GrowAbility: Wednesday 19th November 2025

Bees - dahlias - and soup!!

Well winter feels like it’s here already as the temperature drops and our lovely dahlias were hit overnight with a hard frost. We found some warmth in the summerhouse- our lovely volunteer Katie brought along some bee hotels, some new ones and some which needed doing up a bit! Katie showed us pictures on her laptop and told us all about the red solitary bees we would be nurturing next year! We learned all about their life cycle - that they are all female (but don’t need a male!) and they are friendly bees that won’t sting! It was super interesting - everyone loved it and we helped to rescue a few cocoons too!

Meanwhile Lisa got on with making a gorgeous soup - lovely fresh vegetables, herbs from the plot, and some stock! It bubbles away as we were busy and then we sat at the table to eat with some delicious buttered French bread - delicious!

Our year is almost at Dig It Community Allotment with Lisa Harper 

Essex Community Foundation we can’t thank you enough! #soupfromourgarden #vegetables