allotment shop | Baldock Allotment Association

March 18, 2019February 22, 2020

Availability of potatoes, onions and shallots 2019

After a successful few weeks of trading, we have sold out of even more varieties and have limited stock of some of our first earlies, salad potatoes and shallots. It’s not too late to buy your potatoes, onions or shallots, but as we are selling out of certain varieties, you may want to buy your favourite variety as soon as possible at the members’ shop to avoid disappointment.

We have sold out of Casablanca, but Swift is a good alternative because it produces large tubers and it’s one of the fastest maturing first early potatoes.

Setanta is a good main crop potato which you might not have tried before. It is blight resistant, high yielding, has good drought tolerance and is ideal for roasting and mashing. Why not try this as your main crop potato?

We trialled pre-packed potatoes in 2.5kg bags this year and they have proved to be very successful with nearly all the bags sold. We still have Cara, Kestrel and Setanta available in pre-packed 2.5kg bags, although the Cara and Kestrel pre-packs are nearly gone.

With all the poor weather we’ve been having, it’s a great time to buy potatoes and let them chit until you’re ready to plant them out. The members’ shop is open every Sunday 10am-12pm or click here to take advantage of our pre-order form to save time as your order will be ready for you on collection. Click here to see a full list of potatoes still available as well as more information about each variety.

March 8, 2019February 22, 2020

Potatoes, Onions and Shallots Availability 2019

After a successful few weeks of trading, we have sold out of some varieties and we have limited stock with some of our first early potatoes. It’s not too late to buy your potatoes, onions or shallots. Order your potatoes as soon as you can to avoid disappointment, as some varieties are nearly sold out.

We have sold out of Golden Gourmet shallots, but we still have plenty of Red Sun shallots. Why don’t you try Red Sun shallots instead because they have a tasty distinctive flavour with red skin and will store for months.

We have sold out of Desiree and Setanta is a good alternative to Desiree because it’s blight resistant, high yielding, has good drought tolerance and they’re ideal for roasting and mashing.

It’s not too late if you have not bought your seed potatoes. The shop is open every Sunday 10am-12pm or click here to take advantage of our pre-order form. Click here to see a full list of available potatoes and more information about each variety.

February 24, 2019March 31, 2020

Shop Update February 2019

Come and visit our development of the shop! We have installed extra shelving to improve the display of stock and to make purchasing more efficient.

To make shopping more efficient, we have pre-weighed bags of Vermiculite Fine, Vermiculite Medium, Perlite, Growmore, Fish Blood and Bone and Pelleted Chicken Manure. We have the following volumes available pre-weighed:

Vermiculite Medium (£1.20 for 4 litres) helps retain moisture and nutrients, improve aeration and it is used to cover seeds.
Vermiculite Fine (£1.20 for 4 litres) helps retain moisture and nutrients and aids water management of a peat-based growing media.
Perlite (£0.80 for 4 litres) helps aeration and drainage for healthy root growth.
Growmore (£3.00 for 3kg or £1 for 1kg) is a good fertiliser that promotes heavy crops of fruits, vegetables and flowers.
Fish Blood and Bone (£2.10 for 3kg or £1 bag) is a traditional organic-based fertiliser. Fish Blood and Bone is good for strong growth and healthy root development. You can apply this throughout the season.
Pelleted Chicken Manure (£1.80 for 3kg or £1 bag) is organic plant food that releases nutrients slowly.

You can get your pre-weighed bags from the shop, which is open every Sunday (during the growing season) 10am-12pm. If the volume you’re looking for is not available pre-weighed, we can weigh out your chosen amount. To see a full list of our products in the shop, please click here.

February 23, 2019February 22, 2020

Potato Weekend 2019

Potato Weekend has proved very successful, with some varieties already sold out. We had an increase of members using the pre-order/click and collect service this year and this has been very successful because members’ orders were ready on arrival! Thank you to all of our members who took advantage of this and supported us on Potato Weekend.

Potato Weekend 2019

After successful trading over Potato Weekend, we have sold out of Abbot, Desiree, Charlotte, Rocket and Foremost. Setanta is a good alternative to Desiree because it’s blight resistant, high yielding, has good drought tolerance and they’re ideal for roasting and mashing. We still have the following varieties available loose at £1 per kg:

First Early Potatoes

Arran Pilot
Casablanca
Colleen
Foremost
Lady Christl
Swift

Second Early Potatoes

Kestrel (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Wilja

Main Crop Potatoes

Cara (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Maris Piper (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Nicola
Picasso (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Setanta (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Vales Sovereign

It’s not too late if you have not bought your seed potatoes. The shop is open every Sunday 10am-12pm. Click here to see a full list of available potatoes and more information about each variety.

January 23, 2019February 22, 2020

Compost Sunday 2019

The traditional curtain raiser to our trading season is Compost Sunday when our members’ shop is open for members to stock up on composts and kick start their growing year.

This year we have several new composts for you, including a fully peat-free compost in response to requests from members.

The full list of what is available below.

Members will note we have two types of seed compost for this year. Kings Seeds recommend growers use seed compost in their seed trays because the fertiliser in multi-purpose compost can kill seeds.

We also have a small number of Jack’s Magic left over from last year’s stock.

The shop will be open from 10am to 12 noon.

May 11, 2017August 16, 2020

Excess Seedlings

One of the worst faults of a gardener is sowing too many seeds and then not being able to throw any surplus seedlings away. We just can’t bring ourselves to do it, can we?

Well worry not! If members have an excess seedlings they’ve grown, they can now bring them down to the Members’ Shop before it opens on a Sunday where they can be sold to raise funds for the association.
Or maybe some of your seedlings have failed this year and you are looking to plug the gap at a good price?
Don’t forget the shop is open every Sunday from 10am to 12 noon until the end of November.

On a similar note, if it’s plants you are after, the Baldock Horti Soc have a stall at the Baldock Street Fair this coming Saturday where they are selling plants to raise funds; there may be even some veg plants available!