Tag: allotment

Posted on

Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2023 Reminder

Remember, we have our annual general meeting on Monday 23 January, at 7.30 pm at Baldock Community Centre, Simpsons Drive, which is off the High Street. Please come along if you can to support us and hear more of what is being done by your Committee on your behalf. Please bring your membership card so that it can be validated to show that you have paid, if that has not already been done. If you are unable to attend in person please consider obtaining by email a Proxy Voting Form to cast your votes which must be done at least 3 hours before the start of the meeting.

Councillor Muir will present awards for the Best Kept Allotment Competition. Also, meeting your committee and other members will be a great opportunity. We hope to see you there.

Posted on

Dropped Kerb at Clothall Road

In the last newsletter, we reported that Councilor Muir provided a grant to have a dropped kerb and tarmac verge crossing at Clothall Road. We are delighted to inform you that the Herts County Council has completed the work.

As you can see from the photos, the result is neat and will allow deliveries of
heavy goods by agricultural vehicles without damage to the roadside verge.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Best Kept Allotment Competition 2021

The final round of judging for this year’s Best Kept Allotment competition took place in early July. Two independent judges scored the 20 shortlisted plots for Best Plot Overall and the shortlisted 12 plots for Best Newcomer 2020 and Best Newcomer 2021. The judges had a difficult task this year as it was a closely fought contest.

CR21
NR12B/13B 

Libby Finny (CR21) scored the most points at Clothall Road and is the Best Plot at Clothall Road. Jim Hennessey (NR12B and NR13B) scored the most points at North Road and is awarded the best plot at North Road. Both Libby and Jim scored equally and therefore joint winners of the Best Plot Overall. They will be awarded the Basil Byrant Cup at the 2022 AGM. Both site winners will each receive a £25 voucher for the Members’ Shop.

Your committee decided to separate the Best Newcomer to make it as fair as possible. Therefore, the winner of Best Newcomer 2020 is David Winn (CR7B) and Best Newcomer 2021 is Adrian Allen (NR61A).

NR61A
NR7B

Congratulations to the winners and all those shortlisted in what has been a challenging growing year.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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)

Posted on

Best Kept Allotment Competition 2021

Yes, it’s that time of year again! We missed it last year due to COVID-19 restrictions. The annual judging for the Best Kept Allotment Competition will be taking place towards the end of June. The first-round judging for all plots on both sites will be during the week commencing 21st June and for finalists during the week commencing 12th July.  Also resuming this year will be non-cultivation inspections, as part of our formal process, which will take place at the same time.

A small panel of committee members from each site will judge all the plots and select the best 10 plots from each site. These selected plots will then be put forward for final judging by an independent judge on 12 July who will determine the best plot on each site. Each site winner will receive a prize of a £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 Bryant Cup. In addition, a separate independently judged competition will select the Best Newcomer for a new tenant in their first year of cultivation. The winner will receive the Frank Conway cup.

Have a look at the 2019 winners for inspiration:

Best Overall Winner (2019)

Best Newcomer (2019)

 

 

 

Posted on

Sunset at North Road Allotment Site

Have a look at this lovely picture of a sun setting at North Road allotment site. We’ve had such nice weather recently, so it’s a perfect opportunity to work on your plot. Enjoy the sun while you can because we are due some much needed rain. 

Posted on

Successful Newcomers August 2020!

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:

Posted on

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

Legal Proudly powered by WordPress