Whatta lotta fun with Lottie

No, the Lottie we mean here is not one of our lovely volunteers (although we do have a Lotty), but the name of DRS’s very own allotment.

And this week, after a presentation on Thursdays, on where the allotment is (Rowditch Allotments on Uttoxeter New Road) and what it produces (strawberries, courgettes, runner beans, onions, raspberries, flowers, inedible artichoke, nice cups of tea and much, much more), in order to raise more awareness and encourage more people to visit (and share the food!) volunteers were invited there for lunch on Friday.

We walked there, we cycled there, we even travelled by car to get there. We came from Iran, Iraq, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Derby and Barton and we spoke Arabic, Tigrayit, Farsi, Kurdish, Sorani, English, German and a smattering of French. Our youngest gardener was aged 7 and our oldest too old to say… Stories were told, plans were made for a future Persian feast, a toy sloth climbed a tree, we learnt different words for vegetables (a favourite is the Farsi toot faranghi for strawberries), bread and cheese was consumed and biscuits melted in the sun.

A beautiful day. May there be many more and may flowers, fruit and vegetables forever bring us together.