Page 57 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2022

Caterpillar culprit
As James has said we held our A.G.M. in January followed by a very enjoyable talk by Pete High. Officers were all re-elected but John Speak did stand down from our committee. John has been with us since our formation and was our Chairman for much of that time. We wish him well.
Last year I tried Kalettes for the first
time, I quite like them and will probably grow them again. As a bonus they seemed to be fairly disease resistant. I spent Christmas day at my daughter’s house
and managed to provide most of the vegetables for Christmas lunch, potatoes, swede, carrot, parsnip and cauliflower. The cauliflowers were the variety Triomphant from a D.T Brown’s £1 packet which I hadn’t grown before but will again. The ones for Christmas Day were grown outdoors but I put a few spare plants in the bottom of my tunnel which produced heads in November. As the door nearest the cauli’s and the vents were netted I thought they would escape insect attack, but I was wrong. Cabbage Whites found their way in but there were also quite a lot of wasps flying about and they kept on top of the problem for me. Organic pest control! What I didn’t see were the small green caterpillars right in the centre of the plants – until it was too late. Non the less I got useable heads even though most of the wrapper leaves had been eaten.
of talks for the rest of the season so please come along if you can but do check before travelling due to the changing situation. We will publish our programme of talks in future editions of Simply Vegetables, the N.V.S website and on our Westmorland & North Lancs. D.A. Facebook page.
Top: Raised beds out of concrete blocks. Bottom: Snowdrops
Our meetings are held at the Club Inn, Main St. Endmoor, Kendal, Cumbria LA8 0EU on the third Thursday of each month October through ‘til April. Further details: 015395 61053 jim.robinson45@hotmail.co.uk
Jim Robinson
West Yorkshire DA
In November we had our treasurer Mr. John Smiles giving us a talk on 50 years in horticulture. As always, we were entertained by John’s Geordie humour, so plenty of laughs along the way. His talk was very informative and interesting and covered many aspects from wildlife to the wide use of insecticides. Left a lot to the imagination and indeed plenty to think about, with ample time to answer questions from the floor. Thanks again John.
In December we did not have a speaker, but instead opted for a social evening including a garden-based quiz which was won by Peter Risdale & Co.!! It was a really enjoyable and fun evening on the run up to Christmas.
Our New Year and January meeting was our AGM with the officers’ annual
reports and the election of officers, which gave us two new members onto our committee. Julie Falkinder and Trina Duncan. Welcome aboard girls. We also had a question-and-answer session to our panel of experts!! Namely David Allinson, Peter Risdale, John Smiles and David Peel. Our members kept the panel busy with plenty of questions and a good night was had by all. We also had a few new people come to our meeting which is always welcome.
In February we are looking forward to welcoming Darren Myers who is our speaker on sweet peas. John Smiles has also got packs of leeks and onions for sale with all proceeds going to the society. Once again thank you John. We always welcome anyone to come along, we are a friendly bunch and there is always something to learn. Refreshments are served and we meet every second Tuesday of the month at Paxton Horticulture Society 186 Kirkstall Lane, Leeds LS5 2AB.
We are putting together a programme
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