Page 6 - SV 3 2024

Lady Chair’s Report
SANDRA HALL FNVS, NATIONAL LADY CHAIR
I sit here to start writing this report after having a couple of dry days, getting a few jobs done, but still the ground is too wet to get on doing any digging
and guess what, I can hear rain on the window! I’m sure we are all fed up with this rain and wondering whether it will ever stop.
This last quarter started off on a sad
note with the loss of three long serving, well-known members of the NVS Graham Wagstaffe from Derbyshire, Malcolm Evans from Yorkshire and Jim Kirkness from Scotland. Reflection of each gentleman can be found within their respective branch sections.
It was a busy start for me with the yearly AGMs for each branch, the Northern branch being first, so another trip up
to Wakefield, second time in a week. It
was so nice to meet everyone. The next weekend the Midlands and Scottish were holding their AGMs on the same day, sorry Scotland .... another time. I attended the Midlands Branch AGM which was held in
a different part of the midlands at South Hinksey, Oxfordshire to try and encourage more members to attend. It was good to see all the officer roles filled and with some new members on board. My husband Mark was their after-meeting speaker, and he gave an interesting talk on ‘Growing under Cover.’ On our way home we called in to see some friends, also NVS members. Donald and Brenda live at ‘Home Nurseries,’ which was once a thriving garden nursery, until they retired over eleven years ago. Still with several glass houses in use, we were shown around to see where Don grows his veg and flowers. Don grows a lot of veg plants for the NVS spring shows helping out the Branches and DAs sales tables. We
also couldn’t leave without having some lovely afternoon tea and cake, thank you. The following week was the turn of the
Welsh branch AGM, and they had a good number in attendance too, filling all their officer roles and more.
The southern branch was a couple of weeks later, but being a considerable distance away, too far to travel in a day. I sent my apologies, but understand it went well.
We have had some changes after the AGMs the Trustees board had one new face Andrew Jones, who replaced Lesley Stone as a Welsh branch representative, but a few weeks later, we had another new face from the Northern branch in the form of Mick Shipley who has replaced Geoff Wilson, due to changing family circumstances. Sean James Cameron, who joined us as our new Social Media officer last year, has felt the need to stand down due to a heavily increased workload after moving back to Wales. Lesley, Geoff, and Sean are still working hard for the NVS, and I would like to personally thank them for all their hard work.
I was very heartened for the NVS to have received a great initial response to the adverts for the role of National Treasurer as advertised in the last issue of SV and the broadcast via email sent to all members. So, as I write this, we are actively sharing details of the role to all interested parties thank you.
On page 23, you will see that I also
led the way by presenting the NVS at
the Countrytastic Show in Malvern this year with a team of eager volunteers and some great goody bags which were also supported by Kings Seeds, thank you. Primarily targeted as being educational for kids, the show was a great success and I now look forward to the Midlands Branch continuing to support this going forward under the leadership of June Davies.
During the Easter holidays our two eldest granddaughters Rebecca and Amelia came to stay for a few days, so for them no to be bored, and with the weather not looking too good to be out in the garden Mark got them helping us to prepare the potato bags down in the barn. Once all set up it was all systems go and the girls were really getting into the swing of things but after several hours, we heard a few little moans of “I’m hungry, can we have something to eat’ we stopped for a break?”. What’s the saying.....
I’d rather feed them for a week than a month. Gosh they eat well!! Rebecca, age 15, is a great help these days she has a ... interest in wanting to drive Mark and has been teaching her in his truck and also on the tractors so she now goes out and mows the field with the gang mower, no problem at all! As a treat Mark and I took them for a day out to the Black Country Living Museum, an open-air museum that tells the story of one of the very first industrialised landscapes in Britain.
We are now into the busy spell at home and away with the greenhouses filling
up not only with veg plants but bedding/ hanging basket plants. Don’t forget to
sow your Romanesco seeds which were generously provided by Medwyn’s of Anglesey in the last issue of SV. The spring Shows are getting underway, and branches and DAs are also busy with events, so good luck with them all. As we look further ahead for our summer and Autumn shows, including our National Championships
at Ardingly, I would like to thank Chris Spree, Sponsorship Officer for the work he is doing interfacing with all our fabulous sponsors and partners, the NVS really appreciates all the support provided and your generosity.
I must say a big thank you to everyone who provides articles for the magazine and to Kelvin for his patience and time in pulling it all together, and waiting for me especially as I am usually the last.
I can finish this report now by letting you know that it’s actually stopped raining and the ground is dry enough to get on, dig and even plant! I have even put my winter parsnips in now, so I hope you are all looking forward to a good year of growing.
6 Simply Vegetables