Julie Rogers has sent me the following document which may help plotholders calculate how the new concessions work out.

D T Brown are offering asparagus crowns for autumn planting. With the soil moist after all this rain, you can be sure of being able to get a bed prepared. Good preparation is the secret of success with asparagus - and good drainage! Autumn planting gives the chance for the crowns to establish, but if your soil is very heavy you are probably best waiting till spring.

Click on the picture above right to go to Marshall's offer!

I have had a warning from Blightwatch of the very strong likelihood of Potato Blight in this area; indeed, I have already seen symptoms on William Road allotments.

Potato blight also affects tomatoes, especially those grown outside.

Tomatoes can be given some protection by spraying with Bordeaux Mixture.  This is less practicable with potatoes unless you only have a few. The best thins to do with pottaoes is to keep a close watch on the foliage and, if you see the first blight damage, remove ALL THE FOLIAGE TO GROUND LEVEL. This should be burned or put in household rubbish, not composted. The potatoes can then be lifted at the earliest convenient time - ideally within a fortnight.

Potatoes which have had a brush with blight will store better in canvas sacks than in paper ones, as the circulating air retards the further growth of any blight fungus.

This year Melonie Pentecost, on Henwood, is entering her allotment in the Wild About Gardens competition run by Kent Wildlife Trust. Melonie has entered her garden before, but this is the first time she has entered her allotment. Good luck Melonie. For more about the Wild About Gardens competition click here

Here are some photos of Melonie's wildlife-friendly allotment.

Changes have been made to the rent arrangements for Ashford Borough Council allotment tenants

If you rent an allotment from Ashford Borough Council, 'read more'

A full report of the Open Meeting to discuss the Allotment Review being carried out by Ashford Borough Council, with the facts and figures is now available for you to read. It pops as a drop-down item on the News and What's On menu item, or you can click here.

You may have already seen the poster on the noticeboards about water usage. The text of the is reprinted below in case you haven't yet spotted it.

The new rules have been brought in after a great deal of consideration and discussion, with ordinary plotholders on the Working Group being fully consulted and their ideas put first.

The council does not want to make it difficult for people to water their allotments. However careful monitoring of water use has shown that those few people who use hoses consume water out of all proportion to the good it does to their plots. They not only use far, far more than their neighbours, their crops are not usually noticeably that much better for it. It is clear that, compared to those who water with cans, a huge percentage of the water put on by hose simply evaporates and does the plants little good.

The water supplied to the allotments is metered drinking water just the same as comes out of your kitchen tap at home. The cost of this water forms a large part of the costs of running the allotments. The council does not want to have to charge us for water, as they understand this would mean the careful gardeners paying for the water wasted by others, and would be very unpopular. However, with the pressure on the budgets increasing every year, we have a choice: reduce water usage or pay a substantial charge for using it.

What do you do if you see someone using a hose or sprinkler to water?
What do you do if you have a physical disability which means it will be difficult to use cans?
- Talk to your site rep or speak to Eileen Law at the council. [email protected], 01233 330528

The council is looking into finding a source of very cheap water butts for plotholders.

TEXT OF THE COUNCIL'S POSTER FOLLOWS:

Important Announcement regarding Water usage
Following the open meeting on the 20th of July where water usage was discussed it was agreed that rather than charging plot holders for water it would be better to find ways of
reducing the water usage. If we can reduce water usage by 25% over the next year we would be able to avoid charging plot holders.

A few ways of achieving this are shown below.
Firstly, watering plots using a hose pipe will no longer be allowed. However, you can use a hose pipe to fill water butts/ watering cans/barrels. We have been made aware that on
several sites there are tenants who use hose pipes and leave them watering their plots for hours at a time. The water is for all tenants to use and therefore everyone should be able to
access it. Sprinklers are not allowed at any time. We understand that this may be difficult for some and if you feel that you will not be able to cope using this system please speak to your site rep who will discuss it with you to see what can be done to assist you.
Secondly, Encourage the use of water butts and rainwater collection from sheds etc. This will ensure that you have water on your plot and not have to carry it any distance. There are many useful tips on the Ashford Allotment Society’s Website
(Click here to go to that page)
The Working Group are continuing to meet once a month to search out other ways to improve the Allotment Service and will feed back to the Allotment Society any ideas. Please share any ideas you may have with your site representative who can pass them on to me, or email me at [email protected] to put them forward to the working group for consideration.
Let's work together to improve the Allotment Service