Best Kept Competition 2023

Yes, it’s that time of year again! The annual judging for Best Kept Competition will be taking place in June. A small panel of committee members from each site will judge all plots and select the best 10 plots from each site. These selected plots will then be put forward for final judging by independent judges in mid-July who will determine the best plot on each site. Each site winner will receive a prize of £25 voucher to be spent at the Members’ Shop. Of these two, the plot gaining the most points will be declared the overall winner and the tenant awarded the Basil Byrant Cup.

In addition, a separate independently judged competition will select two Best Newcomers. One from North Road and one from Clothall Road. These awards are for new tenants that started from 1 May 2022 – 30 April 2023. Each Best Newcomer will receive a prize of £25 voucher to be spent at the Members’ Shop. The winner of the Clothall Road site will be awarded the Frank Conway cup and the winner of the North Road site will be awarded the John Gray cup.

Take some inspiration from the previous plot winners in the pictures below.

October 30, 2021October 30, 2021

Giant Pumpkin

This giant pumpkin was grown by Fred at the North Road allotment site. It weighed a whopping 606 pounds and required a team to move it around Baldock. Although you would need a lot of space, perhaps we can all have a go of growing gigantic vegetables.

October 16, 2021

Baldock Ecofest 2021

On Saturday 30 October from 10am to 3pm, Baldock will have its first Ecofest where people attending can chat with local experts about reducing food waste, growing your own, upcycling and crafting and recycling and composting.

This event will be on the High Street with a variety of stalls booked. BALGA will be there to promote growing your own vegetables, herbs and fruit, answering questions and giving advice on the subject to those attending.

July 10, 2021

Blight Warning July 2021

Blight warning

With the very wet and humid conditions of the past few weeks, the almost inevitable potato blight has struck very early on both sites. Potato leaves will discolour and stalks will die back in a matter of days with a distinctive odour about them. If the foliage is not quickly removed down to the ground level on those plants affected, the blight can spread to the underground tubers, which then become unusable. All affected foliage that has been removed should not be composted or placed in the brown bin, but instead burnt or put into general waste bins. Tomato plants can be similarly affected and should be pulled up and disposed of in the same way. Spores that cause the blight can remain in the soil or compost for a year or so. It is thus better to avoid planting potatoes and tomatoes next year in the ground that has been so affected this year.

There are now several varieties of blight resistant potatoes and tomatoes available, which are usually clearly labelled as such and which you may care to think about growing next year. Blight seems to be becoming more prevalent each year, but not usually this early in the season. Only once before have I known it this early in 40 years of allotment gardening although most years now it often presents itself by late August or September when most of the growing has been done and crops can be harvested successfully.

July 2, 2021

Christmas Potatoes 2021

I know it’s a little too early to think about Christmas but if you fancy serving new potatoes up with your Christmas dinner, now is a good time to plant seed potatoes. There is no need to chit the seed potatoes because they will grow rapidly in the warm soil. They will be ready from September/October but you can leave them in the ground until Christmas Day. Make sure you earth up in October after the first frosts to protect them from any further hard frosts. I tried it for the last couple of years with great success and I know Mick (Chairman) does it each year. It’s a great way to enjoy fresh potatoes on Christmas Day!

We have plenty of Markies available. Markies is a great variety for making chips with a yellow skin and flesh.

Seed potatoes are currently half price at £0.50 per kg. You may have pulled up onions and garlic and this a great way to fill the empty space. So why not come to the members’ shop this Sunday (10am-12pm) to take advantage of the half price seed potatoes?

June 10, 2021

Watering your Allotment Plot

Watering helps to keep our plants alive but not necessarily to thrive as they would with decent rains. Water use on both sites has increased considerably but I remind of you on some steps that can help ‘stem the flow’.

Ideally water early morning or late evening
Concentrate on crops that really need water – those newly sown or planted and top up when needed.
Mulch around plants to help prevent evaporation
Dig a hole a spade’s width and depth, fill with manure or other organic matter, place a little soil on top and water well before planting out tomatoes, courgettes etc., similarly a trench for beans etc., leaving a shallow depression around plants to keep the water where it is needed.
Overwatering can be counterproductive. Plants can become lazy spreading their roots near the surface where watering supplies them rather down to find moisture to make a stronger root system and plant.
When watering is necessary, better to give a soaking once a week rather than a dribble each day.

Mick (Chairman)

July 9, 2020July 9, 2020

Successful Onions!

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

July 4, 2020October 8, 2021

Christmas Potatoes

Saxon is a good variety to try for a second cropping because it produces uniform long oval-shaped potatoes with a good yield. Saxon is somewhat floury potato and is excellent for baking and chipping. ‘Winston’ is another variety that is good for a second cropping because it’s quick to grow and is excellent for roasting and mashing. Perfect for Christmas Day!

Seed potatoes are currently half price at £0.50 per kg. You may have pulled up onions and garlic and this a great way to fill the empty space. 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.

June 19, 2020

Watering your Plot

Who would have thought after such a wet winter that we would now be so desperate for rain? Watering helps to keep our plants alive but not necessarily to thrive as they would with decent rains. Water use on both sites has obviously increased considerably but I remind of you on some steps that can help ‘stem the flow’.

Ideally water early morning or late evening
Concentrate on crops that really need water – those newly sown or planted and top up when needed.
Mulch around plants to help prevent evaporation
Dig a hole a spade’s width and depth, fill with manure or other organic matter, place a little soil on top and water well before planting out tomatoes, courgettes etc., similarly a trench for beans etc., leaving a shallow depression around plants to keep the water where it is needed.
Overwatering can be counterproductive. Plants can become lazy spreading their roots near the surface where watering supplies them rather down to find moisture to make a stronger root system and plant.
When watering is necessary, better to give a soaking once a week rather than a dribble each day.

Mick (Chairman)

January 9, 2020December 17, 2020

Kings Seeds’ Orders

The Kings Seeds orders arrived in late December. All individual member orders are collated by some of the committee into one big order which is placed with Kings Seeds under their allotment association seed scheme. When the seed packets arrive they need laying out and checking to make sure the order is correct; no mean feat as the images show!

The seed packets are then sorted so that each individual member’s order is filled. Members can then collect their orders from the chairman.

Being able to take advantage of the Kings Seeds scheme is one of the benefits of being a member of BALGA; the prices of the seeds are considerably less than you would find in a garden centre and are also lower than Kings Seeds regular seed catalogue. Members can easily save the cost of their annual membership through their seed orders alone.

Membership to BALGA is open to all; you don’t have to have an allotment to be a member of the association. We usually place a second bulk order after our AGM each year so any new or existing members who haven’t placed an order yet can still do so. Catalogues will be available for collection at the AGM on 20 January.

Category: Allotments for Beginners