Brackley & District Allotment & Garden Holders Association



Newsletter No 4June 2015Chairman’s Comments: This is the Committee’s fourth attempt at producing a member’s newsletter and this one coincides with our 2015 AGM. Rather than repeat the points I have covered in my Chairman’s Annual Report, I have attached a copy of the report to this newsletter so that those who are unable to attend the AGM can read it.Secretary’s Comments: Great news from the Brackley Allotments Forum, we now have four members signed up!! and the boards are buzzing with hints, tips and piccies. Latest additions are a plant swap board and also a source of free manure, but we do need more people to sign up and join in, so please use the link on the home page of the Allotments website and have a look at least. For a lot of things it is a preferable alternative to sending out emails via the Secretary.Treasurer’s Comments: Although it seems an age ago now, the most striking aspect of last year was the smooth operation of Rent Day in November. Thanks to the good natured patience of our members and the diligent preparations by the committee and their wives beforehand, the morning could not have gone more smoothly. A sincere thanks to you all. The Associations finances remain in a very healthy state and as you will see from the audited accounts, our bank balance has decreased by approximately ?400. The main items of expenditure were for the installation of a new water supply and the tree work at Egerton which have improved that site greatly. Further work is in train at Castle and Cemetery sites but those costs will appear in next year’s Accounts. On the income side of the Profit and Loss Account, the seed orders taken on Rent Dayshowed a profit of ?260, thanks to the sterling efforts of Mike Cook, our secretary, and his helpers on the day. With the tools sale, the raffle and cakes and coffee stall a further ?167 was raised. Again, many thanks to all involved.Rent Day 2014: Following on from the Treasurer’s comments above the committee has also received positive feedback from last year’s rent day and most members thought it was a great success and appreciated having it in the lower Town Hall. There was still a bit of queuing as a lot members turned up at the same time and it was impossible for the treasurer to deal with everyone at once. The treasurer did an excellent job as usual and I know he was well pleased when the books balanced. There were still a few people who failed to pay their rent on time and it is not fair on the treasurer to have to chase these people. Even when he did, people still failed to turn up at his home when he had waited in for them. The committee have therefore decided that this year our rules will be applied more strictly and in view of our long waiting list, those who do not pay their rent on time will lose their plots and they will be allocated to new members.We also received positive feedback on how much you enjoyed having a coffee morning with rent day as it made it a more sociable atmosphere with people enjoying a cuppa and a chat with friends from other sites. The coffee morning aspect pays for the hire of the Town Hall and also adds a few pounds profits for our funds. Thanks again must go to the ladies who baked cakes and ran the coffee morning. Page 1Paul Macer ran a small stall selling unwanted tools and old stock from the former allotment shop which raised ?45 for club funds. He hopes to repeat this in 2015 and therefore if any of you have any old or unwanted tools will you please let Paul know on 702924 and he will happily relieve you of them.The Chairman ran a small raffle with prizes kindly donated by Committee members and this made a ?70 profit for Association funds which helps to keep our costs down.Cheap Seeds: We hope that all those of you who participated in the NSALG/Kings Seeds scheme again were pleased with the way it operated. Not only were you able to purchase your seeds at about a 40% discount on garden centre prices but also the Association made a commission profit of ? 260 . Recognition must go to Colin Wills and Robert Harris who dealt with the seed orders on the day and for dealing with the distribution. They all did a sterling job. As soon as the 2016 seed catalogues are available they will be passed to the site reps for distribution to members and we will take orders again at rent day. On the subject of seeds, over the last couple of years there have been a lot new members to allotmenting and some of them have found sheer number of seeds in the catalogue a bit daunting. The chairman has therefore come up with the following list of the most popular seeds which seem to grow well in our clay soil in Brackley and recommends them as a start point for newcomers:Beetroot: BoltardyBroad Beans: Aquadulce ClaudiaBrussels Sprouts: Trafalgar F1Summer Cabbage: Greyhound (pointed type), Primo (round type)Autumn/Winter Cabbagge: January King, Tundra F1Carrots: Early Nantes (early) Autumn King (late)Cauliflower: Snowball (Summer) Aalsmeer (Winter)Courgette: All Green BushClimbing French Beans: CobraLeeks: MusselburghLettuce: Little Gem (small cos), All Year Round (cabbage), Lollo Rossa (lose red)Onion sets: Sturon , Red Baron (red)Parsnip: Tender & TruePeas: Hurst GreenshaftRaddish: French BreakfastRunner Beans: White LadyShallots: Golden GourmetSwede: MarianSweet Corn: SwiftTomato: Moneymaker, Gardeners Delight (cherry)Could we remind members that they can get a 10% discounts on purchases at Preston Bissett Garden Centre and on the purchase of horticultural