Page 49 - ALG Issue 1 2020

Harrogate Autumn
Flower Show
(the home of the giant vegetable championships)
Phil Gomersall
I was very limited in
time for preparing for the show, what with being at the Rotherham Show the previous weekend and preparing for our Heritage Open weekend at Victory Garden Allotments the weekend after as it is our centenary year this year.
What made matters even worse, I had double- booked on the Friday to do a promotion stand and workshops for the Yorkshire Local Councils Association AGM in York. The Show Director Nick Smith had also asked if I could do three talks at the show; one of the regular talks I
do with Martin Walker but also two one-hour illustrated talks on my own: ‘Allotment Gardening on a Shoestring’. So, with the aid of my trusty Mannequin ‘George’, I created a simple display to accompany the display table. Unfortunately, even that was made more complicated, as I had to do some rather major alterations to his bent arm so he could hold the wheelbarrow.
All went well in York, as I was accompanied by our own Liz Bunting, and I think our double act was well received. This left me to work all Friday night until well after midnight to complete my PowerPoint presentation. Up bright and early the following day, the talks went very well and were much appreciated according to feedback. More individual members were recruited so all in all it was a successful weekend. Thank you very much to Kay Heywood and Barry Bothamly for volunteering to man the stand whilst I was indisposed elsewhere.
Rotherham ramblings
Vroom, and it’s gone! That was
the summer and it only seems a few weeks ago that I was opening seed packets and checking dates for starting off different plants. For us, it has been a bumper year for everything: onions, beetroot, beans, squashes, sweetcorn, spuds and more. Unfortunately, it isn’t just the good stuff that has shown rampant growth; weeds have enjoyed the ideal growing conditions and, in particular, have been a source of grief for many new gardeners.
Bless them, they diligently clear
an area for planting, go on holiday and, when they next visit their
plot, it looks just like it did before they cleared it! There has been no shortage of drama either with plots let to people who then mysteriously disappear, or bring piles of useful stuff (rubbish), and end up secretly burning it. There has been a spate
of complaints about the state of other people’s plots and a bit of ‘gateaphobia’ (a disorder of the mind that prevents someone from closing gates and getting annoyed if anyone else does) – I just hope it doesn’t spread.
If that wasn’t enough, I’ve just had a phone call asking me to mediate a dispute on another site, and that will be the fourth site this year. On the plus side I’ve talked four sites in the borough into becoming self- managed (the first new societies in years). It makes me wonder why there’s all this fuss about Brexit – I could sort it in days, seriously. All part of allotment life, and I love allotment folk.
If you are interested in renting an allotment in Whiston contact Mike on 07802 196688 or mike@leaffield. co.uk
Heritage Week. We offered conducted tours around the site, explaining about the running of the site and various interesting features. We
had display boards with documents
and photographs explaining the site history. There were some humorous short stories from and about previous plotholders. Tea, coffee, cakes and
cold drinks were offered, with cakes, jam and surplus fruit and vegetables for sale. We had many guests over the two open days, and many spent the whole afternoon with us and said they had really enjoyed the camaraderie of plotholders and the joviality at the whole event. In addition, two of the visitors asked to be added to the waiting list.
What was even more beneficial, it offered our existing members the opportunity to get to know other plotholders that they wouldn’t normally see. We rounded off the day by cutting the special centenary cake we had made to celebrate the centenary – it was delicious. The Heritage Open
Days were a huge success and will be repeated next year.
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 49