Page 49 - ALG Issue 3 2018

North West
Community Payback
Team Helps out at
the Allotments
The Community Payback team recently installed a new boundary fence at Revidge Allotments, Beardwood Brow in Blackburn. The team provided the labour and Revidge Allotment Association provided the materials. The old fence was removed by the team and the new one erected in a matter of weeks. The result is a very attractive fence which should last for years.
The Chair of the Association, Laurence Loft, said he was delighted with the work and felt proud that the Association had been able
to provide the Community Payback team with an interesting and worthwhile project which will enhance the community space provided by the Allotments. Stephanie Baxter, Practice Manager for the South East (Lancs) Community Payback team said that she was glad the team could be of help, and that the team had benefitted from being involved in a skilled and creative job.
The allotment site has over 50 plots on it and has been in existence since the beginning of the Second World War. It is a privately owned site managed by a group of volunteers. There is a shop on-site which sells a variety of composts, seeds and fertilisers.
Welcome to our new members...
Bertram Street Allotment Association Cabbagehall Allotment Association Ordsall Community Allotment Society Plymyard Hall Allotment Association 5 Individual Members
All monies collected through rents and shop sales are reinvested in the site.
www.revidgeallotments.wordpress.com
Revidge Allotments Association contact for further information: Kath Knowles
01254 246067 /0777 766 9340 kathknowles1@btinternet.com
For more information about Community Payback in Cumbria and Lancashire contact :
0345 608 0213 clcrc.communications@sodexojustice.scc.gsi.gov.uk http://www.clcrc.co.uk
Kath Knowles
Earthing Down v. Earthing Up
I have been planting our allotment potatoes (pink fir apple)
for several years now with success, using a method which is contrary to all the text books, suppliers’ advice and, from what I see, everyone else. Undaunted by being in a minority of one, I would still like to share my approach with fellow allotmenteers – because it works so well!
Picture the standard image of a potato plot just as the plants are well up. You will see steeply-ridged rows with the potatoes growing out of the top. Often the ridges are dry, while the furrows between them are damp. Later, there will be many potatoes sticking out of the sides of the ridges and going green (i.e. inedible). This is despite earthing them up – and usually running out of surplus soil in the process!
I used to ask myself: why not reverse the whole process? The
ridge-and-furrow pattern will be the same, except the potatoes will be in the furrows receiving all available rain or hose water run-off down the sides of the ridges. Ample soil will be at hand in the ridges to cover the growing plants as required. I call this ‘earthing down’. Ideally, with a bit of allotment luck, it is possible to end up with a nearly level potato plot which is well moistened throughout the season and with few, if any, green spuds in a good crop. Why not try it? I will no longer be in my lonely minority, and others can share my success.
Peter Walton, Cliff Road Allotment Association, Wilmslow, Cheshire
peter.walton36@gmail.com
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