ALLOTMENT NEWSLETTER

SAVE £££s – AUTUMN SEED SCHEME

• NSALG seed catalogues and our own seed potato & onion set order forms are now available.

• Potato & Onion Set Orders must be placed by 24 October.

• Seed orders can also be placed online. Orders received by 14 November generate extra commission for the association.
  Contact Phil Hickley for more details.

PICNIC ON THE PLOT

A big thank you to everyone who joined us at the Pound Lane Allotment Site on Saturday 26 July!

• Fun activities included bingo and outdoor games.

• The Scarecrow Tavern kept spirits high with Real Ale, Wine, and soft drinks.

Special thanks to Dennis, Martyn, and all volunteers for making the event a success.

THE HUT

• Opening times: Saturdays, 10am–12 noon (September–end of October).

• Possible Sunday openings if a committee keyholder is on site (check the noticeboard).

• Closed: Saturday 6 September (Annual Flower & Produce Show).

• Surplus plants and vegetables available throughout the week.

PLOTS

• The site is currently full.

• To join the waiting list, please complete the form on our website.

• The Site Manager will contact you when a plot becomes available.

GUIDE TO GARDENING – SEPTEMBER

Veg Plot

• Begin winter digging.

• Plant spring cabbage & Japanese onion sets (order via our seed form).

• Sow: hardy salad onions, red cabbage, parsley, lettuce & carrots (cloche in October).

• Start lifting late potatoes before wet weather sets in.

• 25kg potato sacks and veg/onion bags available at the Hut.

Fruit

• Apply grease bands/fruit tree grease.

• Pick soft fruit, tie in new shoots.

• Remove fruited canes & feed with potash.

• Prune apples, pears, peaches, plums, damsons.

• Order new plants (consider autumn raspberries).

Greenhouse

• Remove shading.

• Take cuttings (shrubs, heathers, geraniums, fuchsias).

• Feed tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers & aubergines weekly.

• Remove yellowing leaves from tomatoes to aid ripening.

• Plant strawberry runners in pots for an early spring crop.

• Sow carrots, beetroot, radish & spring onions in pots for winter harvest.

Flowers

• Plant spring bulbs (pots or beds).

• Remove summer bedding after frost → compost bin.

• Dig beds & feed with chicken pellets.

• Plant wallflowers, sweet williams, polyanthus & pansies by mid-October.

• Mulch borders, divide & transplant rock plants.

• Prepare heather beds (dig in peat & bone meal).

Lawns

• Re-seed worn areas.

• Aerate & scarify.

• Apply sharp sand & autumn feed (with selective weed killer).

• Control moss: lawn sand or iron sulphate solution.

• Mow at medium height.

Reminder: All horticultural products are available to members via our Hut.