Sunday 20 November, 2.30-4.30pm
at the Turks Head’s Winchester Hall.
There is always a lot to learn about and discuss at the AGM. The past year has been a busy one for our site, for example - on the initiative of Paul Leonard, our new Chair, we have a new greenhouse whose bays can be booked for a season for a small charge; missing plot markers have been made and installed through the work of several volunteers; an incinerator for anyone’s use has been bought; we have a mobile phone. Also, the council is forging stronger links with its allotment sites and wants to know the views of holders. Rental fees are going up; should the council do more for us - what do you think? So, please come along, to listen, comment or question. And if you wish, contact Paul beforehand with any topic you’d like to raise.
11 October 2011 |
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Peter Jacques (plot 3) has won a prize in the annual competition run across all borough sites by the council for excellently well kept plots.
11 October 2011 |
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You may not have heard of him but gardeners owe a lot to the Reverend Stephen Hales. He is the father of plant physiology, and modern biology is built on many of his observations and experiments on living plants. Born in 1677, he was the curate of Teddington Church from 1709 to his death in 1761. Among his many discoveries he found that sap flows from roots to leaves (i.e., transpiration) and that leaves need light to grow and they absorb air (i.e., photosynthesis). His paper in 1719 to the Royal Society was ‘Upon the Effect of ye Sun’s warmth on raising ye Sap in trees’. Until his work on measuring sap pressure, velocity and circulation (inventing a trough to collect gases and gauges to measure pressure), it was thought that sap circulation was similar to that of blood in the body.
Continue reading "An 18th century virtuoso" »
11 October 2011 |
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Somewhere in the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, there are some very large islands, hundreds of square miles in area. Ocean currents swirl around them and the trade winds blow over them. But no one can visit or take a holiday there; there are no airports, or roads or buildings; they can’t even be walked on. They are made almost entirely of floating plastic rubbish. There’s some shipping and harbour rubbish, tyres and netting, but most of it is plastic - bags and sacks, bottles, flip-flops, toys, food containers, polystyrene packaging and polythene film, etc, etc - some of the detritus of our modern consumer culture.
Continue reading "New found lands?" »
11 October 2011 |
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We had hoped to open the bays for both depositing green waste and collecting compost from the base. However, as we started to prepare for this, it was found there is a population of stag beetles living there. (A few plot-holders have also found them on their plots.) These are a protected species so we have moved them elsewhere for their protection. (See the item below on the beetles.). So the bays may not open again until next year. When they do, please remember that the area is only for compostable green waste that you cannot deal with on your own plot. We have prepared guidelines and notices to remind everyone of how to treat this area.
11 October 2011 |
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While digging out well-rotted compost from one of the communal composting bays this summer, we came across some enormous grubs. Three inches long, with white bodies and orange heads they were buried deep within the compost. A knowledgeable member of the committee recognized them as larvae of the stag beetle, a globally threatened species, protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. These magnificent beetles are in serious decline and SW London is one of the few UK areas in which they are now found.
Continue reading "Stag Beetles and the Communal Composting Area" »
11 October 2011 |
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Are you mad about growing vegetables?
It’s GROW DAY at Kneller Gardens and we need you!
The Richmond Environment Trust is holding a Grow Day on July 10th at Kneller Gardens in Twickenham between 2pm and 5pm. There will be a cooking demonstration with local allotment produce, a barbecue, a seed planting table for children, and a variety of stalls providing information on sowing and growing. Currently we are looking for enthusiastic and knowledgeable vegetable growers to run some information stalls.
Continue reading "GROW DAY at Kneller Gardens - 10 July 2011" »
7 June 2011 |
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“…the council is suggesting allotment associations would take over the cost of maintenance and water costs, saving the council about £185,000.”
— from The Richmond & Twickenham Times, Richmond Council to scrap allotment and cemetery subsidies to raise £3m in revenue - Saturday 7th May 2011
7 May 2011 |
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Our social event will be on Sunday 19 June, from 12 noon onwards. As always, there will be a barbeque, drinks, good food and sales of plants, with everything at very reasonable prices. Will you start thinking now about keeping aside any tools, surplus garden-related items and equipment, seeds and plants to donate, please? Whatever you don’t want, someone else will. For the barbeque, bring any meat you wish to have cooked. Donations of all kinds of food - savouries, salads, cakes, desserts, etc - will be much appreciated. Bring on the day, or talk to a committee member beforehand.
28 April 2011 |
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Events
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Paul Leonard (plot 2) is the new Chair of the Allotments Association. Michael Thierens resigned at the 2010 AGM, and he was warmly thanked for all the work he had done during his six years tenure. Brenda Stevens resigned and a card was sent thanking her for her work.
There are photos of the committee members (including Fran Baylis, co-opted) on both the notice boards so it’s hoped that knowing who and where they all are will add to the friendly and cooperative atmosphere on the site. Please feel free to approach anyone with your comments, suggestions, offers of help and so on.
28 April 2011 |
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News
