Whetstone Stray Allotments Newsletter October 2016
October Newsletter
RENTS ARE DUE THIS MONTH
Don’t forget to come to the Trading Hut, any Sunday in October (10:00-12:00) to pay your rent for the coming year, starting this Sunday.
We are also changing the lock to the gate, and will give the new keys out during rent collection. There will be no charge for the new key to anyone who has already paid the £10.00 deposit.
For details of how much rent to pay, click here to see Renting a Plot.
Please remember that we can only accept cash and cheques.
The Trading Hut will also be open on Saturday October 22nd, 10:00-12:00, for rent payments. If you are not able to make any Sunday this month, or Saturday 22nd October, please get in touch to let us know as soon as possible.
As always, your cooperation in getting our rents paid into the Bank during October, is greatly appreciated. Any plots which are not paid for by the end of the month, will be considered to be given up, and may be shown to those on the waiting list from November.
Annual Show, September 2016
Many thanks to Alice and Cristina for organising the children’s activities. It was wonderful to see the children enjoying crafts and nature, and we hope this will become a regular feature of the Annual Show.
Thanks also to Alice, Marie, Dianne, Les and Allison for the cakes and scones, and to all those who took part in setting up and taking down the Show. The Show is a joint effort by everyone involved, which was led this year by Committee Secretary Dianne.
Best Kept Plot was awarded to Maria, who has had a very productive plot for over 30 years. She is very knowledgeable, generous with her advice, and has saved seed from Italy which is no longer available there. Best New Plot went to Maggie whose abundant plot shows how much can be achieved with a lot of compost and an eye for beauty.
For more pictures click here to view our Flickr collection.
You can also find a picture of Maia, who had a great time assisting at Nighat’s Bee Talk, and tried out bee keepers equipment!
Whetstone Stray Facebook
Facebook users, check out the Facebook page for great pics and comments by plot holders! Or just type in whetstone stray allotments in the Facebook search bar.
Apple Day
Bring your apples to the Trading Hut on Saturday 22nd October to make your own delicious apple juice with our new Apple Press! If you have spare apples please let us know as these can be used by the Community Plot group to make apple juice if you don’t have time to do it yourself.
Community Plot Update
Royal Mencap will be providing funding for a group of people with learning disabilities to work on making the Community Plot ready, including digging a pond and making paths and raised beds. The group will meet every Thursday afternoon for 10 weeks from October. If you would like to help out in any way, please let us know.
Working Party
There will be a work party on Saturday 29th October, in which we hope to finish cutting back this year’s growth along the main drive, and to extend the vehicle access to the end of Field 3, providing more parking space for Field 2 and 3. All plot holders on Field 3 are particularly encouraged to turn out for what should be a good day with the usual delicious lunch provided.
Bonfires
Bonfires are now allowed after 4pm on any day this month.
Shop
The shop will close at the end of October.
Jacquie’s tips for October
If you are planning on overwintering broad beans and / or peas, you can either sow them direct, or start them in pots now.
Autumn planted onion and shallot sets can be planted in October, but inspect them regularly because the birds love to pull them out!