Dear Plotters
There was recently an incident on site when a member became locked in due to the padlock becoming jammed whilst she was inside. Although this is probably a one off, you can now find a list of committee members’ phone numbers posted up in the shed and we are purchasing a bolt cutter which will be available to use in case of a future emergency. We still advise you to lock yourselves in if you find yourself the only person there.
May I remind all members that, under no circumstances, can hoses or water pipes be used on site, as this contravenes the Licence Agreement rules. Thank you.
Please also remember to compost your own waste, rather than put the weeds on the bonfire. An accumulation of soil deposits is raising the level again which makes it difficult to burn. Please only use the bonfire for dry brush and wood.
This month, you will be receiving your renewal for tenancy starting on 1st October. If you are thinking of giving up your plot, please could you let me know as soon as possible; there is a now a long waiting list for a plot!
There will be a Working Party on Saturday 11th September from 9.30am. Please come along to help out. The manure/chippings hoppers need repairing as well as the usual jobs of strimming, chopping, clearing and mowing! We shall also be raking the new gravel over the carpark area. Please bring the necessary tools with you. Thank you for helping us maintain the site.
A big thank you to Reg and Duncan (neither of them committee members) for cutting the front hedge. This was a big job and needed doing before the hedge became too woody to trim. We are very grateful to them both.
And finally, you can now find the Minutes of the AGM here on our website,
WHAT TO DO IN SEPTEMBER:
September is a month of harvests – and then tidying up the debris of finished crops! The season has been a strange one with dry periods, then too much rain and not a lot of sunshine. It’s amazing that anything has grown!!
There is not much that you can SOW at this time of year, other than winter lettuces, salad leaves, spring onions and spinach but you can PLANT OUT spring cabbage plants, cranberries, over-wintering onion sets and strawberries. Propagate your own from runners, planting the new baby plants into pots but leaving them attached to the mother plant.
HARVEST any remaining onions, leaving them to dry off before storing in a dry, cool place. Ripen and pick tomatoes. Help them along the way by cutting off all the lower leaves (especially if they are turning yellow). Help pumpkins and squash to ripen by trimming back some leaves. Continue watering and feeding them until harvesting them at the end of the month.
Sweetcorn cobs are usually ready for picking when the silks turn brown or black. Test by peeling back the outer leaves and digging a thumbnail into a kernel. If the juice is milky, not clear, the cob is ready for eating. Lift your main crop potatoes by the end of the month. As the stems and leaves die off, cut them off with a sharp knife, leaving 2cms of stem above ground. Lift them on a dry day.
JOBS FOR SEPTEMBER:
– Cut down asparagus ferns when the leaves turn yellow
– Turn your compost heap with a fork to aerate it
– Feed and trim celeriac
– Sow green manure on cleared beds to prevent weeds from taking over again
– Prune out old blackberry canes and tie in the new ones.
– Lift sweet potatoes and turnips
– Pick aubergines while their skins are still glossy
– Check apples, pears and plums for brown rot and destroy infected fruit.
See you at the Working Party, if not before!
Best wishes
Claire Hamilton