About TOPS

Tatnam Organic Patch is a community garden and organic allotment, in Poole, Dorset,  England.

The site was a sea of brambles, 8 feet high

We have developed with our site since 1998. This is a triangular piece of land bordering St. Mary’s catholic church, and Tatnam Farm allotments in Oakdale, Poole. When the church was built, it was left fallow, and the brambles took over. We had to cut our way in to open the gate, and kept on cutting right across the site !

Today, it is a thriving haven for wildlife, with many plants and trees introduced to raise the biodiversity of, in particular, butterflies and moths. The Organic Allotment area is a shared resource, with 18 raised ‘no-walk’ beds, about 3 metres long by 1 metre wide. The width is designed to allow the centre to be reached without treading on the beds.

Mary and Clare tending vegetables Oct 2000

Over the years we have tried different techniques, the fixed boarding around the beds proved an irresistable hiding place for slugs, so we moved to removable boards, and now just banked earth.

Digging the Asparagus Bed - April 2009

Our asparagus has become overwhelmed with bindweed and other plants, so a new bed, with 10 new crowns, and now with roof-tile sides and a gravel layer was dug in April 2009.  Harriet was in charge, with stalwart weeding of bed 2, and Mark working in the greenhouse.

Tatnam Patch is proud to have been adopted in 2009 as a Land Project, under the Permaculture Association Land Project scheme, a permaculture learning and demonstration network supported by online services and information.