Cavendish Allotments

2×2 Opera returns with its fourth production later this month with Keith Cheetham’s 70 minute adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen. Once again, the production draws on the talents of children and young people from local schools both on and off stage. Schools taking part this year include St Stephen’s, Orleans Park, Waldegrave, Hampton, Putney High, and Esher College.

However, help is needed!

We would like to revive this as an information exchange point. Anyone can put up a postcard-sized notice - plants offered, seed swaps, requests, etc. Include the date and your plot number.

Also, you might have noticed, the board itself is in bad shape. If anyone is able to either repair or replace it, please contact a member of the committee. We have requested a new one from the council but don’t know if/when we will get one. Information such as when compost delivery is made is put on to it.

Each year, the council asks each site (17 in Richmond borough) what essential maintenance they need. Last year, all sites had a survey of their water systems to meet new water regulations, one had site clearance and the provision of extra plots, and five had works such as fencing repair and replacement undertaken, at a total cost of £385117.00. (This is not the overall total the council spends on allotments as there are other costs such as refuse collection, rodent control, etc.)

Cavendish House requests for this year (not in priority order) are:

• Tree surgery - pruning or removal of some on the site and those overhanging from neighbouring gardens.
• Installation of a new noticeboard.
• Removal of the solidified pile of scalpings from the car park.
• Widening of the pathway to the car park to allow wheelbarrow and wheelchair access.
• Repair of car park entrance gates. Last year, none of our specific requests were granted.

This year, we will know (probably in early summer) whether we will have anything this year.

We are pleased to welcome on to the committee two new members, Peter Mahnke and Harald Molgaard. If you have any comments on any aspect of the allotments, or contributions or comments for the newsletter, please speak to any committee member.

• Michael Thierens - Chair (plot 16)
• Rosemary Fulljames (plot 4a)
• Peter Mahnke (plot 15a)
• Harald Molgaard (plot 24)
• Anne Neville - Newsletter editor (plot 16b)
• Brenda Stevens (plot 30)
• Ann Warrington (plot 28a)

Any comments and contributions will be greatly appreciated, so please email the editor, Anne Neville, on: apneville@btopenworld.com.

1. Please always lock the gate, after you enter and when you leave. A plot-holder recently had a wheelbarrow stolen and two others lost garden chairs. It’s not known how this happened, but we do need to be security conscious.
2. Please don’t put waste like glass, wood, old carpets, etc. by the bin. The council will not take it away, it looks unsightly and could be dangerous.
3. Please, parents, although it is very good to see children taking part in allotment life, do make sure they don’t go onto other people’s plots. Children’s safety is always your own responsibility.

We have received a delivery of straw bales, courtesy of Percy Chapman and Sons in Twickenham. These got rained on recently and started to smell a bit so they couldn’t sell them fro pet bedding.

But they are perfect for laying under strawberries or courgettes, etc. Just help yourself from the car park, and do support this friendly, family garden shop, which is by the railway bridge in Colne Road.

We have also received our third lorry load of wood chip from the council which plot-holders can use for pathways. But, again, we recommend that you don’t use it as a general mulch - it is green timber and will take nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes.

The Twickenham Gardening Association organises a number of coach trips, one Sunday a month at very reasonable cost, on which they welcome visitors. Pick-ups are between 9 and 9.30 am in Twickenham and Whitton and all venues have cafes and picnic areas. For further information, contact Shirley Tubridy, the secretary, on 020 8894 3512. The current visits programme includes Eastbourne, Herstmonceaux Castle and Waterperry Gardens. Members of the TGA can use their trade centre in Meadway, near Twickenham Green, which is open Saturdays and Sundays, 10.30-2.30 and sells seeds, plants, fertilizers, composts, canes, sundries, etc.

There is a joining fee for the TGA of 25p and the annual fee is £2.00 for adults and £1.50 for senior citizens. Contact Shirley Tubridy.

The last newsletter had an item about organic gardening. The committee wishes to encourage organic practice and several people are sympathetic to the idea. But, as Stephen Alexander (plot 30A) pointed out, how can you deal with invasive perennial weeds like bindweed and couch grass? The advice from Garden Organic is given below. However, if you do wish to use chemical means, there are some options without having to do a widespread spray.

