Tag: Members’ Shop

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Availability of Potatoes and Onion Sets May 2020

After a very successful delivery service, we only have a limited amount of seed potatoes left in stock with many varieties having already sold out. If you do not have any seed potatoes planted yet, there is still time to order some seed potatoes from the Members’ Shop.

Why not try a different potato variety this year? We have a main crop variety called ‘Markies’ which is perfect for chipping, but it has an advantage over Maris Piper because it has better blight and disease resistance. Another good variety to try is second early ‘Saxon’ as it has uniform long oval-shaped potatoes that produce a good yield. Saxon is somewhat floury potato and is excellent for baking and chipping and has good resistance to drought and after cooking discolouration.

As you can see from the table, varieties are selling out, so why not do an online order to receive your potatoes? Click here to read the details on how to make an online order.

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BALGA Click and Collect Service May 2020

On Monday, the government announced that as of Wednesday 13 May, garden centres would be permitted to open.  To keep our members as safe as possible, we have decided to operate a click and collect service. Once you have made an order, you will be given an allocated time slot to collect your items from the shop between 10am-12pm on Sundays. Note you need to be a BALGA member to take advantage of the service.

If you would like to purchase items, please follow this process:

  1. Select the products you wish to purchase

Or click here for our price list on the shop page

  1. Email tradesec@balga-online.co.uk with the items and quantity you wish to purchase together with your name and telephone number.
  2. We will confirm your order with the total amount due, a collection time and our bank account details so you can pay for your items online. Alternatively, you can pay with the exact money using cash or cheque when you arrive at the shop.
  3. When you arrive at your designated time slot, your order will be ready for you to collect.

To keep everyone safe, please observe a social distance. If your potatoes have been affected by the frost and you wish to purchase more then we have some varieties available. Click here to see the available potatoes and onion sets.

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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.

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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).

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Compost Sunday 2020

Our traditional shop opener of the year, Compost Sunday will be held this Sunday, 2 February, at the members’ shop in Football Close.
Come along from 10am – 12pm to get your compost for the season at considerably lower prices than garden centres.

Below is a full list of what is available.

Following on from the AGM and as a result of more demand for peat-free compost, we will be stocking new two varieties of peat-free compost this year.  One from Clover which contains green compost (40l for £4.00) and the other from Gro-well which contains bark, wood, fibre & coir (60l for £6.30). We also have a few bags left of Growise peat-free multipurpose compost which is  on sale for just £2.50.

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

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