Late Autumn Newsletter
Communal plots and burning areas
We have wanted communal areas on sites for some time and finally, they are being created! They enable sites to have a designated burning area for large wood branches, dried perennial or seeded annual weeds etc and can double up as areas to socialise and have barbeques should you wish. Grass cutting bins are being created from wood pallets along with sharing barrows to share your seedlings and produce, and seating benches are being created on the one at Riverside. Smaller barbi/weed burning pits can be created too. Riverside had their opening Barbeque on September 7th (pictures below). Do get involved in the creation of the one on your site..!
Organic Club
As advised in June, we are now working towards being a fully Organic Club and the rules were changed so that the use of chemical weed killers has been banned. Here are some suggestions of items club members have told us they use to grow organically.
Neem oil
Sue Dawson at Riverside Plot 3 uses this and advised ‘had no caterpillars on Brussels, Cabbage, Broccoli & Cauliflower - virtually no damage! Also sprayed on Broad beans and Runner beans, don’t know if it worked but didn’t have any black fly at all! (but also planted nasturtiums and calendula around those two).’
Neem oil is a vegetable oil pressed from the fruits and seeds of the Neem tree (Azadirachta indica or Indian lilac Tree) an evergreen tree from the Indian subcontinent and other areas in the tropics.
It is the most important commercially available product used for organic farming and medicines.
Neem oil is biodegradable and non-toxic. It’s safe for birds, pets, fish, livestock and other wildlife. It degrades quickly during rainfall and under ultraviolet rays.
Neem oil is dual purpose, it’s is both a pesticide and a fungicide. It works on arthropod pests that eat vegetables, including, tomato hornworms, corn earworms, aphids, and whiteflies. In addition, Neem oil also controls common fungi that grow on vegetable plants, like Mildew.
Chemical pesticides can harm earthworms; Neem oil has the opposite effect by encouraging earthworm activity. Earthworms are beneficial to the soil as they tunnel through the dirt, they create pathways that allow air and rainwater to reach plant roots. They also add nutrients including potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus to the soil when they die.
Neem oil only targets leaf-sucking and chewing insects, it kills insects at all stages of development — adult, larvae and egg.
The active chemical in Neem oil, Azadirachtin, gets rid of insects in different ways:
By smothering
As an antifeedant, Azadirachtin will force the insect or pest to stop eating
Disrupting regulatory hormones. When insects come into contact with Neem oil, it prevents the bug from transforming into the next stage of development
Can also be used as a dormant-season application to kill overwintering pests and eggs
Simply mix a small amount with water and a little washing-up liquid to break the surface tension of the oil in water. Available via eBay and Amazon.
Bacillus Thuringiensis
Mike Blaser at Marquis Plot 7 has advised of this organic pest control that he sprayed on his Brassicas to stop them from being caterpillar magnets! A little goes a very long way. The brand name is Xentari, which comes in 10 x 1-gram sachets (enough for 10 doses at 1 dose per plot), thinks it was shipped from Germany.
Composting
Everyone must have a compost bin on their plot. Not on the side or rear paths, but within the boundary of your plot. There are no communal compost areas. No soil piles are to be created; all garden waste must be contained long term within a compost bin. Having a Compost bin on plots ensures no new soil mounds are created, and it is very clear that the vegetation will be used to create compost to go back on your plot.
Any non-compostable items should be removed from the site and placed in your wheelie bin at home, or burn woody items and dried perennial weeds in an incinerator or on a small burning pit on your plot. (Make your own Barbie area for a double burning use..! ) Waste, grass cuttings or rubbish must never be placed on unlet plots – always take your rubbish home with you and use grass cuttings in your compost bin or put them in the new Grass Cutting bins that some sites now have which Sue Dawson kindly made out of pallets and made the lovely slate signs too..!.
This link sells compost bins at a reduced rate: https://evengreener.com
HTC Repairs & Maintenance Fund
This year’s repair & maintenance programme again focused on clearance of unlet plots to bring them back in to use. The following items were prioritised by us this year:
2 Plots at Crabtree to be cleared and covered - One rented!
2 plots at Holcroft North to be cleared and covered – One rented!
