Crosspool Open Gardens 2019

Crosspool Open Gardens 2019 

Vegetable & Bedding Plant Sales

Ready & Weighting

The hut is now bursting at the seams with our winter delivery, and this comes as an urgent call to please collect your orders of potatoes and oniony stuff as soon as possible.  We are now open oth Saturday and Sunday mornings from next weekend.

 

If you are still thinking about making your purchase of potatoes and oniony stuff, we suggest that you do not delay!  We will be pleased to give you a conducted tour of what we have – most varieties are still available, but you need to get a move on!   

 

Many thanks, also, to the valiant band of volunteers who turned up on Friday to help with the unloading, and making up the orders.  Your help was much appreciated

The weight is over......almost

It’s a fine crisp day at the moment, but I will not waffle on… 

This Fryday, January 25^th,  we will be wedging the door open to receive our delivery of seed potatoes, onions, shallots etc, heralding the start of our 2019 allotment and garden growing season.   As always, this email comes as an invitation to all members to don your jackets and to come and join us as we chip away at unloading the lorry, and then to process the sacks of spuds.  Extra sets of scales are always welcome to help relieve the crush, and to ensure that we do not make too much of a hash of things.

 

Delivery : due at 9, so arrival by 8.45 is helpful.

Kettle: bubbling and squeaking from 9.15.

Cake: still in the recipe book at the moment

Weighing and packing: 9.30 onwards, and probably done by 11.

 

All orders should be available to collect on SUNDAY JANUARY 27^th, between 9.30 and 12.30.  Please note that we have been advised by our supplier that shortages of both seed potatoes and onion sets have been widely reported this year.  We are hopeful that we will be able to supply all of our orders, but, at this stage, we  are unable to guarantee that all varieties will actually be available in the quantities that we have requested.  Obviously we will do our very best to please as many members as we can.

 

If you have not placed an order yet, there will be plenty of potatoes available to purchase on Sunday, and we suggest that you hot-foot it to the hut as soon as you can to make your selection.  The same obviously applies to onions, shallots, garlic and other stuff!

 

From February 2^nd, we should also be opening on Saturday mornings as well as Sundays, 9.30 -12.30 as usual.

 

And finally, don’t forget to join our bucket list.  John and Malcolm will be striving to retain their potato-growing crowns, and we hope that you will harness that surge of potato-envy productively this year.  A spot of water during the growing season also helps, apparently…  Yes.  We are proud to announce the continuation of our annual potato in a bucket competition (year 2!) and hope you will give it a bash.  A mere 3.50 sterling will secure you a free bucket, and 2 potatoes of a particular variety that we will keep a secret!  (My computer refuses to do pound signs any more.  Sorry!)  If you purchased a competition bucket last year, we are currently discussing a discount option! 

Malcolm has produced some helpful growing hints (or so he says…) and we hope to get these onto the blog spot shortly.

 

Hope to see you on Fryday if you are free.

 

Debbie

(on behalf of the slightly tatty volunteer team)

The weather outside is frightful....

but our fire is so delightful…

 

And so this heralds our annual invitation to you to join us for a festive cuppa and a mince pie or two (or a less Christmassy cake, or sausage roll or vol au vent ), next weekend – December 23^rd – between 9.30am and 12.30pm. We will be celebrating the season in our traditional way in the Society Hut, and the tea and coffee will be flowing throughout the morning, along with good cheer and our usual riveting conversation.  In addition to the excitement of the beverages, we hope, also, to be able to crown our two potato growers of glory, and lavish them with a certificate and a round of applause. They will probably be signing autographs.

 

We very much hope that you will be able to join us, and that you will be able to make the most of this opportunity to pick up some stocking fillers from our extensive range of baubles and trinkets (… well growbags, pelleted chicken manure and items from our slug slaying range).  If you find that you are free, please come along at any time during the morning.

 

Seasons Greetings!

 

Free greenhouse for collection

FREE!!!
"We have a greenhouse we no longer require and would like to donate it to a good home - see attached photos.  We don’t want any money for it but would require anyone who wants it to come and dismantle and remove it as soon as possible.  We are in Crosspool"

Sunday best

We will not be dressing up especially, but this is to remind you that the Allotment Society Hut will be embarking on its annual (partial) hibernation as from now.  The volunteer team are already making plans for Saturday morning duvet parties (which will not be taking place at the hut…) but we will still be very pleased to see you on Sunday mornings, when we will be open for business as usual.  Our opening hours remain as 9.30am -12.30pm, and the fire and kettle should be on the go at most times in between.  The cake makers are beginning to limber up for festive offerings, and a rumour of a swiss-roll-off has been circulating.  Such simple pleasures.

For those of our members who may regards themselves as more serious gardeners, there is still time to place an order for potatoes etc, and we still have one or two bags of autumn planting onions and garlic available if you’re quick.  The merchandiser has been freshly stocked with Mr Fothergill seeds, and we are able to offer a discount on purchases costing more than a tenner.  This also applies to items which are not in stock, but which we may be able to order for you.

In spite of the current drought-like conditions, many local allotment holders are choosing to cover their plots during the winter season, to protect the soil from the inevitable deluges, to minimize the loss of nutrients, and to suppress weeds.  Should you be considering this option, we have a number of different ground cover materials in stock.

Our autumn work parties have failed to get going yet, but the time is nigh!  Depending on the weather, Saturday November 10^th is looking like a possibility.  If you are interested in helping doing a bit of cutting back and tidying up, and are likely to be free, please let us know.

So, we will now be closed on Saturdays, until the excitement of the potato delivery drags us from our beds towards the end of January.  Not to mention the second annual potato in a bucket competition