Page 52 - ALG Issue 4 2023

Eastern
SSALG at The Suffolk Show
The Suffolk Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners was again invited by the Suffolk Agricultural Association to build a stand at the Suffolk Show
– one of the largest shows in Eastern England.
The SAA provided a plot with raised beds in the flower tent, and members of Ipswich Allotment Association filled it with vegetable and flower plants that they had been nurturing since February.
As we are keen on growing as organically as possible, there were compost bins on the stand and Ipswich Association’s resident composting guru, Tom, was on hand to answer any questions and give advice. We also had a do-it-yourself wormery made with two storage boxes, and a handmade hedgehog home along with its resident.
Tom also had a display of some of his black and white photographs of plotholders on his allotment field. As
a result of having his photos on the stand last year, he was invited to exhibit some of them at Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, Art Gallery.
We had a very busy two days, with many people stopping to chat and ask questions. Some of these were old hands at allotmenting and some were new to it, and the children loved to look for the hedgehog and the robin. The Allotment magazines and leaflets that we had, flew off the table.
We were joined by plotholders from Lowestoft and Needham Market to help with the important task of informing the public about allotments and we thank them for their efforts.
All in all, it was a very successful show, with the stand winning a Silver Gilt award and an invitation to exhibit next year. Will SSALG be back next year? The committee sincerely hopes so, and with a little more support, we might be back winning Gold awards.
Pam Rushbrook, Secretary SSALG
Our Loan Shed
At Green Lanes Allotment site we have introduced a new ‘loan shed’. This is a shed with a combination lock the same as our gate code, so that anyone using the allotment site can borrow tools. This is proving very helpful for newbies to the site and in situations where people don’t have a shed on their plot. All of the tools in this shed have been donated or left by ex plotholders. They are mostly handheld tools and push lawn mowers but, for health and safety reasons, nothing mechanical.
52 Allotment and Leisure Gardener