• Put some systemic weedkiller into a wide-necked bottle, dip into it the tips of the trailing shoots (as many as you can find). The solution will travel through the plant’s nervous system (the fluem) back to the roots.
• For each emerging plant, while it is still quite small, put a plastic bottle with the base cut out over it and spray weedkiller into the top. This confines the spray to just that plant.
• The RHS gardens at Wisley have a good solution - they put canes alongside emerging bindweed to allow it to grow up the cane then paint the leaves with a systemic weedkiller.

You may think we wouldn’t want to encourage birds but some, such as bluetits, finches, nuthatches, sparrows and wrens (all of them common on our allotments, eat huge numbers of aphids. Put up a bird feeder with nuts and seeds and a dish of fresh water to encourage them. Michael Thierens (16) has a number of feeders plus a bird bath and this year his plot is virtually free of greenfly.

This year our open day and social event is on Sunday, 1^st July and — something different — from noon to about 4pm we are having a barbeque, plus a sale of plants, tools and other items. Please come to it and bring some food to cook and share, or something to accompany it, such as salad or savouries, or desserts such as tarts, cakes, puddings or fruit. Soft drinks and water will be provided (cheaply) but anything else in a bottle will be greatly appreciated.

Do you have anything you can donate which is gardening-related and saleable — plants (for garden and house), books, tools, etc? There is a sheet on the noticeboard with time slots if you would be willing to help. We are hoping also to have some events for children. Could you or someone you know help to organise something? Please see the noticeboard.

The gates will be open from noon. Members of the public who wish to look round and buy will be welcome but, as the waiting list is now closed, no new plot-holders can be taken on.

Jack, who had plot 15 for many years, has died aged # As a tribute, we asked his stepsons Richard & Simon Warren to write a few words.

“Jack trained as a market gardener but moved to the Civil Service for a reliable income. He loved working on his allotment and reaping the delicious rewards. He firmly believed in home-grown natural fresh produce, and liked nothing better than vegetables straight from the allotment. It was on the allotment that Jack met our mother. Helped by his Christian beliefs, our stepfather engaged in many charitable works. For many years he did voluntary work for the United Nations, CND and Amnesty, campaigning for peace and combating world poverty ‘ì after his death we found all the letters he had treasured from the Thirld World children whose educat ion he had sponsored. He was also a tireless campaigner on environmental issues, such as global warming and supermarket packaging.”

Congratulations again to John and Nichole (17 & 17a) who, at this year’s council awards, were joint winners for best allotment plot in Twickenham

In August, a random selection of plotholders were asked what had done well for them this year and what had not been so good.

‘Chard has been good, but I’ve had no success, this year or previously, with swedes. They need a heavy clay soil, which we don’t have.’

— Sonny Henbest (1)

‘I’ve had good beans, runner and french, and leeks, marrows, courgettes and gherkins. But tomatoes got blight and carrots didn’t germinate.’

— John Sutcliffe (31)

‘Squashes, chard, raspberries and strawberries (in growbags) have all been very good. Onions not so good, though the sets went in rather late. Peas had a very low yield although I put them in as strong seedlings and they were well protected.’

— Ron Williamson (12a)

‘I had some very good French organic potatoes called Roseval, from the Chase Organics catalogue. Swiss chard and beetroot have been good, but courgettes and tomatoes weren’t.’

Sue (20)

‘Good crops were parsnips (raised in pots and planted out), sweet peas, sunflowers, beans and spinach. The second sowing of carrots was good. Not so good were red onions and squash. Tomatoes didn’t get blight but the yield wasn’t high.’

— Rachel (looking after 27 for Carol Rapley)

‘I had a good crop of plums but the parakeets started eating them! I now put only seeds in my bird feeders since nuts attract the parakeets.’