4 plots at Holcroft South to be cleared and covered. – One of these has been made into 3 mini-plots – Mini plots are very popular..!
Entrance and boundary area to Holcroft South cleared and sown with grass to create lawn entrance – What an improvement - breathing space as you enter the site..!
1 plot at Marquis to be cleared and a grass path created around it – Rented!
Soil mounds and rubbish to be cleared at Riverside and an overgrown area cleared and grass sown to create a communal area – First barbeque party was held in September!
We are just finalising the items to prioritise for next year. We have an annual fund from HTC of £3,000 to use. We have a very large list of repairs and improvements required, but we are chipping away at it each year now.
Organising this does take a great deal of volunteer’s time, but we feel it is worth it given the improvements it has made to sites over the past couple of years.
Volunteer organised improvements:
A selection... there are more tho..!
Marquis Plot 19 – Cleared with help of contractor and will be covered.
Holcroft North – Plot 12 turned in to 4 mini plots – 3 rented !
Holcroft North – Plot 12 shed repaired by contractor, now shared by the mini plot holders.
Crabtree Plot 12 – historic rubbish gradually cleared in to a skip from plots and boundaries.
Marquis – Contractor organised to clear soil mounds and create communal seating area.
Riverside – Boundary paths cleared and sown with grass seed to create pathways.
Porters Hill – Skip provided to clear historic rubbish and Plots 6 and 7 cleared.
Holcroft Club Shop – Flower beds cleared and being planted up with perennial flowers.
No stone mounds on plots
We have spent a lot of money the past couple of years clearing historic stone mounds from the rear of plots and on the boundaries. This clearance still continues. The old adage ‘chuck em at the back’ has a lot to answer for..!! Now we want to replace or repair fencing and keep the boundary hedges maintained – they are a real problem. We have also found stone piles on plots - If you wish to de-stone your planting beds, the best thing to do is take the stones home each time in an old compost bin or bucket and put them in your wheelie bin or the rubble bin at the tip. Please do not create a stone pile on your plot. This just becomes a permanent structure and historically these turn in to soil and rubbish piles over time as we have discovered to our cost.
Stones are not all bad... Stones in the soil help it drain well. They protect it from erosion and evaporation of moisture. They cool the soil's surface on a hot day, but upon absorbing some of the sun's heat, help warm the soil at night — a fact especially important to a gardener wary of frost in spring or autumn.
Remember - under every stone - there will be moisture...!
Clear self-sown tree saplings
Please remove any tree saplings you see on your plot or by the boundaries or communal areas. Ash trees have become a huge problem at Holcroft as they self seed all over the place and grow quickly..! If you find some that are too large for you to remove – contact your site rep or the committee so we can arrange removal.
Winter prune fruit trees
Once the leaves have fallen from your fruit trees, take the opportunity to prune them. Inherited fruit trees not of dwarf stock are to be pruned annually so that they do not grow above a height of 8ft/ 2.4m. This helps to ensure your allotment neighbours light is not affected.
Security & Boundaries
We have unfortunately had some more trespass on sites, with 4 instances to date at Marquis in the last 2 months. Produce such as pumpkins have been stolen, and equipment such as expensive new netting and forks. Increased footfall at Batford Springs possibly affects Marquis and Riverside’s security and at Crabtree, Marquis and Riverside the Muntjac are also eating the crops! Photos recently taken with a nature camera confirm the Muntjac are there, they can jump as high at 1.6 metres....! And swim too apparently. We know fencing is a huge issue for many of you. Please ensure your equipment is not on view and ideally locked away in a storage box. In the short term, I’m afraid the only solution is to net your crops to protect them from the Muntjac and to hide or lock away your tools in a storage box.
The only real long term solution is a new 1.8m high metal twin wire mesh fencing along with higher entrance gates. The chainlink fencing is too low and some sections are broken or even missing in places – it can and is just being climbed over as are the gates. This is why we have focused so heavily on clearing the boundaries so that contractors have clear access to replace fencing and to maintain and prune hedges and trees. Thanks to those that have cleared and maintain a pathway at the rear of plots by boundaries so far – more to be done, but means we can have new fencing when the funds are available.
