news - Ashford Allotments

Don't miss Stone Fete!

30/6/2014

Stone-cum-Ebony Flower Show and Fete is one of the highlights of the country year, and a fine, traditional village flower show. For an charming afternoon of old-style jollity, mark Saturday 19th July 2014 at 1.30pm on your calendar!

Now, the flower show has an 'Open' class - in other words, anyone can enter. It doesn't matter that you live in Ashford, your exhibits will be welcome. Several of the Ashford Allotmenteers have entered over the years, winning coveted rosettes, as well as cups and shields.

The show schedule is uploaded below for you to see. If you would like a copy emailed to you, just drop us a line at ashfordallotments@yahoo.co.uk and we'll send it.

If you don't fancy competing, just load up the family and come along for a super old-fashioned afternoon out. As well as the flower show, there are (I quote from the poster) a Fun Dog Show, Garden Railway Exhibit, Ark Animal Encounters, Coconut Shy - BBQ - Tombola -: Games - Tea Tent - Plants; Family Races - Produce Marquee; Beer Tent - History Display Plus lots more. Entry by programme 50p

Delphiniums at Godinton

27/6/2014

If you revel in the glowing blues and purples of Delphiniums, catch the chance this weekend to see them at their best at Godinton. For the remainder of Delphinium Week, the gardens are open till 8pm and visitors are encouraged to bring a picnic. Click on the pic to go to their website for more details.

Plots numbers appearing now

27/6/2014

Well, here is a very imaginative plot number sent in by Debbie - the number 31 is on both the CD earrings and the clogs.

Send us a photo of your own plot number or of one you think is particularly good, to
ashfordallotments@yahoo.co.uk

Lots of allotmenteers have responded to the call to number their plots, with imaginations running riot and plots now much easier to locate. Below are just a few to amuse and inspire you. If you haven't already numbered your plot, don't be shy - sort a little something out, even if it's just a number scrawled on your shed!

Don't forget, there's a prize to be won
for the 'most creative'
to be awarded at the Summer Show

The wacky . . .

The just plain potty . . .

The very polite . . .

The cheeky . . .

The no-nonsense . . .

The artistic . . .

The wilfully obscure . . .

The utterly charming . . .

. . and the 'Can't miss it'!

Send in a photo of your plot number, or one you've seen and particularly like, to ashfordallotments@yahoo.co.uk

Half price cloche tunnels

27/6/2014

Marshalls are currently offering cloche tunnels at half price. These tunnels pack flat when not in use. Click on the pic to go to the offer.

Have you discovered the bulk bag trick?

24/6/2014

HERE'S A CLEVER TRICK, USEFUL EITHER WHEN CLEARING A NEW ALLOTMENT (ESPECIALLY IF YOUR SOIL IS A BIT LUMPY AND HARD) OR IF YOU HAVE POOR DRAINAGE ON YOUR PLOT!!!

Use a bulk bag (the kind that come with builder's supplies in) Set it up in a difficult corner (but a sunny one) and use it as a compost heap. As you clear your plot, fill it with all your allotment and garden waste (anything can go in, even weeds, but not just grass clippings on their own) until the early part of the winter. At Christmas, cover the top with old compost sacks to keep everything snug and stop anything growing.

In the spring, level off the contents and firm them well down. Cover with a 6" thick layer of soil or bagged compost, and fold down the outside to just above the level of the soil inside. Plant 4 courgette, squash or cucumber plants at the corners. They will root into your compost heap, spill attractively down the edges, and be at a comfortable height to pick. By the autumn, when you take the plants out, the compost inside will have rotted down quite a lot.

Once cleaned of the courgette and squash plants, fold the top down further to take account of the rotting down, and add a little more soil or bagged compost on top, and mix in some general purpose fertiliser like pelleted chicken manure. Sow with winter salads, spring onions and maybe some herbs. In March add some more lettuce seeds and some radishes.

Meanwhile, on a sunny windowsill, have some climbing french beans or runner beans growing on in little pots. In late May, take out the last of the overwintering and spring salads and tidy the soil up. Add some more fertiliser, slot canes into the perimeter, tie them in the middle to make a wigwam, and plant out your beans. They will love the moist, squishy compost and give you a good crop.