— Michael Thierens (16)

‘Strawberries were excellent — I started picking them before Wimbledon. Autumn-fruiting raspberries also — from just a few canes I’ve had pickings every few days since July. After two years of virtual failure with carrots, this year’s were good, though I had to make several sowings as many didn’t germinate. I tried several kinds of peas and the only ones which produced were Sugar Snap from Wyvale. Most tomatoes got blight – next year I will spray them with Dithane or Bordeaux Mixture.’

— Anne Neville (16b)

According to The Guardian weather reports, this summer has been the wettest for over 35 years, and the gastropod molluscs of the order Stylommatophora have loved it. It is estimated that the slug population has almost doubled. But there is a natural biological control, applied as a drench watered into the soil, called ‘Nemaslug’. Now is a good time to use it – and again next spring. Details from www.greengardener.co.uk.

Some people believe they are assisted by an angel – their guardian angel. Cavendish House allotments has been offered its own angel – a gardening angel.

Laureen Bulmer wants to offer a helping hand – without any payment (but perhaps a little produce) – to plot-holders who need a little extra assistance. Do you need your crops watering or picking when you are away? An extra pair of hands to help with putting up supports and netting? Help with the end of season clear-up? Laureen says, ‘Agriculture is in my background – my grandfather was a farmer. I love the whole ethos of allotments and growing things and I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. But, even if I could get a plot, I doubt if I’d be able to maintain it. Perhaps I could assist with some of the tasks needed, for the pleasure of being outside and of helping to grow things.’ Laureen works part time and would be available for an hour or two during the day, weekdays or weekends.

Contact her initially via Anne Neville, email: apneville@btopenworld.com or telephone 020 8891 2899.

We look forward to a productive partnership!

Our noticeboard is falling to bits! A request was made to the council but all funds are going to updating the water supplies to all sites. However, the council tells us that they will supply £50 towards the costs of materials. So, is there a kind plot-holder who would be willing to make a new one? The supports apppear to be strong, so just a solid wooden frame and an opening perspex door is needed. If anyone is keen, please contact Michael Thierens (16).

Residents who want allotments are being told that they will have to wait years.

Even those allotments which until recently had unused plots, like Markhole in Hampton, are now heavily over subscribed.

Vincent Cable was highly critical of Hounslow council which has displaced Richmond as well as Hounslow residents from a popular site in Whitton Dene on somewhat dubious grounds of ‘contamination’. The site sits empty. Vincent Cable said: “residents and I protested over the closure years ago. The grounds were never properly explained. No risk assessment was ever done. The site is now empty”.

“Yet we now have people queuing for years for an allotment. The current enthusiasm for home grown, organically produced, food has enhanced the demand”.

— from Vince Cable

The water works has started and should be finished by early next week.

Look for the red paint marks to see where the new stand pipes will be.

The old water butts will no longer be fed directly from the water mains and will have to be refilled by hose. The old standpipes will no longer work.

The mains pressure will be increased, so watering should be quicker.

Toni Francis has kindly agreed again to organise the purchase of seed and sundries from the catalogue of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners. There’s a very wind range, the seeds are of good quality and are cheaper than in the shops.

To join the scheme, you need to pay £1.75 to Toni for membership of the NSALG and can then obtain the catalogie (available in November — and at our AGM) from her.

Contact Toni at plot 4 or on 020 8287 5120. Your order needs to be with her before 31 January 2009.

The committee feels it would be useful to have a second notice board. Plot holders at the car park end of the site, and those who always enter through the car park gate, often don’t go down to the other gate and so miss seeing information displayed there. We will therefore obtain another board and put it on the garage wall.

During the Autumn, we hope to have a big blitz on the NE corner. This is intended to be an area for composting, with bays built of pallets and posts. As the bays fill up, they will be kept damp and covered and, eventually, rotted down compost will be available.

However, this can’t happen unless only compostable material is deposited. therefore, please, please don’t put branches, thick twigs, woody stuff like cabbage stalks, etc. Burn infected material like blighted tomato plants as the blight spores aren’t killed by the composting process.

The work of a few volunteers over the summer has been appreciated but it is now necessary to have some paid help in order to get further work done. However volunteer help is always welcome though — perhaps during the winter when there is less to do on the plot. We will discuss this further at the AGM.