeds
  • old leaves that have red, rest, yellow and black colours
  • sunflowers are drawn with brown centres, which are surrounded by large yellow petals and the background is made up of rhythmic dots of colour
a man is sitting on a chair on an allotment next to him is a woman with a basket of cut yellow flowers of sunflowers
Mark Alexander makes friends with a fellow allotment neighbour ‘Radya’ up on the allotment site and gives her a bunch of home grown sunflowers to take home.
a man is holding a bagful of freshly dug potatoes
Brian digs himself some top notch potatoes for his evening meal.

Co-ordinArt Sessions: Autumn Themes using donated produce from Coach Road Project (Devon Youth Offending Service).

  • a man is arrange apples, courgets pears and other autumn fruit and veg on a table with autumn flowers. In the background a woman is holding a vegetable
    arranging fruit and veg and leaves for a still life
  • colourful drawings of autumn fruit and veg
    an artistic stuff of the autumn still life

Ian Hammond has a Master Class in ‘still life fruit’ with Clive Burton and produces some stunning results…

  • a man with a beard is still at a table with drawings of fruit. He is holding a big pear and examining it. Stood next to him with his arms folded, listening is a younger man
  • a pencil drawing of a pear with the real pear behind it

Ian Hammond’s ‘Still Life Fruit.’….’Comes to life!’

  • a man is holding his drawing of an apple and the red apple he drew
  • a red apple on a table with a person drawing them in colours

End Results an Artistic Seven-A-Day!

a table with autumn fruit and veg and the pictures / drawings they have inspired
Clive Burton
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About Clive Burton

BA (Hons.)
Qualified Teacher and Assessor.
Former tutor at St.Loyes College for the disabled.

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