Once the beans have finished, tip out all the contents and use to mulch or dig into your soil!

FOR MORE EXPERT TIPS FROM EXPERIENCED ALLOTMENTEERS, GO TO OUR ADVICE AND INFO SECTION (CLICK HERE)

The bad news about leek rust

24/6/2014

Leek rust is always worse after a wet winter. Or a wet summer the year before. So it's no surprise that this year it's a nightmare. Unfortunately there is no chemical (not even fancy organic stuff) available to control leek rust. After hours researching on line, all we could find was articles from commercial growers the world over wailing about how the professional fungicides they were using (so much stronger than the ones amateur gardeners can buy) were no use at all. As commercial garlic crops are affected by the same fungus, I have no doubt that the big multinational agrochemical companies are frantically working to find a cure, in the sure and certain knowledge that they will make billions from growers. So we can hope to see something in due course, but that's no consolation now.

Click here to go to our article on growing leeks

Shed break-ins at Musgrove Farm

23/6/2014

Sue Haste tells us that 6 sheds were broken into on Musgrove Farm allotments on Saturday night. The police have been informed.

Local police have been as helpful as possible with this difficult crime. Stolen items can be hard to trace, even if subsequently recovered. Click here to go to our section on SECURITY which tells you of steps you can take to protect your belongings.

Bring and buy day a success

21/6/2014

Today's 'Grand Allotment Bring and Buy' (that "Grand" was meant to be ironic, by the way) has been judged a success, with lots of tools and kit - both vintage and new - finding new homes where it was needed. Plants of tomatoes, kohl rabi, celeriac, cayenne pepper, kale, courgettes, summer and butternut squash and four huge, beautiful 'Marketmore' cucumbers were brought in and have now found good homes.

Donations of gardening books were outstanding, with some really super brand new books alongside more vintage titles. While a lot have sold, there is still a wide choice of titles which will be available the next time the Trading Store is open.

There will also be a book stall at the Summer Show, so please turn out all your surplus gardening books and bring them to the Trading Store so we can keep the ball rolling.

The money raised will go towards show expenses - it will be very good to start organising the Show with a petty cash kitty to call on, rather than asking individual helpers to lend the Society money!

A big thank you to all those who donated stuff, all those who turned up and bought, and the volunteers who helped keep everything running smoothly when we were so busy!

Help and advice for you

20/6/2014

This website's 'Advice and Information' section is constantly expanding, with all sorts of helpful knowledge and expert tips being added all the time. The information is tailored exactly to local needs (advice in books is usually aimed at gardeners in the Midlands, so can often be off-beam to us here).

Check it ut to see what's there, and catch up regularly with the new pages.

Micro-allotments at Cryol Road

11/6/2014

A five-rod plot at Cryol Road has now been split into two plots each of 2.5 rod. This seems, to the traditional allotmenteer, to be rather astonishingly small.

However there is a demand for very small plots. Many people who have taken on 5 rod plots say they are quite big enough for them, and a very very small plot indeed at William Road - an awkward corner cut off by a path and measuring about 1 rod - found willing takers who said they did not want anything bigger.

Clearly it makes sense for the council not to ask people to take on more land than they want. But now aadays no-one is ever offered a traditional 10-rod plot, and the 5 rod plot has become the new standard. Let us hope the 'standard' plot does not shrink any further! It is sobering to realise when looking at the plot maps that plots used to be about 4 times the size of the new 'standard' plot - the original numbering gives the game away.

Two things spring to mind. When these large plots were set up, vegetables were very expensive and many poor households tried to grow everything they needed for the whole year, potatoes included; today we are accustomed to cheap (often imported) veg all year round in the supermarkets.

The other thing is, how many people would actually want to cope with 20 rod of land? Hard work at the best of times - and all that to winter dig! No wonder there was much less obesity in the past!!!

If you're reading this and thinking "Great Scott, I have trouble coping with the land I've got!, then do talk to Eileen. In most circumstances she will be very happy to split an existing plot so you get just the land you want and someone else gets a bit too. If you have a large plot you struggle with, don't delay. You can contact the council by email at allotments@ashford.gov.uk or phone the allotment officer on 01233 330476.