Page 16 - ALG Issue 1 2014 Digital Edition

Snippets
tips&titbits
BBC Two has announced that Fern Britton will present an exciting new series - Grow, Make, Eat: The Great Allotment Challenge.
Building on the tradition of the annual horticultural show with its competitions for jams, chutneys, fruits, vegetables and flowers, the six-part series will celebrate Britain’s love for gardening - and a good competition. It’s expected to air on BBC Two in early 2014.
Revival
Britain’s rich horticultural history is
being lost. More and more front and back gardens are paved over - for development, for parking spaces, or because families don’t have the time or inclination to manage these spaces.
The trend for easy-to-maintain lawns, patios and paving has also led to a decline in traditional gardens full of flowers, plants and trees to the extent that some of our most iconic flora and fauna have all but disappeared.
Step forward the BBC’s most-loved gardening experts, who
New TV shows – coming soon.....
Allotment Officers Training
APSE training, in conjunction with
the National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners Limited (NSALG) has been offering very popular one day training events for officers within local authorities involved in managing allotments; the next course is in Leeds on the 21 March 2014. For more details check out our web-page http:// www.nsalg.org.uk/allotment-info/ training-apse/
For more information on APSE contact Jan Kennedy: jkennedy@apse.org.
uk or 0161-772-1810(Office) or 07764- 252-107 (Mobile).
Bumper crop of retail
offers in this year’s
Complete Rewards
e-voucher booklet.
We hope you have all had the opportunity to take a look at the fantastic offers in the Winter 2013/14 edition of the Members’ voucher booklet.
The voucher codes within the booklet give members entitlement to discounts with some of the UK’s leading horticultural and leisure suppliers, including Waltons, Mantis, Kings Seeds, Compost Direct, Euro-bulbs, Avanti Holidays and many more. Visit the Members’ area of the website (www.nsalg.org.uk) and follow the links on the left hand side to access the voucher booklet. If you don’t have a login and password for the Members’ area please call 01536 266 576 and you will be supplied with them.
We are sorry to tell you that we are experiencing some technical difficulties with the membership cards that
we promised in the last edition of
the magazine, but we will keep you informed and let you know, as soon as possible, when you can expect them.
In a beautiful walled garden in Oxfordshire, nine pairs of passionate gardeners will test their green fingers and horticultural know-
how. Over four months,
the gardeners will have
meticulously planned,
planted and nurtured their allotments as they attempt
to harvest a crop of prized vegetables and fruits. Now
they’re ready to face the
experts and be put through
their paces in a series of
challenges.
Three experts will preside
over the proceedings, each an authority in their field: Growing Expert, Jim Buttress, brings his horticultural expertise; Floral Expert, Jonathan Moseley, will bring his eye and creative flair for arranging flowers, while Preserves Expert, Thane Prince brings an expertise in cooking and preserving.
In each episode the team that fails to impress our experts will hang up their gardening gloves and leave the allotment for good. Only one team can be crowned the winners of Grow, Make, Eat: The Great Allotment Challenge 2014.
BBC Two unveils a Great British Garden
are determined to turn us back into a green-fingered nation once again. In Great British Garden Revival, 14 of Britain’s top television gardeners including Monty Don, Carol Klein, Joe Swift and James Wong,– have come together on a joint mission to switch us back to being a population proud of its roses and
rockeries, hedgerows and herb gardens, water features and wildflowers.
In each episode, two presenters will focus on an endangered aspect of gardens about which they feel passionately, and offer hands-on, practical advice to viewers on how they can restore and look after their gardens. The series will feature episodes on cottage gardens, herbaceous borders, cut flowers, roof gardens, topiary, ornamental bedding, ponds and water features, fruit trees and kitchen gardens.
For updated information visit: www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/.
Now they’re ready to face the experts and be put through their paces in a series of challenges.
Easy Marrow and Ginger Jam
Peel, de-seed and grate a half pound marrow.
Put into a bowl with 3lbs of granulated sugar and let sit over night.
Following day – add 2oz of chopped stem ginger and some of the syrup with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Cook in 10 minute bursts in microwave on high for about 45–55 minutes or until it is thick and syrupy.
Pot up and keep in the refrigerator for up to one month.
Rosemary Smith
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