Page 12 - ALG Issue 4 2014 Digital Edition

Snippets
tips&titbits
Cost Saving Ideas
Here are a few cost saving ideas that work for me and that I use on my allotment...
Manure
• I bag all of the manure from my chickens and after two months it is ready to use.
• I also collect horse manure from the local stables. The manure saves time and labour digging too in the long run as the mulch suppresses weeds.
• Liquid manure can be made from nettles. Put them in an old pair of tights and submerge them in a butt of water.
Pallets
• They make brilliant composters. All the weeds and vegetable waste make good compost each year and can be dug in.
Talk to your fellow allotment holders.
• I talk to the site reps and share experiences.
• Buying items such as netting from the
•
allotment shed is much cheaper. Some of your fellow experienced allotmenteers may offer you cuttings. I have grown some redcurrant bushes on my plot and rhubarb crowns from cuttings. I give as well as receive; this way everyone is a winner!
Sweet Pea growing advice from Kings Seeds expert Peter Miller
Sweet peas are a major part of Kings Seeds business; we offer fine seeds of over 150 individual colours and back that up with good, old-fashioned service and advice.
Seed sowing can begin in October, through to late February, but I find the optimum time is early November. Sow 5 seeds into a 7.5 cm deep pot, using a good seed sowing compost that is moisture retentive. Keep in a cold frame, cold greenhouse or polytunnel and always water with tap water not from the water butt. Finally, do not let them dry out but do not
over water.
In my experience I have found that
chipping and soaking the seeds is not necessary. When the plants have grown 3 pairs of true leaves, pinch out the tops to encourage side shoots for the promotion of greater flower production.
Harden off, prior to planting out in April (weather permitting) and feed with foliage or soil dressing at fortnightly intervals. Direct sowings during October or March can also be made in the flowering site.
Don’t forget to order your 2014/15 Kings Seeds catalogue. Call 01536 266576 or email natsoc@nsalg.org.uk for your copies.
Crop protection.
• Boil rhubarb leaves and add some soft soap, use to spray aphids.
Keep clean.
• I like to keep my tools oiled and my tiller clean – in the long run they will last longer.
Win!
• Enter the allotment magazine competitions; you never know! I
did and I won a jam, chutney and preserves book; it all helps. If you don’t know the answers ask someone who might.
Mr Gary Hartley- Eastleigh Southern Region
Gardens and War,
24 September 2014
till 5 January 2015
The Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace Rd, London, SE1 7LB.
This exhibition explores the relationship between these
two seemingly incompatible occupations; it also looks at how planting and garden-making introduced beauty and normality
in the most extreme places – at
the front and in the trenches of
both armies, and in internment
and prisoner of war camps. The exhibition will also look at the importance of flowers as symbols of home and remembrance.
The Wonder Allotments Project
This exhibition was a Transported photography project as part of
Pop Up Spaces: temporary art in unusual and unexpected places in Boston Borough and South Holland. Photographer Adelaide Carneiro undertook a short residency on the allotments of South Holland and Boston Borough during May and June 2014. Adelaide worked with the allotment users to celebrate
the allotments, the people using them and the food that they
create. The opening exhibition
was held on the 19th July 2014 at the Willoughby Road allotments in Boston, Lincolnshire and toured the allotments of Boston Borough and South Holland.
The book of photographs
can be seen at http:// transportedwonderallotments. tumblr.com.
Marple Potato Day
Sunday 8th February 2015,
10am – 3pm
Senior Citizens Hall, Memorial Park, Marple, SK6 6BA
Marple and District Allotment Association
For more information – www.marpleallotments.org.uk.
Sweet Pea growing advice
12