Well plotters, we're really into the deep midwinter now aren't we? Last week you could plant something, but it would have to be something like a tree - or rice or watercress. This week you'd need a pickaxe.
Most people are staying indoors - the Clubhouse is a nice warm place for the budding artists in the painting group that meets every Friday.
But if you did venture outside on site this week, it was beautiful...
Saturday in the freezing fog was something special ...
And if you look closely enough you can already see signs that winter eventually gets replaced. Rhubarb is on the up....
Flowers are poking out here and there...
Autumn onion plantings are poking through the remaining snow
Winter shrubs are still putting on a display
In truth though, there is too much water about. We should count our blessings compared to Leicestershire or Worcestershire, but it's still going to take a while before spuds can go in here...
But never mind - change is on the way: it's only a matter of time before we're all grumbling about how dry and hot it is.
And things are changing inside as well. The Luke Littler influence has hit the Clubhouse!
So if you're still in recovery from Christmas and work is hell, come down and have a look at your plot. A UK Biobank study found that people who spend at least 2.5 hours outdoors per week had better sleep, improved moods, and a lower lifetime risk of depression. Or if it's still too nippy, challenge someone to a game of darts. Or join our Friday art club. Or think Marmalade!
Marmalade Competition
This is our next big event in the Clubhouse - likely to be Sunday 2nd March - but it's not too early to be investing now in some Seville oranges and a jam pan. Good marmalade improves with keeping. More detail in the next Newsletter but there's likely to be small charge for entering the contest, the proceeds from which will go into cash prizes!
Volunteers wanted!
The committee is looking for volunteers to take over pizza making and sale from our on-site outdoor
kitchen. Oscar and Jon who have pioneered this facility are both stepping back (a big thank you to
both for all their time and effort). This has become a great summer asset for our community and the committee are very keen to keep it going.
Initially, this could be a couple of trial days to coincide with the spring/summer fayres in 2025. In the longer term perhaps there could be regular ‘pizza days’ over the summer period. Training will be provided in the art of pizza making and oven operation. It might be particularly useful to anyone thinking of going into the business of pop-up or online catering. See it as a free trial!
Specifically, the committee is looking for:
- One or more volunteers to act as managers/supervisors and have, or be in the process of
acquiring, (CIEH) Level 3 in Food Hygiene.
- One or more volunteers to assist in the capacity of food handlers and have, or be in the
process of acquiring (CIEH) Level 3 in Food Hygiene
(Note: Acquiring CIEH level 3/2 is by an on-line course – not particularly onerous to complete)
Duties will be:
- Preparation and sale of pizzas on agreed days.
- Disposal of any food waste in accordance with local authority guidelines.
- Registering this facility as a casual ‘pop-up’ food business with Birmingham city council.
- Managers/Supervisors to be present and accountable during any (scheduled) food hygiene
inspections carried out by Birmingham city council.
If you are interested in helping out, and expanding your culinary skills, then please contact Jim
(Pavilion Manager) via - madahal.secretary@gmail.com
Security Project
Most people have noticed the 120 metres of new fencing down our southern boundary. In addition to that we now have some cameras installed at the main gate and various other points across the site. They're already acting as a deterrent along with those big yellow notices warning people that they are being watched. Many thanks to Dan, Rob, Zulf and Bernard for making it happen.
Christmas Fayre and New Year's Eve
What a great event that was! Loads of stalls, top cakes, great beer - lovely crowd...
We're absolutely certain to do this again - even better! Thanks to Debs in particular for making it all happen. And thanks also to Jon for the New Year's Eve disco. A good crowd turned up to see in the New Year in at the Clubhouse. No pics unfortunately - everyone was having too good a time!
Russell Road Gates
We're hard at work finding someone who will take on the job of restoring the gates. We've had some quotes and now the holiday season is out of the way we will be able to crack on with the project. We're conscious that these are lovely gates but easy to climb over, so the project will almost certainly involve some bigger scarier-looking defence works where the inner gate is currently situated. Many thanks to Jim for driving all this forward.
Potholes
We're on a roll here. Not satisfied with securing the money for the boundary fence, we have now also persuaded the Council to do something about fixing the really bad sections of the main road into and through the site. Through a combination of cunning, perseverance and bloodymindedness our chairman has managed to get the Council to do the job this year and split the total cost with us. Given the current state of Council finances this is a massive achievement. And a big reduction to the challenge to plotholders' vehicles. We'll keep you posted on progress.
More Events - Leisure Diary
Marmalade is just the beginning of our packed programme for 2025. We're putting together a schedule for the rest of the year. All will be revealed in the next edition!
More events - Work Diary
Equally importantly for the next Newsletter we're producing a schedule of work that we want to complete on site this year. This includes
finishing off the security camera project - we need scaffoLding poles putting up at various places that we can attach cameras to
finishing off the Russell Road Gates project. We need someone or some two to paint the railings either side of the actual gate to finish the job off properly. Any painters and decorators out there? Contact us at madahal.secretary@gmail.com if you think you could help
Clearing paths and filling in potholes. Big shout out to Howard for clearing a load of overgrown paths in the past two months but there are many more still to do in the Spring. And the pothole project (see above) only covers the main road. There are loads of potholes elsewhere that we'll just have to fill in ourselves.
Planting a hedge. We are taking receipt of 420 saplings in March (thanks Woodland Trust) that we intend to plant outside the new boundary fence to give us a second line of protection from intruders. In 5-10 years it will be a thick hedgerow full of hawthorn, blackthorn and holly which should put off casual intruders and be home to hundreds of insects, birds and maybe even the odd hedgehog. We're also going to continue adding bits of reinforcement in the form of Heras fencing to the boundary fence alongside Cannon Hill Park
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS FOR ALL OF THIS WORK. IN THE FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER WE'LL SET UP A SIMPLE PROCESS FOR YOU TO VOLUNTEER TO HELP ON ONE OR MORE OF THESE JOBS. THANKS IN ADVANCE!
Thats all for now, fellow plotters. Happy New Year!
Comments