Page 58 - SV 3 2024

Midland Branch
MEMBERS 10000 TO 19999
It has been a long and hard wet winter. At the time of writing this we are supposed to be in Spring, but the short spells of sunshine still have that nip in the air, and hardly a day goes by without any rain. I hope by the time you receive this; the ground will have dried out and we are enjoying some nice warm days.
We held our AGM at South Hinksey, Oxford, this year and it was a pleasure to meet up with old friends and to welcome some new faces to the meeting. I am grateful to the committee for their support this past year. It has been hard with such a small committee, but we got there. We said goodbye to some stalwarts from the committee, namely Bob Oliver, Graham Brickstock and Albert Walker, but were pleased to welcome Jim Styles and Dave Ridgway to the committee. Jim Styles has kindly taken on the role of Treasurer from Graham Brickstock. Betty Garbutt came forward after the meeting and offered her
services as the new West Midlands DA rep; Dave Ridgway is the new Bucks DA rep. Other positions are given in the list following this report.
John Branham stood down as the President of the Branch at the AGM in 2023, due to ill health. No one came forward to replace him, so this role has been vacant ever since. If any members feel they have the criteria and are interested in taking on this position, please contact me.
I am privileged to be re-elected as Chairman of the Branch again for this year but will be looking for someone else to take over the role at the next AGM.
If any members who were unable to attend the AGM feel they have something to offer the Branch and would like to come onto the committee, they will be most welcome. Just contact me or one of the current committee members.
By the time this report goes out we will have had the Spring Festival at Malvern
and looking forward to the Branch Championships in September. All Midlands Branch members should receive a copy
of the schedule with this magazine. Other Branch members can obtain a copy by contacting me direct or downloading a copy from the NVS website.
The West Midlands DA will also have had things in motion for their stand at BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC, Birmingham, and the Bucks DA will be looking forward to putting on their stand at the Bucks County Show.
I also hope by now that my husband, Mike, has had his hip replacement operation and is back in action. It’s been a very long year for him... and for me too! I have now passed my HGV for wheelbarrow pushing to the allotment, as he couldn’t manage it with a walking stick in one hand!
June Davies, FNVS Chairman
Bucks DA – two amazing talks
As I write this it is still a wet and windy April. Snails and Slugs are a big issue. Hopefully as you read this you are enjoying the warm summer rays and a productive growing season.
We have had two amazing DA talks, The first by David Thornton FNVS on Fertilisers for the kitchen garden. If you missed this, you missed a superb evening packed with tonnes of information that is useful to both the table and show bench growers alike. We have some copies of Dave’s slide which you can collect at any our future events. The Second talk was by Andrew Mikolajski on apples, Britain`s favourite fruit. Again, packed full of information and an amusing night.
Bucks County Show
It is about 6 weeks away from our next event, The Bucks County Show on Thursday 29th August 2024. We have a stand of stunning vegetables displaying what you could grow with a little bit of know-how and support, both of which
are available via the DA so please come along and support us there. On top of this members also enter many of the vegetable classes and do really well, it’s a good step up from village shows. So, if you haven’t tried it before why not give it a go. Here’s their website with detail how to enter and the rules buckscountyshow.co.uk
Upcoming talks
We have two more exciting talks scheduled for the DA members and guests, both free of charge!
Firstly, on Tuesday 15th October we
have our very own John Lowe and Julie Wills talking on Their Allotment Life. Here we have two super understated growers who now regularly produce prize winning exhibits locally, regionally, and nationally. And we are getting an evening to hear their secrets!!
And finally, to wrap the year up on Tuesday 19th November we have Gareth Hopcroft, from Ecothrive, talking on using COIR as a real alternative to peat. I think
this will be a great opportunity to address the pending issue of life without PEAT! So hopefully we will see lots of you there.
Jake Sale, Bucks DA
58 Simply Vegetables
Simply Vegetables
Binder
Store your magazines away. Each binder holds 12 magazines. (3 years worth)
£5.00+ £3.49 P&P
To purchase contact: Mrs June Davies FNVS, Midlands Branch,
Tel 01531 822750 or email junedavies648@yahoo.com