Westfield reinvestment funds
The Club has been aware for some years that funds would become available for reinvestment in the Allotments on completion of the sale of the land that was previously EHGC Westfield Allotments. The law requires any funds received from the sale of the land to be reinvested in improving the existing allotments first. We were requested in 2017 by the HTC Town Clerk to produce a wish list of improvement we would like for the Allotments so that when funds are received they would be able to move forward with these requirements. We produced a document that detailed some essential fencing, gates and replacement storage buildings and also some road signage signs. This was given to HTC in Oct 2018. Some of you are aware of the replacement fencing we would like to solve the issues of trespass and theft as we have discussed when you have been asked to clear boundaries or sadly when you have reported thefts or damage. Attached to this email is the ‘wish list’ document given to HTC last year so you can actually see the type of fencing we have requested.
1.8 m wire mesh fencing and current asbestos roof storage garages.
HTC have recently received £2.65 million for the land, so the cost of items we proposed so far to be reinvested is actually a small percentage of that, but would provide a one off opportunity to invest in the Allotments HTC and the Club provide and bring the boundaries and some of the storage buildings up to a 21st century standard. Many of the fences are over 50 years old. The fencing we have specified should last the next 50 years..! And importantly ensure the Allotment sites are enjoyed by residents for many years to come.
Club Shop
Seeds, compost, netting and groundcover sold by the metre off the roll, fertilisers, gloves and much more! Don’t spend petrol driving to garden centres, shop local at your club shop and support your Club! All proceeds are reinvested into the club for ‘extras’.
Big thank you ! to all the volunteer members who run the shop on a rota each week. If you would like to help out too do get in touch.
Open February to November, Sunday mornings 10am to midday.
Dobies Seeds
As advised by email in September, we have a discount group scheme with Dobies again where you receive 25% discount on seeds and 10% on other goods (and the club receives the discount too – so win win all round...). Catalogues were available in the shop, they will be there when the shop re opens in February, but you can order on line all year using the code: GD1103F www.dobies.co.uk
Seed Potatoes and Onions
Seed potatoes, and Onion and Shallot sets will again be available in the shop when it reopens in February. The potatoes are in loose sacks for you to weigh and purchase in multiples of 1 or 2 kgs or more. They are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. The Potato varieties that will be available are:
Earlies: Swift, International Kidney
Seconds: Charlotte
Main crop: Maris Piper
Pallet collars for sale
Fiona Partridge at Riverside created some raised beds on her plot last year made from Pallet Collars. These are a really quick and easy way to have raised beds on your plot. They come ready hinged together folded flat – just unfold and voila..! At £6.50 each they are far cheaper than buying the wood too. The contact to buy them from is: Sam from M Lutt and Sons in Kensworth on mobile 07808 026509. Picture of sale flyer attached to this email with contact details and pictures too.
Clive who has recently taken on Plot 28 at Marquis saw the sign for these in the shop and bought his from there. He has done a fab job creating beds on his plot since he took the plot on in August and is using the free bark to create paths in between.
Farmers market
We had our second info stall at the HTC Farmers market on 26th May, always a good opportunity to publicise that Allotments are available in Harpenden and show our friendly faces and chat with people about the sites.
We have been given a slot for next year on Sunday 26th January 2020. Instead of the Pimms, we had on the go in May – think we will have some Vin Chaud! – and be wrapped up warm..! Come down and hand out some flyers on the day and help promote your lovely Allotment Club.
Machinery and Grass Cutting
The lawnmowers and strimmers will all be serviced over the winter by Crabtree plot holder and committee member Andrew Cowie. If you have noticed anything wrong with any of the machines – do please contact Andrew to let him know.
As ever - please remember it is your responsibility to cut the grass paths either side of your plot and the main path in front of your plot. It is also a shared responsibility between all to mow the main paths. Keeps the site looking nice and inviting for all.
Committee members and site reps
Huge thank you to all the Committee members and Site reps who volunteer their time to help run the club. As you know the club is run on a devolved basis and relies on volunteers, so if you would like to get involved do please get in touch.
What to grow/do now
Garlic and onion sets! Garlic benefits from being in the ground now, the frost helps it to grow better. The autumn and winter is the best time to dig over your plot and look at the bare bones of your plot and make plans for next year. Oh – and plant tulip bulbs...!
