Page 58 - ALG Issue 1 2020

Eastern
Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire
REPRESENTATIVE
Mr Ray How
5 Dalys Road, Rochford, Essex SS4 1RA
07720 719224 ray.how@btopenworld.com
MENTOR
Vacant
National Allotment Society donates £200 to Trust Links
Trust Links is a local mental health and wellbeing charity working in South East Essex to support people experiencing mental health problems. They were delighted to receive a generous donation of £200 from the National Allotment Society to help towards the cost of repairs following a spate of vandalism. The organisation had appealed for support after our Growing Together Shoeburyness was targeted several times by vandals, who broke in and recklessly spoilt the therapeutic garden and caused hundreds of pounds of damage. Local supporters raised over £400 in a CrowdFunding campaign, but Ray How, Treasurer at Gaynes Park Manners Way Allotment and Garden Association and Eastern Region Representative, wanted to help, so he liaised with the National Allotment Society to bump up the fundraising.
Chief Executive Matt King said: “Whilst it seems like just mindless vandalism, it hits our members and volunteers hard. They spend hours working in our therapeutic gardens which many describe as a safe haven, so it feels very much like a personal attack. We were so pleased with the money raised through our CrowdFunding campaign but this kind donation from the National Allotment Society takes our fundraising total to £625 which will go some way to repairing the damage, and we are so grateful for everyone’s support.”
Eastern Region Report
Ray How, Regional Rep Eastern Region
As I write this, it is a dark November evening and we have had more rain around the country than we could wish for. Luckily in the east we have been very lucky. By the time this is published we should be thinking about spring and planting time. This brings me on to an interesting topic: should we use pesticides, or not?
In the dictionary, ‘pesticide’ is described as a chemical preparation for destroying plant, fungal, or animal pests. Pesticides have been used for centuries – in fact, the first recorded use of pesticides was around 2500BC, where sulphur was used as an insecticide in ancient Mesopotamia. By the 15th Century, arsenic, mercury and lead were the main chemical elements in use. The manufacture of synthetic pesticides became widespread in
the 1940s with the insecticide DDT becoming the best known. It was
first used by the Allies in World War
II to control typhus and malaria and became available to the public in 1945. Latterly, in the 1970s, the world’s most widely-used herbicide, glyphosate, came on the market. Manufactured by Monsanto, it is the active ingredient in many weedkillers, including Roundup, and is widely used by farmers and groundskeepers globally and is
also available to buy by the general public in most garden centres and supermarkets.
The biggest concern I have as I get older (and possibly wiser) is the health implications of the excessive use
of Glyphosate-type weedkillers. We should all be considering ourselves,
our families and our neighbours. We should always think about alternative ways of removing weeds and pests from our plots. Healthy growing works on the principle of prevention, rather than cure. Always maintain a healthy, active soil with plenty of nutrients,
using compost and manures. Crop rotation helps to prevent diseases from building up in the soil, so vary where you plant your vegetables year after year.
Growing flowers with vegetables attract beneficial wildlife, such as caterpillar- eating birds and aphid-eating insects. Using toxic chemicals kills not only
the pest but creates health hazards for the beneficial wildlife that play a part
in controlling the pests in your garden. Choose plants and varieties that are suited to the site and soil as they will have a better chance of being strong enough to fight off pests and diseases. Finally, be vigilant; keep out pests, such as slugs, caterpillars and pigeons, by constantly checking your barriers, traps and covers. As my wife has said on a number of occasions when I bring home vegetables along with a few bugs: “Why do you have to bring the meat home with the veg?”
Another question is: Do I go completely peat-free, or not? Ideally yes, but the quality of peat-free compost is still
not good and is more expensive. I will certainly give it more of a try this year, together with trying an area of no-dig.
I would like to close with a plea. Please remember that all Association Officers are volunteers and they should be, and generally are, doing the best for your site. Please support them and do not threaten, abuse or cause unnecessary upset. One day it might be you that is on the committee helping, and you wouldn’t like to be treated in any other way but fairly.
Happy growing and here is to a GOOD season.
Please support our region and help it grow stronger.
Diary dates for the Eastern Region:
15th February 2020: Essex County Panel meeting at Billericay Reading Rooms – Water Management by Essex & Suffolk Water.
25th April 2020: Eastern Region Meeting – location to be confirmed. 20th June 2020: Essex County Panel – visit to Kings Seeds, Kelvedon. 11th July 2020: Eastern Region Meeting, Diss Allotments, Norfolk.
58 Allotment and Leisure Gardener