Successful Delivery Service April 2020

As members will be aware we trialled a delivery service in April after having to close the members’ shop as a result of government advice during the coronavirus pandemic. We are very pleased with how successful it has been. Over the last two weeks, we have had more than 60 orders worth over £1300! This astounding amount of money will benefit our association.

Members who took advantage of the delivery service were very appreciative because they were finding it difficult to source particular items at the start of this year’s growing season. We would like to thank all of the members who made an order and supported us and complied with social distancing guidance.

It’s not too late to order items from the BALGA members’ shop, but you need to be a member. Click here to read how to place an order. Please note we have sold out of the following items:

  • ALL compost except Humax and Levington M3
  • Fish blood and bone
  • 20kg bags Coarse horticultural grit

We would like to thank Stewart (Trading Secretary) for processing and delivering all the items and Janet (Treasurer) for managing the payments.

If you have any feedback or comments about the delivery service, please email tradesec@balga-online.co.uk.

Delivery Service

Following on from the Prime Minister’s announcement on 23 March and continued government advice, the members’ shop has been temporarily closed. However as there have been several requests from members about how they may obtain items from the shop while it is closed during the current lockdown, we are now offering a delivery service to members. Note you need to be a BALGA member to take advantage of the service.

If you’re a member and would like to purchase items, please follow this process:

  1. Select the products you wish to purchase
  2. Click here to Email tradesec@balga-online.co.uk with the items and quantity you wish to purchase together with your name, address and telephone number. Make sure you order by 8pm Friday for a Sunday delivery.
  3. We will confirm your order with the total amount due and give you our bank account details so you can pay for your items
  4. Once your payment has been received, we will give you an approximate delivery time. Note we will only be delivering on Sunday mornings for now.

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).

Daffodils at North Road Allotment Site

In December, we told you that we took the few remaining daffodils bulbs left unsold at the members’ shop and planted them around the notice board and in the raised beds at our North Road Site.

They have flowered and they have certainly brightened the site up.  Have a look at some of the pictures below.

If you have daffodils on your allotment or garden, please allow them to grow until they die back. This is allows them to store energy and nutrients back into the bulb for next year’s flower. Once they have finished flowering, you can remove the flowering stem from the base to avoid diseases.

 

Daffodils at North Road 2020

The last few remaining daffodils bulbs left unsold from the members’ shop were planted around the notice board and in the raised beds at our North Road Site in December.  Hopefully they will make a lovely display of colour in the spring!

We planted the daffodils about 4 inches deep, or double the size of the bulb, and about 4 inches apart. Daffodils can stand some crowding, but it’s best to keep them at least 3 inches apart. Planting daffodils too shallow will cause floppy stems that will break in the wind and too deep will cause the bulb to not flower or surface.

Planting daffodils at North Road

We will show you the flowering bulbs in Spring and I’m sure they will brighten the allotment site up.

BALGA Christmas Tree 2019

BALGA decorated and exhibited a Christmas Tree at the annual Christmas Tree Festival in St Mary’s Church, Baldock.

Every year local schools and community organisations fill the church with festive trees and Nativity scenes. We called our Christmas tree ‘The Growing Tree’. It was decorated with fruit and vegetables, some of which had been grown on our allotments in Baldock.

The church committee wrote a card that said “our Christmas tree was inspirational and it was admired by many.” We left some leaflets out for the public to take and were pleased a fair number was taken.

Thank you to the members that donated vegetables and fruit for us to use and to St Mary’s Church for allowing us to exhibit our tree.

Availability of onion sets, shallots, garlic and flowering bulbs

There is still time to get your onion sets, shallots and flowering bulbs before the shop closes at the end of the season (24 Nov). Many gardening websites suggest that November is the perfect time to plant garlic and tulip bulbs, so why not come to the members’ shop this Sunday (10am – 12pm) and get some planting done before the weather changes.

It’s always nice to see things growing over the winter and it makes the plot look nice when the weather is so poor and there is little else growing.

As you can see from the table below, we have very limited stock of some varieties. If these are your favourites, then please come to the members’ shop this Sunday before they are sold out. We also have a handful of elephant garlic cloves left.
The members’ shop will now only be open  on 17 November and 24 November before closing for the winter at 12pm on 24 Nov.

 

Autumn Onion Sets

Summer may be winding down and we may be enjoying bountiful harvests, but now is the time to start thinking of the next growing season and this means the planting of autumn onion and shallot sets and garlic.

The members’ shop took delivery of the autumn sets a couple of weeks ago and this year we have available:

Onion sets (60p per 200g) :

  • Radar
  • Shakespeare
  • Tornado

Shallots (80p per 250g) :

  • Golden Gourmet
  • Red Sun
Shallot sets

 

 

 

 

 


Garlic
(70p per head)

  • Thermidrome White
  • Carousel Pink
Garlic

You can also sow broad beans in the autumn and Broad Bean Aquadulce is the ideal variety for growing over the winter months. There are packs of 200g for £1 available in the shop.

This year we are also trialing the sale of assorted narcissus and tulip bulbs. The narcissus are available for 90p per 500g and there are five varieties of tulip available; the price for these being £2 for 10 bulbs.

Tulip bulbs

The members’ shop is open every Sunday until the end of November.

BALGA Open Day 2019

Thank you to everyone who came to our Open Day at Tapps Garden Centre on 17 August. It was good to see so many members coming along again.

A good number of seed catalogues were handed out to members. Taking advantage of buying seeds in the Kings Seeds’ catalogue is a great way for members to save money on their seed purchases for next year. If you haven’t got your catalogue yet, you can pick one up every Sunday morning during September and October at the members’ shop in Football Close.
Click here for more information on national seed scheme from King Seeds.

BALGA Open Day 2019

We also had a couple of people seeking plots and their names have been added to the waiting list. We had a number of displays showing our work this year and a possible expansion on North Road allotment site. With the increasing demand for allotments and waiting list, we will be exploring this possible expansion.

BALGA Open Day 2019

Once again, thank you to everyone that came to our Open Day. If you have any ideas for next year, please email publicity@balga-online.co.uk

Best Kept Allotment 2019 Winners

The final round of judging for this year’s Best Kept Allotment competition took place in mid July; a difficult task for this year’s independent judges, especially for the Best Newcomer award which was a closely fought contest. We’ve had some new tenants on both sites in the last year who have made supreme efforts, not only in clearing their plots but also in the planting they have done.

The winner of this year’s Best Newcomer is Andy Cawley at Clothall Road and he will be awarded the Frank Conway Cup at the AGM in January together with a voucher for the members’ shop of £10.

Best Newcomer 2019
Best Newcomer 2019

The standard of plots being judged for the Best Kept Allotment was high as usual with Pete Thompson aka Tommo being judged the best plot at North Road and John Johnson the best plot at Clothall Road. As he scored the most points, John was judged to be the best plot overall and he will be awarded the Basil Bryant Cup at the AGM. Both site winners will each receive a £25 voucher for the members’ shop

Best Plot Overall 2019
Best Plot at North Road 2019

Congratulations to the winners and all those shortlisted in what has been a bit of a stop/start year.           

Joanna