Page 47 - Simply Veg 4 2022

Scottish Branch
MEMBERS 30000 TO 39999
Vice Chairs Report
It’s been a busy spell for the Branch over the past few months.
At the beginning of June, we set up and manned a stall over two days at Scone Palace Garden Fair selling our reputedly legendary leek transplants and a variety
of fruit and vegetable plants grown and supplied by our members. We were lucky enough to have great weather for the event and had a steady stream of buyers as well as a goodly number of less experienced gardeners tapping into our combined knowledge pool.
Our intention was “to get back out there” after our usual activities had largely been suspended for the best part of two years and we were delighted with the way things went. A huge team effort and a corresponding huge thank you goes to all the members (and their families) who helped out.
July saw us have our annual garden
visit this time to Gordon Castle Gardens in Morayshire and then on to see around the gardens of John Martin and Peter Fitch, both members of North of Scotland DA. Whilst there, our Chairman Ian Stocks took the opportunity of presenting Peter and Rhona Begg with the certificates for the Fellowships previously awarded to them which had not been presented because of COVID.
Congratulations Peter and Rhona. Very well deserved.
We had a very interesting Day and thanks to John and Peter for showing us around and to their wives for providing much appreciated refreshments.
Moving into August we are heavily engaged in planning for the future (at the time of writing) events with our Branch Championships taking place on 3rd September at Larbert once again.
Beyond that, we have a Committee Meeting on 15th October (Rescheduled from 1st October) and our Annual Seminar on 19th November.
On the growing front, it’s been a difficult season with extreme heat and lack of rainfall causing problems for both kitchen and exhibition growers. Some like me have also had to deal with voracious mice, slugs and snails but we wouldn’t do it if it was easy would we?
Finally best wishes to all our growers and exhibitors who by the time they read this article will have been entering their vegetables in shows throughout the country and hopefully earning bragging rights for the next year.
Frank Taylor
Scottish Branch Merchandise
Just a reminder and dare I say, as we head towards Christmas, the Scottish branch Polo shirts and fleeces are available for ordering from our Treasurer, Liz Loudon.
All the clothing depicts the round NVS logo in white, along with the Scottish Branch identity beneath and look very smart.
Where possible, we will still try to deliver any orders by hand to avoid any extra cost. Why
not order as soon as possible during October for pick up at the Seminar?
Please note, the lady’s sizes
are quite a neat, tailored fit, so some ladies might prefer to either order a larger size or the straighter unisex version. Also, the gent’s fleeces are quite generous in size.
For more details Liz’s contact details are (01334) 838894 and email lloudon57@yahoo.co.uk
Scottish Branch Annual Seminar
At time of writing this article, preparations are in the final stages for our annual Seminar at the Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik EH26 0PZ on Saturday the 19th of November.
A big thankyou to our speakers who have volunteered to give a wide range of talks on the day and to our hard-working committee members who help the day run smoothly. We would also like to thank Clydeside Trading Society (CTS) who have once again agreed to manage your orders, this is most appreciated. Please note, all Scottish Branch members will have received a loose flier in this magazine, which is your order form, should you wish to order any goods from CTS and pick them up on the day. Please note that you need to send your order form directly to CTS and the deadline
is the 10th October. If you are not a
Scottish branch member, but are an NVS member attending the Seminar, you can pick up a copy of the order form on the NVS web site events page.
Please find the agenda below for your information:
10.30 Opening, welcome and awards
10.45 Growing exhibition onions
12.00 Scottish Branch Championship results & National Championships results & “Scots Abroad”
1.30 Growing exhibition long leeks 2.30 Silicon in gardening
3.45 Growing Broad Beans for Exhibition 4.45 Raffle & Close
Ian Stocks Niall Currie Fiona Shenfield
David Metcalfe
Matt Mountain, from Grow Genius
Jim Pearson
Time
Topic
Speaker
10.00
REGISTRATION, Tea & Coffee
12.30
LUNCH
3.15
TEA BREAK
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