Page 50 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2021

Scottish Branch
Chairman’s Report
I hope everyone is well and that you have all had a chance to at least try and meet up over the last few months. The Branch is hopefully on the road back to some normality.
Our AGM was held in July and although down on numbers it was great to actually have the meeting and get back to discussing things face to face. I have to say that
18 months since the last one seemed like eternity, and you needed great eyesight and a strong voice due to the social distancing between us in the hall! Our Championships will have gone ahead as you read this and hopefully, we will have had a good show and met up with friends old and new. To complete 2021, we are still planning ahead with a judge’s exam and the Seminar to come in October and November.
So hopefully 2021 will be
the end of restrictions and lockdowns and as all gardeners do, we can look forward to a great 2022.The Society has in my view been really fortunate during this pandemic in that we have not only reversed the decline
in membership – adding some five hundred members – but
has introduced new initiatives such as the membership system and Zoom talks. All these are
the catalyst to the future of the NVS and I would like to thank everyone involved in keeping us on the right track.
So, on a personal note I
really hope 2022 is ok. I have
to admit that I have lost a bit of enthusiasm, as have quite a few growers I know, over the last 18 months, but as veg growers we are a hardy breed and I’m sure that it will return – just in time for the Nationals at Malvern in 2022!
Finally, can I wish all members and their family`s all the best
for Xmas and New Year, but more importantly an absolutely fantastic normal 2022.
50 Simply Vegetables
MEMBERS 30000 to 39999
KCS original plot layout
New member – organisation
Welcome to one of our newest organisations known as the “Kennoway Community Shed” from Fife, who joined the NVS in June.
The Community shed recently
set up a new allotment site for budding growers and I must say I am inspired by this group, under their enthusiastic Chair, Bob McPhail. They have created an inviting growing area on one of the villages previous bowling greens (to all our bowlers out there, don’t be alarmed, they had two).
The Shed aims to help people feel part of something, achieve or learn new skills, be happier, and make a difference to the village where they stay. In addition to the veg growing they strive to improve their village through various projects including providing flower planters, bird boxes & squirrel boxes. These kinds of projects have been made through upcycling old bits of wood from pallets or other sources. They have
a fantastic polytunnel which the growers share and use to grow lots
of different types of tomato plants
as well as chillies and salad crops, plus bringing on veg seedlings and flowers for their hanging baskets and tubs around the village. The group
is active in improving the town centre, and green spaces, which in turn makes the village cleaner and the streets safer. People who come along can even learn cooking / baking, making cheap and nutritious meals, cross-stitch, greeting cards, build model boat kits, learn basic computer skills, look at old photos and talk about the good auld days
or just chat over a cuppa and set the world to rights.
In addition of veg growing on
their tidy plots, they have also started honey production with the addition of beehives in a beautiful wildflower section. Ian Simpson and I visited earlier in the year and were delighted to welcome them as a new Scottish branch member. One of
the quotes on the Community Shed wall says, “Volunteers are not paid – not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless”. Never a truer word said. Upon visiting recently in July, it was great to see the hard work that has been put
in with numerous garden ideas to inspire, and a great variety of quality veg being grown in the various plots including potatoes, peas, cabbages, courgettes, leeks and sweetcorn. Well done to every Community
Shed member, the Scottish Branch welcomes you to the NVS.
Fiona Shenfield,
Scottish Branch Secretary