November 19th 2008

The weather has been slightly better over the last week enabling lots of plotholders to get to the allotments. I was surprised at the number of people about last Sunday, clearing up and just enjoying being outside. Asparagus ferns and autumn raspberries are being cut back now and the last of the bean sticks are being taken down. Everywhere is still wet, muddy and cold but it's nothing that a hot cup of coffee, a few biscuits(or bacon rolls) wont put right.

A few plotholders have been adventurous with their winter brassicas. Purple curly kale and black tuscan kale has appeared on a few plots. I don't know what these new 'greens'! taste like but they bring some lovely colour to what is a drab time of year

 

November 9th 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have recently held our annual Allotment Supper at the Anchor Inn, Oldbury on Severn. As usual the evening was a great success and we filled the Anchors dining room. Dave Makepeace brought along the new Janet & Tony Lines Perpetual Cup which is to be awarded annually to the best newcomer. This years winners David & Di Clark and Tony & Margaret Hall were unfortunately unable to attend the supper to collect their trophy.

John & Janet Mansbridge modelled the new association Tee shirts which are available to buy at Thornbury MX on The Plain.

The evening was rounded off with a short speech from Ray Fulker. Ray commented on the successes of the past year in particular the NGS Open Day and thanked all those who have contributed to allotments this year. He also mentioned that Thornbury in Bloom have been entered in next years National Competition and what an important part the allotments will have to play in the competition.

Ray finished with a few jokes that he had stolen from our Treasurer Mike Harrison, and in view of the recents events at the BBC I am using my editorial discretion and leaving them out.

There are more photos of the evening on the Photo Gallery

November 3rd 2008

As the weather was a little warmer today, 8 degrees C, I ventured down to the plot. Everything is looking a little sad at the moment. Starting at the top of the allotments Mervyns dahlias have been done for by the frost. What was a lovely colourful display is now a group of brown sorry looking stems. Walking down through the plots lots of things have been killed by the weather but it is only to be expected at this time of year. Harvesting winter crops is a wet, cold and muddy job at the moment but it's worth it to get tasty leeks, parsnips and brassicas.

Thornbury FM our local radio station is on the air again this month. Tune in on 87.7 FM on Mondays to listen to Sue Aitkens gardening programme. Our own 'DJ' Ray Fulker will be joining Sue on last Monday in November.

October 30th 2008

Brrr, It has been unseasonably cold in Thornbury this week. We have had a couple of hard frosts accompanied by a biting wind and the occasional really cold shower.I have not been able to get down to the plot to see what the frost has killed off but fortunately most of the frost tender plants were already protected. The last of the carrots will need taking out of the ground, although the frost does not affect them they tend to get eaten by worms and slugs. Parsnips and leeks are ready to harvest and the brassicas are doing well. I bet the frost has not killed the whitefly!

October 23rd 2008

It's the time of year that all gardeners love, the seed catalogues have come out. We are very fortunate in our association to have an arrangement with DT Browns, a major seed supplier who give us a substantial discount on any seeds and sundries that we purchace from them. We also bulk order seed potatoes from Thornbury Garden Shop who give us favourable terms.

I am sure everyone enjoys trying to decide what to grow next year. It's a big decision whether to go for the tried and tested varieties or take a chance and try something new. I like to try at least a couple of new things each year. In this current year I have grown Black Tuscan Kale for the first time, this has been very succesful and I have tried Celeriac which is still in the ground so I won't know how good it is for a month or so.

If you look on the Members Page you will see what can only be described as Carrot Capers.

October 16th 2008

Our chairman, Dave Makepeace has been busy again. Not content with cutting grass paths and trimming the border hedgerow Dave has been refurbishing the communial wheelbarrows. The allotments have gathered a quantity of wheelbarrows which are for communal use. The wheelbarrows are a good example of recycling in the community, some of them are surplus to plotholders uses and some of them have just been left by Thornbury residents who have no further use for them. Most of them are a bit rickety but can still serve the purpose of taking things from the gate to the plot and back. The wheelbarrows are left at the gate after each use to ensure that there are always a number available for use. Dave has been mending punctures, changing tyres and oiling axles. As usual Dave has done another valuable job for the benefit of all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 15th 2008

It would appear that we may be victims of the allotment theft phenonenom that is sweeping the country. Although only a few things have gone missing we are hoping that it is not the start of something that will get worse. We are lucky that our allotments are overlooked by both houses and retirement appartments and are therefore safer than some remote sites.

The weather is still holding and the winter vegetables are now being harvested. Swedes, parsnips and turnips make warming winter soups and the winter brassicas are ready to cut. Red cabbage has done particularly well this year, we like it lightly boiled and with a spoonfull of redcurrant jelly mixed in. Tomatoes, peppers and chillis have ripened as much as they are going to and so they have all been harvested. Sweet tomato and chilli relish is a good way to use up all the excess crop.

October 8th 2008

We seem to be having a mini Indian Summer in Thornbury which is giving everone an opportunity of clearing their plot ready for winter. All the beansticks have been taken down and lots of the summer foliage has been pulled up. Although there have been a few bonfires most people have either composted material themselves or taken it to the community composting site. It is amazing to see the pile of green waste at the composting site at the end of the weekend which really shows its value to the community.

Last night was our annual Question Time which was chaired by Ray Fulker with Peter Bird, Mike Ginns, Tony Sansum and Sue Aitken on the panel. Although the turnout was a little disappointing the evening was still enjoyable. Questions varied from the usual leek moth problem to a mouse eaten potato. Joan Meadowcroft supplied tea and coffee at the end of the evening and this gave the opportunity for everyone to mingle and socialise. Our thanks go out to the panel members for giving up their time for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 24th 2008

We are having a brief respite from the cold wet weather. For the last week it has been sunny and dry which has given us a chance to get onto the plots and start clearing ready for winter. Soft fruit is ripening and as usual a lot of it remains unpicked which is a shame when you see the price that supermarkets charge for it.

