Page 36 - ALG Issue 2 2025

NORTHERN Welcome to…
14 individuals
Braithwaite Community Allotments
East Stanley Allotment Assoc
North Terrace Allotment
Association
Stockton Borough Council
Regional Report
In the north of England, we gardeners
have to be more careful than our
colleague’s further south. The growing
season is shorter and the possibility of
frosts in June is real. On the other hand
our daylight hours in the summer are
longer. You can grow various things that
might be expected to need hot weather.
These include fennel, coriander and sweet
corn outside and tomatoes, aubergines,
peppers and melons in the greenhouse.
It’s a balancing act: sowing early enough
to reach maturity while not being able to
plant out or sow too early. Here’s one tip
for those with an unheated greenhouse.
If you can put a cold frame inside the
greenhouse and your seedlings or small
plants inside, they will withstand colder
temperatures.
Sadly since the death of the Northern
Regional Representative, Harry James, our
committee has also lost other members due
to pressure of work and other factors. So
we are now very much in need of a few
more people to help on the committee. We
intend all our committee meetings to be
held on Zoom, perhaps 4 to 6 times a year.
In addition, we have general meetings for all
members also on Zoom four times a year.
As well as helping us to decide how best to
promote allotments in our region, there are
some specific roles which we are looking for
support with. One of these is social media –
e.g. updating our Facebook pages. Another
is finance – helping manage the cash. We
are a small organisation but we still need to
keep proper accounts! And there are many
other ways you could help too.
There’s the National Allotments Week
– do you have ideas about how we can
celebrate allotments and their contribution
to wellbeing?
If you would like to get involved in
spreading the word about allotments in the
Northern Region, you are very welcome to
join our committee. Please contact me, Guy
Herzmark, the Regional Lead, on 07967
194107 or by email at gherzmark.nas@
gmail.com.
Of course we are still ready to help all
of you with any concerns you may have.
I am also planning some site visits to say
hello this summer. So do get in touch – if
you would like a visit or if you have any
problems that you would like my view on.
Guy Herzmark
Northern Regional Representative
"We are now very much in need of a few more
people to help on the committee."
36 | Issue 2 2025 | Allotment and Leisure Gardener