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.

The National Trust says it is to create 1,000 new allotments over the next three years on Trust-managed properties, such as farmland and unused areas of country house gardens. And, even across the pond, the Obamas are going to have some of the White House lawn ploughed up to make a vegetable garden where food will be grown for the family and staff. It will be about the size of a 4 rod plot (100 m²) and will include salads, vegetables to cook plus companion planting. You can see more on the White House website or The New York Times website.

In a London-wide competition to gain government funding for its boroughs’ local parks, Crane Park is one of ten to receive £400,000 each. FORCE (Friends of the River Crane Environment) said that the money will be used to open up parts currently inaccessible, improve footpaths, cycle paths and picnic areas, install more benches, signs and information areas, develop further the nature reserve on the island, deal with graffiti and rubbish and extend the park from Hounslow Heath towards Twickenham.

Two committee members attended an Allotment Site User Group meeting on 25 March. Administration of sites is now within the Parks and Open Spaces Department, headed by David Allister. The meeting’s main purposes were: to give information about the council’s intentions to reduce waiting lists; maintain stricter control over under-used plots; make more half plots; remap all sites; improve communication and the addressing of major concerns such as maintenance and safety; complete the new water system installations, which for us will hopefully mean that the toilet is connected to mains drainage in the summer.

Newly dug and raked earth looks wonderful — full of promise for the coming growing season. It offers a chance, repeated every spring, to try something new, rearrange the plot’s layout and relish the growth of permanent plants like fruit canes, bushes and trees. And perhaps this year there’ll be more sun!

Our whole site is also looking good. Virtually all plots are being tended and congratulations are due to all new and existing plotholders who have worked hard to bring into production plots that had been previously neglected.

The bays in the compost area in the NE corner had a tidy-up a few weeks ago by volunteers. Items which didn’t belong there — such as tree branches — were taken out and bonfired. Metal and plastic items were taken to the wheelie bin. QR Organic Compost Activator was watered on top of the full bays and they were covered with a permeable membrane. ‘Closed’ notices were put onto those bays and other notices were put up giving guidance on how the area can be best used, for example:

Please take account of them when you are disposing of waste from your own plot. If the area is properly used by everyone, the NE corner offers a chance to reduce the amount we send to landfill, work with nature in maintaining the cycle of growth and decay and, in time, return to our own plots compost to enrich our soil for new plants. You can’t get greener than that!

• For every UK allotment plot there are 30 applicants
• Allotment owners ‘save £950 a year’ growing their own

Allotment accessibility is declining as consumer interest grows

Demand for allotments has reached such heights that in one London borough would-be gardeners will be waiting 40 years for a patch of land, it emerged today.

Latest research commissioned by home insurer LV= (formerly Liverpool Victoria) also revealed that for every UK allotment plot there are 30 people waiting to get their hands on one - providing evidence of our recession-fuelled enthusiasm for homegrown produce and the desire of many city dwellers to embrace “the good life” by getting back to the land.

Applicants are typically looking at an average wait of three years, although in some areas it will probably be decades before these green-fingered hopefuls are finally able to harvest the fruits (and vegetables) of their labour.

The research named the London boroughs of Camden and Islington as areas where plot availability is particularly problematic, with waiting times estimated at up to 40 and 25 years respectively, suggesting that a Camden resident who registers for a plot after finishing university might just get to access to it by the time they retire.

— from The Guardian 2 June 2009

RICHMOND Council is considering measures to improve its allotment service and meet the growing demand for plots.

It will also be considering measures to ensure that people who hold allotments make reasonable use of them, as neglected plots would be welcomed by other residents who will appreciate and look after them properly. Cllr Jeremy Elloy, chairman of the Council’s overview and scrutiny committee, which will discuss a draft strategy for running allotments, on Wednesday 23 September, said:

“Allotments in Richmond upon Thames are hugely popular and as such we have waiting lists of residents who would love to have one. While most people who have plots take great care and make fantastic use of them, there are a small minority who don’t look after them allowing them to become overgrown and unused. This is unfair on so many folks in our borough who are clamouring to get a plot. We also know that some plot holders are simply unable to maintain their allotments as they used to, perhaps because of old age and infirmity.

Well, not quite yet. But MPs and others have commented recently that millions of tonnes of food waste have been going into landfill. That’s a shocking waste of the food itself, is a huge addition to the volume of waste and is a lost opportunity for composting it in order to return it to the earth. There is an EU target to halve the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill by 2013. If not met, Brussels could exact a fine of millions of pounds.

Over the last couple of years, a composting area has been established in the NE corner. Several bays, now covered, have received green waste from our plots. Gently stewing, it will in time turn into rich compost. It is hoped that two new bays will be opened soon.

However … however … If the area is misused, the wrong materials included, thick branches and twigs put in, waste left on the ground instead of put on top of the bays, indigestible things like glass, metal and plastic added, it won’t be compost - it will just be an earthy pile of rubbish. Unfortunately, in spite of hard work by a few people, and the information about the bays’ use given in our newsletter and on notice boards, this is what is happening. Though most people do use the bays properly, just a few don’t and their actions damage the whole area. It must be stressed, the NE corner is NOT a dumping ground. So now, the committee has proposed a number of guidelines towards encouraging a better use of the area. Some of these are given below. Your own ideas and comments are very, very welcome.

• Have at least one compost bin on your plot and put as much as possible into that. (See ‘Efficient On-plot Composting’ elsewhere in this newsletter.) The council is soon to make on-plot bins mandatory and the committee is ordering some inexpensive bins. (See ‘Do you need a bin?’ elsewhere in this newsletter.).
• Use the NE corner only for what you can’t put into your own bin. Don’t include plastic, polythene, metal, netting, glass. These go into the wheelie bin.
• Put material on top of a bay, not on the ground. If a bay is covered or roped off, it’s not to be used.
• Perennial weeds like bindweed, creeping buttercup and couch grass should not go into the bays. Put weeds into a plastic sack, turned inside out, on your plot and leave them to rot down in that.
• Shake off soil on roots so as little as possible goes into the bay.
• Despite the winter rain, the heaps are still dry inside. So every time you add anything, pour on a bucket of water. Buckets will be left there and there’s a nearby tap.
• Wood. Chop up thick twigs, branches, planks, etc. on your own plot. Last year, wood tied into bundles and left for people to take away for firewood was eagerly and quickly taken away. We will let you know later where the holding area for firewood bundles will be.

It is hoped that following these guidelines will improve the NE corner composting area for the benefit of everyone. And perhaps you could you give an hour or so occasionally to help maintain the area? Notices will be put up giving the dates of forthcoming working parties. Just turn up - your help will be much appreciated.

If you are clearing out a shed or garage, please don’t throw away items which someone else might find useful. Keep anything garden related to donate to our summer social event. If it’s difficult for you to store it, contact a committee member. It may be able to go into the garage.

We have arranged with the council to deliver some bins to the site. They will be size 330 litres, £12 each. Please add you name on the list in the Notice Boards