There's a noticeable slowing down in the pace of plotting this month. The Summer Fayre has been and gone*. We're in the middle of school holidays and so loads of people disappear. But the work goes on with the first big crops of spuds and beans and onions harvested and the focus shifting to the next phase of squashes and runner beans and tomatoes. If you have a polytunnel or greenhouse the focus shifts to just keeping everything watered. On the other hand, if you concentrate on flowers you have a whole different set of priorities You can see all the different priorities and phases if you take a walk round the site and, reader, your editor needs little excuse to stop work and have a nose around other people's plots. Look at the variety of approaches here - from vast squash patches..
to neat and complex mixes of fruit, flowers and veg...
From empty spaces waiting to be packed with plants..
To plots with hardly an inch to spare until something is harvested.
Then there's the contrast between the determined grower protecting his future brassicas at all costs..
And the dahlia grower putting on a glorious unfettered display with not a net in sight.
Every one of these pics represents a hot favourite for a medal in the Produce Show - read on to the next article.
But this is such a varied site that it's good to show plots that have no chance of winnning anything, but still look extraordinary. Every time I pass the plot in the next pic I think the tenant must have migrated from the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. The cabin looks like something out of the Waltons. The ladder up the tree must be in case the creek rises to dangerous levels
And it has to be said that some neglected plots look beautiful....
If you have a plot like this though you have very little chance of a prize in the....
Produce Show!
Effortless segue. Get this into your diary!
This year’s produce show will have the same format as in recent years. There are all the usual RHS categories for an allotment show, biggest pumpkin, heaviest onion, longest carrot etc but - due to popular demand there's also scope for a show of all the fruit and vegetables on your plot displayed as creatively as you like (as long as it fits on the table). In the former case the class will have fixed certain number of the item, e.g. 3 cabbages, 15 raspberries etc. as written in the class schedule. Judges are looking for identical specimens and specific quality of each item. Marks are deducted from the perfect 100.
Mixed collections are not bound by strict rules, and can include anything grown on the plot, or in the case of manufactured items, eg cakes and preserves, have as the main ingredient something grown on the plot. It can also include photographs and other artwork. Displays will be judged on the quality of the produce presented, the range of items presented and the visual impression the display makes. These displays will not be anonymous but labelled with plot number and names of those contributing to the display. The label may be part of the display.
Please note cakes may be cut and tasted. Jams, wines and spirits may also be tasted
For full instructions on how to enter the competition and key timings etc just download the file below. They are also on display in the window of the Clubhouse .
Your editor knows plotholders who can produce a display like this from one day's harvest this week. Me - jealous?
And there are prize medals for best jams, chutneys, cakes and wines. If youre a photographer there's even a prize for best pic. Do have a go - what's to lose? And of course there's pizza and an inexhaustible bar. Starts around 1.30 p.m after the judging.
We're also making an award for best new plot which is going to be gratifyingly hard - we've had some great starts this year in not the best weather conditions.
Security Project
Some of you visiting the area near the main gate that houses the borehole tank and toilet near the main gate will have noticed this..
It's a compound which the contractors will be using to store all the material for our new boundary fence. Using Lottery Funding we will be replacing a whole length of the boundary fence from the New House to the bottom gate - which is the stretch which has had most intruders in the past couple of years. Work starts on the 19th August. The contractor has a key to the main gate so you do not need to leave the gate open for the contractor (an excuse we've heard from time to time) unless we've put up a "Please leave the gates open" notice.
In addition to that we will be installling motion sensitive cameras and lighting at various points around the whole perimeter from the Russell Road gate to the main gate - also courtesy of the Lottery Fund. More detail in the next Newsletter.
First Meeting of New Committee
Our new committee meets for the first time on Saturday 7th September at 10.30. These meetings are open to anyone who would like to know what's going on on site so please feel free to join us. You won't be able to vote - though few decisions ever need a formal vote - but you can say your piece if you wish and you will get tea or coffee and biscuits!
Late late notice - Pizza and Rent!
News just in - the pizza boys will be firing up the oven this Saturday - 17th August. Pizzas of great deliciousness available from 1.30ish. And talking of dates, don't forget we'll be open for rent collecting on the following weekends in October
12th -13th 10.00 -1.00 pm
19th -20th 10.00 -1.00 pm
26th 27th 10.00 -1.00 pm
Please note the change of time. It means we don't have to compete with the bar staff for use of the card reader. Please also note the change of location. We will now be open for business at the container office behind the clubhouse.
Thats all for this month folks - happy plotting!
*Thanks for all those who turned up for the Fayre - we made around £700 on the day - which along with the £900 already in the bank means we can go ahead with restoring the gates at Russell Road. Well done all round! Fully restored the gates will be a beautiful piece of history that will be good for another 50 years
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