glass at Buckingham Glass. Furthermore a 5% discount has been offered at Swallows Nursery at Mixbury and a ?5 reduction on the ?10 cost of the annual Buckingham Garden Centre discount card. All the above offers can be claimed on showing your Allotment Association Membership Card. How to tackle weeds: The RHS’s definition of a weed is a plant growing in the wrong place. Weeds are a varied group of plants with a wide range of growth forms and means of spreading and reproduction. In an attempt to help newcomers to gardening in combating weeds, we have grouped them according to their characteristics and recommended ways of dealing with them.Page 2Annuals such as groundsel and chickweed are relatively easy to deal with and are best dealt with when young by hoeing the tops off on warm days and leaving them to die on the surface. If the weeds have got larger they are best pulled out when the soil is moist and left to die unless they have got to the seeding stage and then they should be removed.Pernicious/Deep Rooted Weeds such as docks and dandelions are amazingly resilient and difficult to deal with. These, if cut into pieces, have the ability to grow into new plants. The best way to deal with them is to dig them up in one piece and dispose of them. Don’t ever be tempted to rotovate ground with these weeds present or you will make the problem worse. The other alternative is to use a weed killer containing glyphosate such as “Roundup” or “Weedol”. Personally, I have found that Roundup dab-it-on gel is very effective with one dab at the centre of the plant as you do not get the residual damage to surrounding plant that you do with sprays. Weeds that entwine around plants such as bindweed are extremely difficult to control and trying digging it out is almost impossible as the roots go so deep. Spraying is often very difficult as you kill the plant that it is twisted around. One of the best methods is to place a cane adjacent to the bindweed and allow it to climb up the cane and then once you have enough foliage then spot treat it with dab-it-on Roundup gel and allow it to die back. You may have to repeat this process a number of times.Weeds that spread underground such as couch grass, sometimes called switch. While it appears as grass on the surface, it has an extensive network of roots which spread underground. These are very brittle and easily break off and form new plants. The options for dealing with this problem is the careful removal through digging, which can be difficult and time consuming with our clay type soil or alternatively, extensive spraying with a glyphosate weed killer. Whatever method you use, you need to start the process well in advance of planting to allow any re-growth to appear in case repeat weed killing is necessary.Weeds with tough protective surfaces, such as horsetail or marestail. These can be difficult weeds to control because of the toughened, almost impenetrable surface that is impregnated with silica. The best advice on this is to lightly crush the plant but so it remains intact and then treat with a glyphosate weed killer as the take-up will be much better.Underground bulbils such as celandines. These have underground bulbils as a method of spreading and disturbing the plant makes the situation worse. These bulbils are attached firmly to the plant early in the growing year but loosely later on. It is therefore essential that they are dug out early in the year. Alternatively use glyphosate weed killer when the foliage is present.Disposal of weeds: Do not be tempted to compost perennial weeds as they are difficult to break down and you may re-infest your ground when you spread your compost. Also, only compost annual weeds that have not gone to seed.Glyphosate: This type of weed killer has been mentioned in the above article as the most effective and widely available on the market however, you should be aware that there has been some recent press publicity stating that the active ingredients may be carcinogenic. Naturally the manufacturers deny this but research is ongoing. At the time of writing glyphosate products are still available in garden centres. If any members can recommend an effective alternative to glyphosate, would you please advise the secretary and he will notify members by email or in the next newsletter.Page 3Site Reports:Castle: Following the previous years hedge laying project, your committee again got into the larger tree felling and shrub cutting routine on the land adjacent to the stream. This area over many years had become very overgrown and the clearance has resulted in a large area which has latterly been used as a fire burning site. All plot holders were invited to remove any unwanted wood items from their plots to this site as a major site tidy up programme. Most responded well and additional fires have taken place. With this tidy up success we embarked on a similar programme to eliminate scrap metal, followed by glass and plastics. All would agree that things have improved but work still needs to be done on an individual basis. During the year your committee and site reps have continued with the quarterly site inspections which have created several difficult situations. Under the terms of tenancy a few plot holders were asked to vacate their plots after much considered deliberations. As a result your committee received 2 letters thanking us for our efforts and acknowledged the correctness of our actions. With vacated full plots being divided the waiting list has again been reduced. Sadly during the year