New year, new skills

The weather may be grey and cold, but there's always plenty to be getting on with on the community allotment. A few weeks ago, Katy shared her skills by giving the group a masterclass on pruning fruit trees. Here she is showing June how to tackle the slightly neglected apple trees.

Here is a close up showing Katy cutting back some of the growth. As she explained to us, first you need to take out any diseased or damaged wood. Then you can start looking at the general shape of the tree, and make sure none of the branches are crossing over each other.

We're hoping for a bumper crop of fruit this year! After tackling the fruit trees, we moved onto the soft fruit bushes. Here, through a tangle of gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes, Katy is showing Jayne how to maintain the bushes so that they are healthy and productive. There is an ulterior motive - Jayne is known as the queen of jam making on the community allotment, and we're looking forward to the next helping of scones with jam!