Page 18 - ALG Issue 1 2014 Digital Edition

Young Horticulturist of the Year Competition
This exciting opportunity for young people studying and employed within
the horticulture industry got under way in 1985 and is now an established feature of the Institute of Horticulture’s annual events calendar, taking place at colleges and work places across Great Britain and Ireland.
Regional organisers from the eight branches of the Institute run the first two rounds of the competition. The first rounds, the local heats, are based on multiple choice questions asked through an MS PowerPoint Presentation. The questions, taken from every aspect of horticultural science and practice, test the contestant’s breadth and depth of knowledge. Heats take place during January and February and have attracted upwards of 2000 contestants in previous years.
The best eight from the heats in each
region then take part in a Regional Final, usually during March, with a broad range of horticultural questions and identification tests to find the eight top contestants.
These worthy winners move on to compete at the Grand Final, usually held during April or May. At the Grand Final,
and the Regional Finals, a question master asks a wide range of horticultural questions and the finalists answer using a buzzer - like University Challenge - in front of a live audience. The 2014 Grand Final is on 10 May at the John Innes Centre in Norwich.
The winner receives a £2000 Percy Thrower Travel Bursary provided by the Shropshire Horticultural Society, the
main sponsor of the competition. This funds a horticultural tour anywhere in the world. With over £10,000 worth of prizes given across the regions and nationally, contestants can win considerable sums of
money as well as the prestige of winning and taking part.
Potential contestants, below the age of 30 on July 31st in the year of the competition, can find out more and try out questions from previous competitions by visiting the Young Horticulturist of the Year pages on the Institutes website: www.horticulture.org.uk.
The national sponsors of the 2014 competition are: the Shropshire Horticultural Society, who, through the Percy Thrower Trust, provide the £2,000 Travel Bursary for the winner, the recruitment company More People, The Garden Centre Group, the Research and Development levy body the Horticultural Development Company (HDC) and Bulldog Tools.
Contact: ioh@horticulture.org.uk.
10 things to do with a pallet
Pallets are everywhere and in November you may see a lot of them contributing to bonfires on bonfire night. However, pallets have many uses outside the original requirement, which is to provide a stable base for stacked products to be used by a forklift truck. It started out life as a box, and then the sides were taken off to enable quick manipulation of the contents. Now ‘sides’ are put on again by the use of shrink-wrap plastic.
For allotment users, a pallet can be used for shed building, raised
beds, planter boxes, seed boxes, table, stool, seat, step, shelving or framing.
The best types of
pallets are 8’ pallets
used by board
suppliers, such as
Gypsum Industries for
their hardboard panels.
These are made up of 4 x (4" x 1") x 8' boards, 4 x (5" x 1")" x 8' boards and 5 x (4" x 4") x 4' posts.
By careful dismantling, it is possible to dismantle one in 8 minutes with no broken boards and about 100 straight nails. I will demonstrate this in the next issue.
The main consideration when using a pallet is treating it with a wood preservative. Use a good one for long lasting results. Once you have your boards, the next thing is to plan your use. What do you fancy? A planter box? A raised bed? A stool? A table?
Looking through garden brochures or a visit to a garden centre will give you ideas of what you can make. Seeing a small planter box in
a garden centre for £25 will quickly give you the enthusiasm to try it yourself. Even a stool that acts as a seat or a small table that is easily moved from place to place is worth it. Making a raised bed frame is the easiest to achieve, as it requires 4 sides and 4 posts.
By Alex Mullins
Southern Regional Rep and Joint Chairman
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