we lost Keith Rogers a long standing and very supportive plot holder, representatives from The Association attended his funeral. Several small projects are being considered for future action.Cemetery: The Cemetery Site is generally in good order at present with very few problems. The green bins continue to be overfilled and used for disposing of old veg that will readily compost on your plot. This will be the last warning as if this continues, the bins will be removed. I would like to thank Paul Macer for recently cutting the hawthorn hedge bordering Halse Road, for making the new notice board located just inside the gate, which is excellent and for repairing the felt roofing on the site shed following the recent winds. Egerton: The site has been immeasurably improved by the tree work and new water supply and members now have no excuse for not producing top notch vegetables on their plots! At the quarterly site inspections, several plots were identified as not being to the required standard but in the majority of cases, matters have now been rectified. Those who have not done so will be reminded of their obligations under our Rules. Most of the plots are now in terrific condition and a credit to their tenants. Since the last AGM, Andrew Neville-Davis has given up his plot and it has been taken by Denis and Emily Gow, introducing much needed younger blood to the site! We also welcomed Kerry Moore from SPM site. The green areas are being mown and strimmed regularly by Les, Phil, Bob & Graham giving the whole site a much tidier general appearance. All in all, we now have a site to be proud of! Many thanks to you all.St Peter’s Mill: The new quickthorn hedging has really taken off this year although there has been a few losses in places, we do have some spares to fill in the gaps come the autumn. The wildflower area is now growing well and Jon’s contribution along the Mill Lane side of his plot is really coming on a treat. Not sure how many bees and butterflies we are attracting but hey it’s early days yet and the birds seem to like the black sunflower seeds that I am putting out for them. Hopefully we will start attracting some bees as they have definitely declined quite drastically on this site over the last 3 or 4 years.Thanks to all the SPM plot holders for keeping their grass areas cut regularly and all the plots in a tidy condition. Most things are growing well despite a late cold start. So bring on the best kept site competition – never mind the Egerton comments above - we would definitely be the No 1 seed !! (groan – sorry about that)Page 4Brackley & District Allotment AssociationChairman’s Report 2015This is my third AGM report since taking over as your Chairman in 2012 and I am pleased to report that our Association is in good shape. Yet again your committee has worked tirelessly behind the scenes during the year to keep the organisation functioning smoothly and I thank them all on your behalf. I could single out individual committee members who have done more than others by virtue of their job but that is not necessary because as a whole they have all worked well as a team.At this point I would like to remind you that you are all shareholders in our Association, having paid a 10p nominal share fee on joining and that the Association operates as a Limited Company (Limited by Guarantee). Your committee, which you elect annually, run the Company on your behalf. It is not widely realised that your committee, who are obviously all volunteers, have legal responsibilities the same as the directors in any other limited company and that they take their responsibilities very seriously. Consequently sometimes they have to make difficult decisions, which are not always popular with all the members but I can assure you that such decisions are not taken lightly.Rent Day 2014, together with a coffee morning, seed orders and a small raffle ran very smoothly again at the Town Hall and the venue has already been booked for 2015. This is a self funding event as the profit made from the coffee morning covers the cost of hiring the hall. I hope that you all continue to find this a more sociable way of dealing with paying your annual rent and at least you are able to have a drink and a chat with fellow plot holders from the different sites. I will leave it up to the treasurer to give you a breakdown of the figures for the day. Our traditional rent day has always been the first Saturday in November but this year we have had to book it for Saturday 31 October 2015 so you may wish to make a note in your diaries.The National Society of Allotment Holders initiative with King’s seeds was a great success again last year and everyone who placed orders, which was slightly up on last year, saved more than their National Association membership fee. Over 50% of our membership took advantage of this scheme. Personally I have been very pleased with Kings Seeds and have found the germination rate extremely good and the feedback I have received from other plot holders is the same. We will again run the scheme this year and I hope that even more members will take advantage of cheap seeds. Your committee have now produced a total of 4 newsletters over the last 2 years and generally they have been well received. This remains part of the committee’s commitment to keep members better informed. In addition, over 95% of our 115 members are now on email and our secretary has worked hard during the year to keep you informed about issues and information via this means. For those of you who are not