Spring is in the air, and it is now only just over two weeks until the first of our annual plant sales on May 2nd and 3rd. Many volunteers have been sowing seeds and nurturing seedlings and cuttings, to enable us to have a good range of vegetables, fruit and flowers to sell. The list to date includes : artichokes, beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, sprouts, spinach, sweet corn, calabrese, kale, courgettes, cucumbers, cornichons, pumpkins, squash, peas, sugar snap, dwarf beans, runner beans, broad beans, lettuce, tomatoes, chillies, peppers, chard, aubergines, rhubarb, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries - as well as herbs, companion plants, perennials and bedding plants. There are undoubtedly a few other items that I have forgotten as well!
After the trials of the last 9 months, we are hoping that, this year, we may be able to reach our target for fundraising, and we are in discussion with a number of different companies to see if we can afford to replace the much-missed, palatial hut! At the moment we are exploring the possibility of erecting a steel structure, although even this will involve obtaining planning permission, once again emptying and moving the green container and putting down a concrete base, before anything can be built! Nothing is straightforward, but we are obviously concerned to ensure that we make the right decisions, and achieve something which is an asset to the society and to the community, and which is as vandal-proof and fire-proof as possible.
With tis in mind, please try to support our plant sales in any way that you can. Obviously, your custom will be valued (even if you just buy a token plant) and it would be brilliant if you could also advertise the event to others. Additionally, any help that you can give over the weekends will be appreciated. The sales run from 9.30am until 2.30pm and we try to have a team of people to help with setting up (on the Friday), putting away (on the Sunday) as well as during the days, selling and generally fetching and carrying. We are always delighted to receive any donations of plants and seedlings, and cakes. If you think you might be able to help for an hour or two, or more, please feel free just to turn up, but if you are able to let us know in advance it would be helpful for us to be able to arrange a volunteer rota.
In the meantime, we still have a good supply of items such as compost, grow bags and slug pellets, and also have most of the range of stock that used to be available from the hut. A new stock of compost is expected this weekend, together with some runner bean seeds.
We hope to see you at the plant sales, if not sooner. Thank you for sticking with us!
Debbie x
