Allotment plots in Baldock
The BALGA Members’ Shop will re-open on Sunday 18th April 2021 (10 am – 12 pm).
The BALGA Members’ Shop will open on Sunday 18 April 2021 and every Sunday thereafter until 21 November 2021 (subject to any future COVID restrictions). The Shop will be open from 10 am until 12 pm. Please observe a social distance.
The price list can be found by clicking here and clicking ‘BALGA Shop 2021 current price list March 2021’ button on the page.
Potatoe sales have been very successful. We’ve sold over 90% of our potatoes. Potatoes are selling fast and it’s not too late to make an order, but it’s better to do it sooner rather than later. Members can click here to place an order for seed potatoes, onion and shallot sets.
We have sold out of even more varieties and we have limited stock with some of our main crop and second early potatoes. It is not too late to buy your potatoes or onion and shallot sets, but we are selling out fast and you may want to buy your favourite variety as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
You may want to try Premiere as your first early potato because the variety is resistant to blight and common scab and they are ideal for frying.
Did you forget to plant garlic in the Autumn? We have garlic that is bred for Spring planting. It would need planting straight away, but members can make an order by clicking here. Garlic is not on our pre-order form, but you can request it in the “Additional notes” or email our Trading Secretary by clicking here.
We would usually start the season with Compost Sunday at the BALGA Members’ Shop. However, due to COVID-19, we are offering a delivery service for BALGA members on our latest compost that has just arrived (please see below).
We are in a limited supply of Humax Multipurpose 60l because they are reformulating it to create a peat-free compost. If this is one of your favourite types of compost to use, then we recommend you make an order as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. However, Gro-well Multipurpose 60l at £5.00 makes a good alternative because it’s similar in quality.
Deliveries can only be made to addresses in Baldock. For members living outside Baldock, arrangements should be made with Stewart (the Trading Secretary) for convenient delivery to the member’s allotment plot or to one of our allotment site gates for Associate Members (non-plot holders).
We are now offering a delivery service to members for the following available types of compost:
Deliveries can only be made to addresses in Baldock. For members living outside Baldock, arrangements should be made with Stewart (the Trading Secretary) for convenient delivery to the member’s allotment plot or to one of our allotment site gates for Associate Members (non plot holders).
Following on from the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday (4 January 2021), we would like to remind our members of the following guidelines to keep everyone safe during this national lockdown:
Autumn planting onion sets, shallots, garlic and flowering bulbs are now in stock and are available every Sunday until the end of the growing season (November).
We have the following varieties available:
Onion Sets (£0.70 per 200g)
Senshyu Yellow (limited availability)
Senshyu onions are a large round onion with a white flesh inside with a mild flavour that would go nicely in a salad.
Red Winter
Red Winter is a good quality large onion that can taste quite sweet. Red onion sets are prone to bolting but this particular variety has excellent resistance to bolting and pests and diseases.
Shallots (£2.10 per 250g)
Jermor
Jermor has a shiny brown skin with a pinkish flesh. This is a good sweet variety to try.
Garlic
Elephant garlic (£0.70 per clove)
Elephant garlic is not a true garlic, but produces stems like leeks and the large bulbs have a mild garlic taste that is ideal for roasting.
Flowering bulbs
Why not plant some flowering bulbs in your garden and allotment for some spring colour?
Mixed daffodils – £0.90 per 500g
Mixed Garden Tulips – 10 bulbs for £2.00
Hope to see you at the shop on Sunday. Remember to keep a social distance, especially if there are more than six people at the shop.
The member’s shop will go back to opening 10am – 12pm from the first Sunday in October (4 October). We are continually listening to government guidelines so please observe a social distance when you visit the shop to keep everyone safe.
The autumn onion sets, shallots, garlic, tulip bulbs and daffodils will be available from 4 October 2020 at the BALGA Members’ Shop.
