Strawberries, Cream and Sunshine

What a jolly bunch of volunteers help out at the Cardiff Institute for the Blind. And they are made even jollier by our annual invitation to a Strawberries & Cream afternoon at the allotments adapted and developed by our very own Gardening Club. The site spans 4 plots that are designed to a regular pattern to help with navigation and ease of gardening for all ages and levels of sight.

Volunteers and guests started to arrive with the best of the sunshine. CIB staff and club members welcomed all comers with a bowl of juicy strawberries swimming in fresh cream as well as a choice of white or red wines. Cheese and crackers also helped to promote thoughtful conversation on topics such as how to grow a straight runner bean and how to make a fuchsia face upwards. Those visiting our allotments for the first time were truly impressed, especially when many of them discovered they did not need their Wellington boots. The areas are paved and flat, and accessible to everyone. Volunteers and guests revelled around the raised beds, prodding our tomatoes and tickling the aphids. Club members held impromptu Gardening Time sessions on the hoof. Staff served up all sorts of surprise delicacies and delights as they circulated with the air of a Royal Garden Party. Photographers popped out from behind the most surprising foliage and the inevitable raffle handed out many, many prizes from the shade of the gazebo.

Everyone went home happy, carrying at least one item of flora purchased from Gardening Club stocks. About 120 people attended in total, making it our most successful Strawberries & Cream event ever!