Elder Stubbs Charity Allotments2018 Newsletter - Winter Edition

A Happy New Year to Everyone at Elder Stubbs and wishing you an excellent and productive growing experience for 2018!

Welcome to this years Newsletter and please note the Rental Payment details and Tenancy updates are on the additional pages.

The photograph below shows Edmund standing next to a really impressive sunflower grown by the Restore Team. They were the worthy winners last year of the Clerks Cup for their excellent team effort in creating a very well organized and tidy growing area.

There was also a recognition made of the wonderful contribution that Andy Little has made over the years through his creation of the dinosaur sculpture area. This has been a magnet for people during our Festivals and also for visitors and tenants to enjoy what is a splendid artistic display. Trustees agreed to award Andy a lifetime free tenancy for his creative space. I wonder if the featured dinosaur is Andy’s version of “Angel of the North”.

News from 2017: We appeared on the whole to have had a reasonable growing season judging by some great quality vegetables, flowers and fruit that were brought for display at our Vegetable Show during The Festival. A big thank you to everyone who participated and brought items to exhibit and also to the many people who gave us assistance to assemble our marquee, organise the show, auction display items and put everything away at the end. It appears as a mammoth undertaking but greatly helped by everyone who lent a hand, adding greatly to the enjoyment of the day too!

The Festival was well attended and ran really well which is a testament to the hard work of all the Restore staff, members and volunteers.

Our Open Meeting was also well attended and it was great to have an update on news from James Downs of Restore and Guy Scotece of The Porch – Steppin’ Stones.

Every season has its growing challenges and last year many tenants had problems with onion and leek white root rot. It is worth noting that this is a persistent problem where it has occurred and no members of the onion family should be grown in the same affected area for at least 5 years. It is important that affected crops are not included in your compost!

Keeping Elder Stubbs looking good – We need your help!Dumping rubbish and weeds/compostable waste has become a big problem. The woodland area in particular will need us to order a skip at a cost of over £200 to clear rubbish that has been dumped there.If you have rubbish which you have brought to your plot you are responsible for disposing of it in a responsible way. If you see anybody dumping rubbish it would be helpful if you can let the responsible person know that it is not acceptable and if they are not willing to be co-operative please let us know.Dumped weeds in the woodland will require a number of days work to remove to a more suitable place.

Unwanted potato crops: If you have grown potatoes that are diseased or just left in the ground. It is your responsibility to dispose of them.

Grateful thanks to our volunteers! We have been wonderfully supported by a number of volunteers over the past season and it has made it a great team effort in attending to all the many maintenance tasks around the site. If this might be of interest you are welcome to join us. You can have your name added to our weekly Email information about details of what we will be focussing on.

Site maintenance around your plot: It will help us a great deal if you can keep weeds off the paths which saves our time when mowing and keeps the grass in a better state of health.Please use a marked line when tidying the edge of your plot. A straight and tidy edge to your plot will save us time when we are strimming, and it looks good too!. Long handled edging shears or a rechargeable strimmer are useful tools.

Site Security: Please do not keep any inflammable materials and matches inside your shed. This will help to reduce the risk of arson.Sheds do on occasion get broken into so it is not advisable to store anything of value inside your shed.Please keep Phil and Edmund informed if you have anything stolen from your plot or if you notice damage.

It has probably had some positive effect to have our signs on each gate letting people know that Elder Stubbs is protected by surveillance cameras.

We do make use of a battery-operated surveillance camera which has helped us to identify who is responsible for some thefts that have taken place around the site and also who might be responsible for dumping rubbish.

Dates for your diary:

February 25th: 10am – 1pm. Volunteer Session – Pruning communal fruit areas, Coppicing Hazel which could be a chance for you to pick up some bean poles.

March 24 & 25th: Rental payment at Elder Stubbs 10-11am.

March 24 & 25th: 10am – 1pm volunteer session. Litter collection from around the site.

Saturday August 18th: Elder Stubbs Festival and Vegetable Show. Details nearer the time.

Tuesday late September: Elder Stubbs Open Meeting. Details nearer the time.

Estate Manager: Phil Creme Telephone 07944417289 E-mail info@elderstubbscharityallotments.orgAddress: Wychwood House, Winter Lane, West Hanney, Wantage, Oxfordshire OX12 0LF

Assistant Estate Manager: Edmund Faria Telephone 07884 318464

Website: www.elderstubbscharityallotments.org

Newsletter produced by Phil Creme