Last night several allotment holders attended the Thornbury in Bloom Award Presentations. Thornbury did really well this year winning the Sponsors Trophy for the best entry in the whole of the south west beating St Ives and Sidmouth who usually scoop most of the awards. The Thornbury in Bloom committee chaired by Sue Aitken have excelled themselves this year and can be really proud of winning a total of seven awards. Several TAA members were involved with Thornbury in Bloom and other members were successful in the local competitions. (more details on members page)

To visit the Thornbury in Bloom website click the following link Thornbury in Bloom 

September 11th 2008

First some good news about my spuds (see below). New shoots are appearing so it would appear that I may have saved them by chopping off the blighted leaves. All I have to do now is to stop them getting re-infected.

Our fame is spreading! An article, with photographs, about Daggs allotments has appeared in the Devon issue of Country Gardener the free magazine that can be picked up at Garden Centres. I have also heard from as far away as Norwich and Surrey that our BBC Open Gardens programme has recently been repeated. I will ask the treasurer if we get repeat royalties!!

I have just heard that we have been invited to open to the public again next year under the NGS Yellow Book scheme. Next years date will be Sunday 12th July 2009, keep your diaries clear.

September 1st 2008

September has started off in the same way that the rest of the summer has been, wet and windy. We have not had to do much watering this summer as nature has done it for us. We had a few warmer days last week but unfortunately they have come at a price, the warm damp conditions have been perfect for blight. Tomatoes and potatoes that escaped the early blight scare have now been well and truly infected. Luckily most allotmenteers have dug most of their potatoes but the tomatoes needed more time to ripen. I have also paid the price for keeping up with modern trends in gardening. This year after reading so much about it we decided to try growing potatoes for christmas. I aquired some Charlotte seed potatoes and worked out a frost protection method, the seed was not chitted but foliage appeared after only a few weeks. This weekend it was  obvious that my new crop had been hit by blight. I have cut the foliage down to below ground level but whether or not they will produce new shoots remains to be seen.

August 15th 2008

In spite of all the rain that we have had in Thornbury this week the soil has been perfect for weeding and digging. The soil at Daggs Allotments has been cultivated for hundreds of years and we are certainly reap the benefit as new allotmenteer Sara Cant is finding out. Sara has at last got her allotment after being on the waiting list for about 3 years. The plot she has taken over is in quite good condition but there are lots of changes that Sara plans to make including taking out a row of summer raspberries which is hard work on any type of soil. I am sure Sarah will get lots of help and advice from other plotholders at Daggs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 12th 2008

It has been a few weeks since I last updated the site but not much has changed. The weather has been very unpredictable, lots of rain a few sunny days and a few cold days. This is the time of year that allotmenteers are very popular with their friends and neighbours, the produce is so prolific that there is more than enough for everyone. We are picking runner and french beans every other day, courgettes never stop growing and salad crops are in abundance. As well as summer food we also have savoy cabbages, turnip, swede, carrots and potatoes to eat. It wont be long before the sweetcorn is ready but at least that freezes really well. The tomatoes, sweet peppers and chilli peppers could do with a few hot sunny days to help ripen them off as could the onions which have now been lifted for drying and storing. Maybe we will have a hot September.

July 21st 2008

The crops are coming to fruition thick and fast down on the plots this week. Fruit picking is in full flow with gooseberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants ready to be picked by the bucketfull as well as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries ready to be picked. There is nothing tastier than freshly dug new potatoes, young carrots and the first crop of runner beans, the difficult part is deciding which of the multitude of crops to eat next. The sun will be shining for the next few days so people will be working on their plots well in to the evening taking advantage of the weather but hoping for rain in the night so that the need for watering is avoided.

July 16th 2008

The weather was kind to us last weekend for our annual BBQ and award presentations. Margaret Woodford and Margaret Powell presented the awards for the Best Kept Allotments and Dave Makepeace presented the prizes for Best Newcomers and Best Scarecrow competitions. Margaret Woodford said that the RHS judge was really impressed with the standard of allotments at Daggs and that the prize winning plots were good enough to be entered in national competitions.

The BBQ was well was organised, as usual, by Dave Makepeace and was well attended. Although there are no large communal areas at Daggs it was an opportunity for allotmenteers to meet each other and swap gardening stories even if everyone had to keep swapping places along the top wall.

Jean Kendrick 1st & Peter Sage 2nd, collect their awards for the Best Kept Allotments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July9th 2008

The rain kept off for seven hours last Sunday and ensured that our Open Day was even more successful than last year Hundreds of visitors came through the gate and a total of £1427 was collected for the National Garden Scheme charities. Our visitors enjoyed walking around Daggs and were able to talk to lots of plotholders then sit down for tea and cakes There was also lots of plants and produce for sale at prices far below those at garden centres and supermarkets. The ladies 'manning' the tea stall took more than £316, that equates to a lot of tea and cake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The plants on sale were grown by allotmenteers and the produce was cropped on the day, in fact some was cropped whilst the visitors were walking round. It does not get fresher than this. The plant & produce stall took a total of £175.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open day was a great success and we received numerous favourable comments. It was hard work for lots of our members but the outcome made it all worthwhile. Will we open to the public again next year? The NGS County Organiser was really impressed which will probably lead to an invitation to open but it all depends how the members feel. Watch this space!