Welcome to the SPAA Newletter for September!
Jobs for September
- Turn your compost heap, water if it’s dry and cover to keep warm.
- Harvest any remaining onions that are still in the ground and dry before storing.
- Ripen and pick tomatoes.
- Cut down asparagus, the tall feathery foliage will be starting to turn yellow so cut down to an inch above the ground.
- Earth up or stake Brussels Sprouts.
- Ripen pumpkins and winter squashes. Remove a few leaves so the sun that’s coming next week can get to the fruits. Keep watering and feeding until you harvest this month or next.
- Feed and trim celeriac, feed regularly with liquid manure and remove any old damaged leaves from around the stem.
- Harvest apples and pears. Pears can be picked while still slightly firm. Eat early season fruit now and store mid and late season varieties.
- Harvest sweetcorn when silks have turned brown or black but before our friendly mice get to them!
- Lift maincrop potatoes and store in the dark.
- Prune blackberries and hybrid berries. Cut out old canes after picking this years fruit. New non fruiting varieties should now be tied in in readiness for fruiting next year.
- Think about ordering new fruit trees and bushes for planting as bare roots in November.
- Collect seeds. Bean, pea, squash, pumpkin, melon and tomato seeds can all be saved, dried and stored ready to sow again next year.
Just a reminder that fees are due by 1st October. It’s very helpful to the committee for the earliest possible notice of intention not to renew. The fees are not being raised this year but may need to be next year especially if we have to use more external contractors to maintain the site.
A big thank you to John Cowdary for his work on drainage for the site, we plan to create a reed bed at the back of the sheds. The pond is already naturally filling and wildlife are moving in. We are hopeful that the spoil heap could grow wildflowers next year as it’s quite a mountain!
Thanks to those of you who have joined in the community spirit by helping at the working party, so much can be achieved by so few, just imagine if we had a huge turn out! Reg got the left over cake to take home after shredding his arms to pieces up a step ladder cutting all of the front hedge!
Next working party dates are
23rd September
21st October
18th November
If you can’t attend but would like to help you will find some ongoing jobs listed in the openable notice board in the carpark. Please check to see what you can do and take pleasure in crossing a job off the list! Also, if you think of something that does need doing, jot it on the list in the box.
Jane, the new Chair, is happy for any notes to be put into her pigeon hole in the shed if that is an easy means of communication for people or email on janeh990@hotmail.com
We also have the plotters’ whatsapp group if you would like to join that to keep in touch with other plotters.
Right, I’m sure that is far too much to be getting on with so enjoy autumn, which sounds like it’s going to be an Indian summer, and see you at the allotments.
Lucinda and the committee.