Newsletter September 2014 - bwgc.org.uk · the start of October. ... ... plants in this family,...
Transcript of Newsletter September 2014 - bwgc.org.uk · the start of October. ... ... plants in this family,...
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Newsletter September 2014
Important: Change of Venue! Please note that the Catholic Church Hall is NOT
available for our meeting on Wednesday 24th
September (it’s being redecorated apparently!) so this
month’s talk will be held instead at St Peter’s Hall,
Free Street (behind the Waltham Tandoori), at the
usual time of 7.30pm. Keely Gallagher from Veolia
Environmental Services will be talking about “Turning
Waste into a Resource” – a really important subject,
given the amount we throw away! Keely is the
Regional Communications & Waste Minimisation
Manager for Hampshire and so is well placed to know
about the difficulties of how to turn such a negative
into something more positive! The Club would also
like to take this opportunity to say thanks all those
people who regularly provide us with tea and biscuits.
The Annual Social Evening
Don’t forget it’s time to buy your tickets for this
fabulous evening at the ‘early bird’ discounted rate of
£10 each – but hurry because tickets will £15 each at
the start of October. This is a brilliant bargain with
super food and a highly regarded speaker!! This year’s
dinner is on Friday 17th
October at the Jubilee Hall.
We are lucky enough to have as our guest speaker
Andy McIndoe, Managing Director of Hillier Nurseries
and Garden Centres. Amongst many other things,
Andy is well known for his superb designs for the
Hillier exhibits for RHS Chelsea, which have won him
many prestigious gold medals. His talk is called,
tantalisingly, “Losing the Plot”. It promises to be an
excellent evening so contact Gill Stainer now on
01489 893384 and make sure you get hold of your
tickets at the bargain price of £10! And of course on
the night don’t forget to bring with you your choice of
drink and a glass to pour it into!
The Gardening Club Butterfly Garden
Now that the plants have had a year to settle in, the
butterfly garden at the start of the railway line walk
has begun to make an impact. The long, dry summer
resulted in a very short flowering period for some
things, namely the buddleias, and we have not seen
the numbers of butterflies we would have liked.
However, some volunteers who walk their dogs in
that area have reported seeing a few! Earlier in the
year I spotted Orange Tip and Brimstone visiting
aubretia and hyssop, and recently I saw one Small
White and a Tortoiseshell. Hopefully, if temperatures
don’t drop too much the buddleias will have another
flowering, especially after dead-heading and the
recent rain. At the time of writing, the asters, sedums
and caryopteris are just coming into flower and
should attract any late butterflies.
There will soon be a plaque there saying:
‘This garden was originally designed and planted by
Chris Smith, 1950-2006. “In your lives try not to worry,
try not to hurry and take time to smell the flowers on
the way.” The garden was redesigned and replanted
In this issue:
Important: Change of Venue!
The Annual Social Evening
Our Butterfly Garden
Can You Help Us on Film Night?
Poisonous Plants and Growing Vegetables
Best-Kept Allotment Competition
Working Party Volunteers Needed
Mowers and Fruitcages
Waiting List
Water Supply
The Shop at the Shed
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in 2013, retaining the original idea to use plants which
are attractive to butterflies.’
Many thanks go out to the small band of members
who have kept this garden looking so good! We could
do with a few more helpers so that no one has to do a
‘double shift’. If you can spare a little time to help our
beleaguered butterflies, contact me on 01489 891470.
Ann Magrath
Can You Help Us on Film Night?
The Gardening Club is the partner charity for the
Community Film Night at the Bishops Waltham Junior
School on Wednesday 10th
September when ‘The
Grand Budapest Hotel’ will be showing. We need help
on the night, please, with refreshments and also with
donations of raffle prizes, biscuits and little home-
made cakes. Helpers needed from 6.15pm.
ON THE ALLOTMENTS
WARNING: Poisonous Plants and Growing
Vegetables
Many plants are poisonous to people and animals.
The production of toxins by plants is a defence
mechanism but the poisons can have hugely beneficial
effects, such as the painkiller morphine, obtained
from poppies. Morphine (an opiate) is also a killer in
high doses. Other such poisons are found in many
species such as foxgloves, deadly nightshade, etc.
What is not generally known is that many otherwise
edible plants can also be toxic – for example potatoes
(same family as deadly nightshade), garlic, nutmeg
and many others. Some only have or develop toxins in
certain circumstances: tomatoes have toxins when
unripe which are not present when ripe; some beans
such as butter beans or lima beans are toxic if eaten
raw. The following websites have more information:
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/Profile?pid=524
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poisonous_plants
But here’s the important bit that most of us don’t
know: Members of the plant family Apiaceae such as
parsnips, carrots and celery can cause SEVERE
problems under certain conditions.
These conditions are where the leafy parts above the
ground (not the edible root) are handled on a sunny
day. The reaction shown in the picture above was
caused to a gardening club member soon after
removing his surplus parsnips on a bright spring
morning up on the allotments. This is NOT an allergic
reaction, it is the effects of poison (phytotoxicity). It’s
a chemical burn and can happen to anyone. It can be
treated with steroid creams, but it is very painful and
alarming.