We have two new varieties of onion sets this year called ‘Senshyu Yellow’ (yellow onion with white flesh) and ‘Red Winter’ (red onion). Senshyu onions are a large round onion with a white flesh inside with a mild flavour that would go nicely in a salad. Which? Gardening magazine rated Senshyu onion as number one autumn planted onion during their testing because the onion had one of highest average onion weight and good resistance to bolting, pests and diseases. They gave it an overall rating of five stars. Equally recommended by Which? Magazine was the red onion called Red Winter because it came third best onion and the best red onion. Red Winter is a good quality large onion that can taste quite sweet. Red onion sets are prone to bolting but this particular variety has excellent resistance to bolting and pests and diseases. We also have one variety of shallots called ‘Jermor’ that has a shiny brown skin with a pinkish flesh. This is a good sweet variety to try.
We will have two varieties of garlic called ‘Cristo’ and ‘Vigor’. Cristo is a softneck variety that produces large white bulbs with a strong flavour. Vigor is also a softneck variety and it produces a large white skin with purple bands and huge number of cloves per bulb. We also have a limited number of garlic bulbs that have been grown by an allotment holder in Baldock for over 40 years, and since garlic adapts to suit the soil it is grown in, it is now quite at home.
Unfortunately we have had several reports of different vegetables being taken from tenants’ plots over the past few days at North Road allotment site. We are taking measures to improve the security where there are wooden straining bars. However, please be extra vigilant at both allotment sites and report any suspicious behaviour to your site representative. Please make sure you lock the gate and scramble the code at North Road allotment site and close all gates at Clothall Road.
At this time of year, we would usually announce the results of the Best Kept Allotment Competition but because of COVID-19 it hasn’t been possible to judge the plots. It is a shame that the competition didn’t go ahead this year because, as you may have seen around both sites, plots are looking at their best!
We’ve had a few new tenants since May last year and they have made an excellent amount of progress. It just goes to show what can be achieved in a small amount of time. One member said “we live in a small flat and no outdoor space of our own therefore it was refreshing to go to the allotment during lockdown.”
Another tenant said “there is no such thing as too much manure and Ace of Herts” and you can see their plot below:
In the past, I had not been successful with onions or leeks because of the allium leaf miner. The adult flies appear from March to April and September to October and will feed on the leaves of your allium plants before laying her eggs. It attacks all members of the allium family. You can tell the female fly has fed on your leaves because you will see lines of white dots on the leaves on your alliums. The eggs will hatch and become larvae (small maggots) that will tunnel in the foliage, stems and bulbs of the allium plant exposing the plant to diseases and rotting.
So at the end of last year I thought I would protect my plants using insect mesh to stop the allium fly laying eggs on my allium plants. Back in October last year Monty Don on Gardeners’ World said to try planting onion sets in modules in the greenhouse as it will give the onions a head start and avoid cold and wet weather. I knew the allium fly would be unable to access the onions in the greenhouse over winter so I gave it a try.
In April, when the soil had warmed up, I decided to plant the onion plants out. I knew the allium fly could lay her eggs in April so I covered it with insect mesh (which is available at the BALGA Members’ shop).
Finally, it was a success! Have a look at the picture below:
Remember, there is no chemical available that will stop the allium leaf miner so it is best to use insect mesh in March-April and September-October. Perhaps you can try starting your onions in modules this year? It could give you a head start to the season next year and harvest onions early than usual!
Miles
Our potatoes and onion sets are now half price! In order to clear the remaining stock we have halved the price of the seed potatoes in the members’ shop down to 50p per Kg. We’ve also reduced the price of the remaining onion sets by 50%, down to 30p per 200g.
Now is the perfect time to plant potatoes for a ‘second cropping’ especially if you fancy serving new potatoes up with your Christmas dinner. Click here for more information on planting Christmas potatoes.
The table below shows our current stock levels in the shop. As you can see, after a very successful delivery service and click and collect service, we have very few potatoes left. So why not come to the members’ shop this Sunday (10am-11am) to take advantage of the half price seed potatoes? Alternatively, you can make a click and collect order, click here to find out more information.
If you’ve just taken on an allotment, now is a good time to prepare an area and plant some seed potatoes. It’s a good way to break up the soil AND enjoy a harvest this summer.