Page 57 - ALG Issue 2 2017

West Midlands
West Midlands Report: “I would rather listen to him than you lot”
Welcome to our new members...
Lloyds Educational Foundation Old Hall Peoples Partnership Upton Bishop Allotment Assoc Lloyds Educational Foundation Old Hall Peoples Partnership Upton Bishop Allotment Assoc Ettington Parish Council Tenbury Town Council
2 individual members
The meeting began with grateful thanks to Ansley Common Allotments for hosting the event. The new West Midlands Regional Deputy Representative, John Outhwaite, was introduced and so was the new Mentor, Colin Bedford.
Tom Terrence introduced to the meeting our speaker, David Thornton, an animal nutritionist in real life. From what he said it became obvious that there is a lot of cross- over between animal nutrition and that of vegetables. His aim is for tastier vegetables that are more avoursome and more appetising.
The one essential thing that is beyond our control, sunshine, leads to higher sugar content, meaning bigger specimens and higher yields (unfortunately sunshine is
not yet available from Kings). David said
it was vital to use the correct sprays and chemicals. Currently, and most welcome for the organic grower, there is a move towards using plant extracts, such as pyrthethrum, an extract from chrysanthemums. The correct fertilizer for the task in hand is a de nite requirement since different fertilizers produce different results.
This was just the introduction. David went on to recommend the essential nutrients for the soil, explaining which chemicals were required and in what ratios. He advised us on the nitrogen requirements of different plants as well as the chemicals disliked by different species.
Finally, he discussed the particular varieties of plants to grow for a “better” crop. The fact that he over ran his slot considerably was of no consequence; the audience was spell-bound. As one member of the meeting put it, “I would rather listen to him than you lot”, nodding in the direction of the Regional Of cers.
In spite of this non-recommendation, after the tea-break, it was the Of cers’ turn to speak.
The Regional Secretary had attended a meeting of Regional Secretaries at Corby with the main focus being on the Framework for Regional Constitutions.
The members were encouraged to visit the NSALG website, which had lots of information regarding various organisations that would
be helpful to all allotment sites. An aspect
of the Society which members might not be aware of is its training role for local authority staff; currently being advertised is training on allotment management for council of cers (full details were on the website). With National Allotment Week 2017 being from 14th – 20th August, any sites within the region were reminded that funding for banners and other publicity material is available. Just contact the Regional Secretary in the rst instance.
Roger Cartwright, the Regional Treasurer, repeated the fact that regional grants were
available to support certain activities, and added that, inexplicably, some requests for funding had been received and approved, but then no further action had been taken by the relevant sites.
The Regional Representative, Tom Terrence, reported that since the last meeting he had visited numerous allotment sites around the Region, resulting in him incurring high travelling costs, which the Region had reimbursed. His plan for the coming year was that he, his deputy and the mentor would be visiting more sites within the region in order to boost membership numbers and help sites with any issues they were having with the aim of preventing future problems.
Margaret Nicholls from Victoria Allotments, Uttoxeter, advised the meeting that her site had successfully obtained a grant of £4,000 towards site improvements from Awards
For All and were hoping to apply for further funding after the 12 month limit had expired.
The next meeting is on Saturday 13th May 2017 at 2.00 pm at the Cider Museum, Hereford. The Speaker will be Mr Bill Laws and his talk is entitled “The Curious History of Vegetables.”
John McNab, West Midland Region Secretary
Visiting Gardeners World Live? Look out for the West Midlands team!
West Kidderminster Allotment Society
Another year has own by on our allotment sites, and what a joyous year it was. I personally had no leek moth and potato blight, so this in itself cannot be bad.
Once again, one of our plot holders did exceptionally well in the local competitions.
John Lloyd had 25 rsts, 16 seconds and 11 thirds. He was awarded the following cups:
The Frank Williams Memorial Trophy
The Lloyds Bank Trophy for Chrysanthemums Hurrans Garden Centre Challenge Cup
The Peter Carter Cup
The Albert Hilton Memorial Shield
National Dahlia Silver Medal
We, as a society, are so proud of John.
Cynthia Styles, Secretary
57