Page 60 - ALG Issue 2 2017

South West
Cornwall NAS Group
Welcome to our new members...
Chickerell Allotment Assoc
Denbury & Torbryan Allotment Assoc St Mary’s Allotment Assoc
Stratton (Dorset) Allotment Society Westonzoyland Allotment Gardens Camborne Town Council
4 individual members
On Saturday 28th January 16 members representing various allotment sites throughout Cornwall met in Bodmin,
the centre of the county, to discuss the possibility of the formation of a Cornish NAS group to share information and tips, but more importantly, to form a uni ed voice when it came to liaising with our Head Of ce.
Mike Seaman, secretary and founder
of the Lanhydrock Allotment Association, chaired the meeting and introduced Allan Cavill, our mentor and Neil Dixon, our South West Regional Representative. They spoke in turn and were in agreement that the area covered in the south west is vast and understood why some felt they weren’t getting full value from their membership of the NAS due to the remoteness of our area.
This needed to be addressed and Mike explained he had created a Facebook page for all to join and communicate via this, although some expressed they’d rather stick with email conversation, so all addresses were logged down for the future. The population and vehicles triple in Cornwall in
the summer months and it was important to not involve ourselves in road miles and traf c jams to communicate.
Update from the South West Regional Mentor
On the 21st November 2016 I attended an event arranged by Professor Lindsey McEwen from
the DRY project team from UWE. I have been privileged to represent the NAS on this project for some two years now. This event was hosted
by Fowey Town Council and the Allotment Association. Members from various allotment associations were invited to attend the meeting and their collective experiences regarding the use of water on allotments and their memories of past droughts proved very helpful for the DRY team researchers.
Talking to several of those allotmenteers who attended, I
realised that this would be a golden opportunity to try and start an active Cornwall Group for NAS members, given that the South West has not had any County groups for a good number of years now.
Mike Seaman, Hugh Hedderly
and David, Chairperson from Fowey Allotment Assocation, along with myself, formed the group there and then. Soon after Christmas, Mike and Ruth Seaman, with the help of Di Appleyard, arranged the rst meeting of the group in Bodmin and this proved a great success.
Following that success, I thought it would be a good time to start groups in the other Counties of the South West and as Somerset is my home county, Di Appleyard agreed to help by contacting our members in Somerset. I was able to arrange a venue for the rst meeting in Taunton. Monkton Elm Nursery kindly donated the use of their lecture room, and on 11th February the rst meeting was held. It was very well supported, with many subjects being discussed. Among other things, the meeting agreed to have a second one in the same venue sometime in early summer.
Allan Cavill
SW Regional Mentor
Much was discussed and the question of how often we wanted to meet was asked; the answer to which was annually in non-season time. Hugh and Sue from Looe suggested Looe was a ne place to meet next time.
It was felt today’s meet up was well worth doing and after the of cial ending, all stayed chatting whilst drinking lashings of tea; a sign of how well we all got on. The seed has been sown for the success of this new group. Mike Seaman
Here’s a handy tip!
Spring is my favourite time of year; my bees are busy collecting pollen, the fruit trees are budding ready to ower and I’m digging out the compost heap to prepare soil for this year’s veg.
However, there is a cloud on the horizon, as I know I will inevitably suffer from ‘weeding guilt’. Every year I vow to do better, but never seem to quite nd the time. I can nd the time for spring planting, but as a beekeeper, this is my busiest
time of the year. I’m out rescuing bumble bee colonies and swarms of honey bees, running beekeeper experience courses and maintaining our hives in and around Plymouth. So, making time to weed my allotment is often limited. To combat
this I’ve begun to use woven ground cover and planting my onions, garlic and cabbages through it; this suppresses weed growth while allowing rain through.
Nothing new here you say, but for years I wouldn’t use it, because it shreds badly and strands of plastic have, in
the past, wound themselves around
my rotavator drive shafts, bursting the
oil seals. This year I found a way to prevent the shredding. Using an old food tin mounted on a long bolt, set into a wooden handle, it’s possible to heat up the tin with a blowtorch and cut holes through the ground cover, neatly sealing the edges. Using 1m wide cover pegged into position over the bed you want to plant into, already dug, manured and fertilised, cutting holes becomes a simple and satisfying process. Eliminating the dreaded shred and giving my onions and garlic a greater chance of survival against the invasion of chickweed and speedwell. It can be used with most of the brassica veg too; the spacing is just increased for each variety. I’m hoping this year it will save hours of back-breaking work and
I won’t go to bed dreaming of weeds strangling everything and feel guilty my plot isn’t up to scratch.
Tim Payne
Chair, Estover and District Allotments
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