We had a working party at North Road on Thursday, February 22nd, to bring two plots back into use. A big thank you to the eight members who helped put the rubbish into piles ready to be removed or put on a bonfire. I know lots of you emailed back to say you couldn’t help on that date. We will need a couple more working parties to bring this plot back into use, so please look out for the next date. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Please, can we kindly ask members not to dump any further rubbish in this area because it will cost the Association more money to remove the rubbish where the money could be better spent to improve the site’ facilities.
We had our Annual General Meeting on January 2024 at the Community Centre in Baldock. Along with the formal business, we heard reports from various committee members about the work we completed last year.
The winners of the Best Kept Allotment Competition were awarded their certificate and trophy by Counsellor Muir. Please see the pictures below of the tenants receiving their certificate, trophy and gift voucher for the Members’ Shop.
Adam H – Best Plot OverallStephen D – Best Plot at North RoadTerry and Melody – Best Newcomer at North Road
Mick Camp, Alison Gentle, Jon Jones and Phil Charsley were all re-elected onto the Committee. We welcome Ian Rees and Sarah Bassett who were voted onto the Committee too.
Despite the problems we’ve had with the lock at North Road, it was agreed by those present from the North Road site that the lock on the gate should not be replaced for the time being.
Membership fees would be increased from £6 to £7 for 2024/25. Allotment rents would stay the same.
BALGA had received over £2,000 from the North Herts Lottery. This would be used to provide solar security lighting for the sites and a box for food bank donations at North Road.
An update was given on the progress of bringing back in to use 30 half-plots at the North Road site.BALGA had been liaising with Urban & Civic on the provision of allotments and expanding the facilities at the current sites as part of the expansion of Baldock.
The Committee was given the go ahead to look into changing BALGA from an unincorporated association to a co-operative. There will be more information on this soon.
We would like to thank everyone who attended the AGM, and we look forward to sharing our progress this year.
This year we are once again running a pre-ordering service for members so they can place orders online for seed potatoes. Orders are placed on a ‘click and collect’ basis and are dealt with in the order they are received.
Once you have made your order, a committee member will reply within 3 days with the amount you owe. Payment is made on collection from the members’ shop or BACS before collection. Please specify the date you wish to collect your order in the order form below and it will be picked and bagged ready for you on that date.
All stock is subject to availability and stock levels are updated on a weekly basis.
Note: BALGA reserves the right to put back into stock any items not collected within 7 days of the specified collection date.
Chitting Potatoes!
If you wish to order more than one variety in each category, please use the ‘Additional Potato Order’ sections on the form.
Any additional requirements or comments, please add these to the ‘Additional Information box.
Once you have chosen your varieties, don’t forget to select a collection date before clicking ‘Submit’. A copy of your order will be emailed to you. Please print off a copy and bring it with you when you come to collect your order.
Prices are as follows:
Seed potatoes – £1.30 per kilo
Onion sets – £0.70 per 200g
Shallots – £0.70 per 200g
This to let you know that the BALGA shop will be open this Sunday 4 February for compost sales. There will be a special offer this Sunday on Bloom & Grow peat free compost (the price will reduce as you order more bags)
1 bag £5
2 bags £9
3 bags £12
4 bags £15
Baldock honey will also be on sale.
The shop will then be shut until Potato weekend 24/25 February.
Our BALGA Annual General Meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Monday 22nd January 2024 at the Baldock Community Centre in Simpsons Drive. Expect to receive copies of the agenda, minutes of 2023 AGM and other reports sent out at the very beginning of January by email or by paper delivery to those not on email. The meeting is your opportunity to hear more about your Association and all that is being done on your behalf. There will be presentations made to the winners of the Best Kept Allotment Competition 2023. There will be a pay bar and a raffle so do your best to come along and hear more. Mick
There is a festive Super Draw in December, and one lucky person will win an amazing £3000 Christmas Cash Bonus. You need to buy your tickets before Saturday 23rd December to be in with a chance to win!
Tickets cost £1 per week. So not only will you potentially win prizes, but our Association will receive 50% of all tickets sold.
The 5 spaces of the car park at North Road allotment site next to the flower meadow will be unavailable from Monday 4th November to Friday 22nd December 2023. This is to store gravel for a river restoration project. BALGA may receive some compensation for the inconvenience caused.
Baldock Horticultural Society is again holding its members’ Autumn Show on Wednesday 20th September at Brandles School in Weston Way. As last year, BALGA members are invited to exhibit entries with schedules listing various classes of veg, fruit and flowers available in our Members’ Shop, on the Baldock Horticultural Society website. It is all a bit of fun and an opportunity to take pride in what you have grown. Let’s again, see some BALGA members entering and perhaps winning!
Third time lucky, and the final round of judging for this year’s Best Kept Allotment competition took place at the beginning of August. We had to postpone it twice due to the poor weather. Two independent judges scored the 21 shortlisted plots for Best Plot Overall and the shortlisted 6 plots for Best Newcomer 2024. The judges had a difficult task this year as it was a closely fought contest.
Adam H (CR47B) scored the most points at Clothall Road and is the Best Plot at Clothall Road. Stephen D (NR39) scored the most points at North Road and is the best plot at North Road. Congratulations to Adam H, who scored the most points overall and will be awarded the Basil Byrant Cup. Winners will receive a £25 voucher to use at the Members’ Shop. Presentations will be made at the 2023 AGM.
Here are the results for the newcomers. Lesley F (CR37A) scored the most points at Clothall Road and is the Best Newcomer at Clothall Road. Terry and Melody M (NR24) scored the most points at North Road and both are the Best Newcomer at North Road. Lesley will be awarded the Frank Conway Cup and Terry and Melody will be awarded the John Gray Cup at the 2024 AGM. In addition, the best Newcomers will receive a £10 gift.
Congratulations to all the winners and finalists. The pictures of the winning plots can be found in this article, and bigger versions on the website. Hopefully, this will give you some inspiration for next year!
Look at this beautiful image of a sunset at Clothall Road taken by a North Road tenant’s (Melody) daughter.