on-line then we will still post notices on site notice boards. The Committee would welcome some feedback on the newsletters as they are time consuming to produce and if you feel they are not necessary we would like to know.The plot holders on the Cemetery Site, who will lose their plots next year, have now been given formal notice to vacate them by 31 March 2016, when the Town Council plan to extend the Town Cemetery. All but one of those concerned has now got a replacement plot and the remaining member will get the next available plot that becomes available. Page 1We will shortly start to negotiate new 21 year leases for the Cemetery, Egerton and St Peter’s Mill sites with Brackley Town Council to come into force next year. Due to the continuing financial pressure on Councils we expect the Town Council to try to impose a significant rent increase from next year.We will bargain hard to keep this to a minimum but in anticipation, the committee are recommending a rent increase this year which will be the first increase for 3 years.We still have about a 4 year waiting list for people wanting Allotments and a considerable amount of work has been done during the last year to try to get more Allotment land but still without much success. In addition to the work carried out in previous years, we have had meetings with the Brackley Town Council Allotment Working Party, discussions with District Councillors, written letters to and had meeting with Andrea Leadsom MP. We are currently arguing for the former Caves allotment land, opposite Daniaud Court, which had been used as allotments since at least 1835 until about 1997 and which we believe is Statutory Allotment land, to be brought back into use to provide about 40 new plots. We have the support of the MP and she has written to the Chief Executive of South Northants Council but at present they are not budging as they want to make money by selling the site as development land. We will continue our efforts.Your committee has continued to carry out its quarterly site inspections over the last year and as the result, work has been done on all our sites to improve them. In the main, these inspections have been well received by most plot holders who keep their plots in good order. There have been a small number of instances when remedial action notices have had to be issued and some committee members have been subjected to verbal abuse on one occasion and other comments such as “haven’t you got better things to do with your time” or “get a life”. Verbal abuse will not be tolerated and the other negative comments are unacceptable as we take such action for the benefit of all our members.During our last site inspections in April 2015, we found that with the exception of the Castle site, the other sites were generally in good order with very few problems. Because we felt the Castle site was not up to the same standard of the other 3 sites, we initiated an “Operation Spring Clean” which was very successful and resulted in a lot of rubbish that had accumulated over the years being cleared. The site is now up to the same standard as the other 3 sites and I would personally like to thank all those who participated in that initiative. Last but not least, unfortunately we had the sad loss of Keith Rogers who passed away from a heart attack while working on his plot at the Castle site on the 14 March this year. This was a shock to all of us and a very sad loss of a valued member. I sent a condolence card to Jane and her family from all of us all and together with other members of the Association, attended Keith’s funeral on the 27th March. It was a very moving service and apparent just how much Keith enjoyed his allotment. As the result, the family requested that donations in Keith’s memory be split between The British Heart Foundation and Brackley Allotment Association. Subsequently, we received a cheque for ?327.56 which has been paid into our general account. I have written to Jane on behalf of us all to thank the family for this generous donation. A decision is yet to be made as to what to do with this money and I am waiting to hear whether the family have any suggestions before requesting suggestions from our members. Rest in Peace Keith you will be missed. I have been proud to work with your committee over the last year and am pleased that a lot has been achieved but there is still work to do. The current committee have all indicated to me their willingness to stand for re-election for another year and I would urge you to re-elect them. I am conscious that the committee is currently made up solely of men and that as our lady members are increasing annually it is only right that they are represented. Joanne Barlow from the Cemetery site has indicated her willingness to come onto the committee so when it comes to election of officers, I would urge you to support her. Page 2Unfortunately from a personal point, I am currently undergoing chemotherapy again and am likely to be out of action for the best part of this year. I have canvassed the committee but nobody wants to take over the job as Chairman, therefore we will be looking for someone from the membership. If anyone in the audience would like to take on this role would you please make yourself known at the time of election of officers?I wish you all a very successful 2015 growing season and hope you continue to derive pleasure from your plots and produce a bumper crop this year. Geoff Wilkins (Chairman) Page 3 ................
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