What to do? Wear protective clothing if handling
plants in this family, especially on bright sunny days. If
you experience any irritation or itching, wash for 20
minutes under lots of running water. Do not ignore
what may start as a mild reaction – it can get worse. If
it does, seek immediate medical help.
The damage can be repaired!
Many thanks to the member concerned.
Keith Fry
Best Kept Allotment Competition
After the wettest winter ever, most plots dried out
surprisingly quickly in the spring. Much to some
people's surprise, we ended up with another really
good growing season this year with a late hot dry spell
bringing an early harvest for many allotment holders.
When it came to judging the winners of the Best Kept
Allotment competition, the judges once again had a
very difficult task, as so many of the plots were in
excellent condition. However, judging was made
easier by using the same criteria as in previous years –
ie the number of different plants growing; the health
of the plants; and the general tidiness of the plot –
and eventually a consensus was reached. The winners
are:
Best Kept Allotment Winner: Peter Burkett (Plots 3 &
13)
Runner-up: Tim Gover (Plot 131)
Best Newcomer: Richard Street (Plot 26)
Runner-up: Bill and Annie Britt (Plot 92a)
Best Children's Plot: Nicholas McGowan (Plot J)
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Congratulations to the winners, especially to Peter
Burkett, who has won for the second year running, a
tremendous achievement! The trophies will be
presented at the AGM on 28th
January 2015.
Simon Dorey
Working Party Volunteers Needed
Can you help on the allotments on Sunday 12th
October at 1pm? We need a working party to carry
out some maintenance on the public parts of the
allotments at Albany Road. Many hands make light
work so just turn up wearing stout, protective
clothing. We'll mainly clear overgrown public areas,
ditches, and vacant plots. We'll also deal with some
broken/overhanging tree branches. We need
volunteers armed with strimmers, brush-cutters,
scythes, loppers, chain-saws, or similar tools. We also
need people with trailers to help remove the rubbish.
We’ll provide refreshments as an enticement!
Simon Dorey
Please Wipe our Mowers After Use!
Please would people using allotment mowers give
them a quick clean inside when they have finished.
This is because the bits of grass inside the cutting area
build up and clog together, making the mowers
difficult to start. It can even mean broken starting
cords! To be done with care please, but to be done. ☺
Fruitcages
Another request: A number of birds have been
trapped in fruitcages this summer. Please could you
check your fruitcage regularly, either ensuring the
birds have an obvious escape route (they get into such
a panic…) or ensuring there really is no way that they
can get into them in the first place. ☺
Waiting List
There are a few spare plots available at the moment
so there is currently no waiting list. If you know of
anyone who might be interested in taking on an
allotment, please encourage them to contact me,
Simon Dorey, (01489 894428,
[email protected]). Also, if any existing
allotment holders would like to take on an additional
plot, please let me know. At only £10 for a half-plot or
£15 for a full plot, our annual rentals are very low
compared with other sites, where rentals of £50 -
£100 are common. So an allotment here is a bargain!
Water Supply
Unfortunately we had a number of water leaks at the
allotments this season (some of which went
undetected for some time) so we have installed
additional stop cocks. This allows some taps to be cut
off from the supply but allows other to remain in use.
Please report water leaks immediately to any trustee
– the contact details for the relevant people are
printed out by the taps and are listed in the Allotment
Shed. The trustees will ensure that supply to the
affected tap(s) is cut off until the leak is repaired.
We all know that water is a valuable resource which
should not be wasted, but of course we rely on having
a good supply available, especially during a long hot
dry spell such as we had this summer. Also, we are on
a metered water supply. We consumed more than
600 cubic metres of water last year and our water bills
came to more than £400. So, please use water
sparingly and do not waste it – and please do not
leave water taps running. Simon Dorey
The Shop at the Shed
It’s been quiet in the Shop in recent weeks as
members have been harvesting their produce which,
of course, is the fruit of a lot of hard labour! In general
I have found it to be a good year although I was
unfortunate to go away during that very hot week at
the end of July which did not do my runner beans
much good as they were gasping for water on my
return! However, the French beans didn’t seem to
mind so that was some compensation. But we
gardeners must always be looking to the future and
soon we must be planting things which will give us a
good start to next year. In September we shall have
available:
Broad Bean seeds – Aquadulce Claudia is a very hardy
variety and will give a good crop of beans next May or
June, when home-grown vegetables are fairly scarce.
Onion Sets – White and Red. If you are keen to enter
the Show next year you should plant these now
because they will be ready for harvesting in June.
Even if you don’t show, grow some in the autumn and
some more of a different variety in the spring and you
should have a good supply of onions for about 9
months of the year!
Shallots – Plant at this time of year and you will get a
much bigger yield than if you leave it until spring.
Garlic – This has become a very popular vegetable to
grow and normally keeps well in the garage for
several months.
We shall also have a good supply of spring bulbs
available from about mid-September including allium,
crocus, iris, narcissi and tulips. For those of you who
find it difficult to get to the Shed at weekends I shall
be selling these at the monthly meeting on 24th
September so bring along a bit of spare cash!
Tim Gover