Allotment and Leisure Gardener Issue No 4 • 2010 Gardeners’ Health page 18 Competition page 20 Any questions page 31 National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners PROTECT PROMOTE PRESERVE £2 15 Kg (40Ltr) Bag £3.95 + vat delivered 100% ORGANIC FERTILISER PRODUCED FOR OVER 25 YEARS, COMPOSTED, MILLED AND OVEN HEATED AT OVER 200O C TO PRODUCE A SAFE AND ECONOMICAL PRODUCT ONE BAG WILL TREAT UP TO 250 SQUARE YARDS PELLETED CHICKEN FERTILISER • EASY TO SPREAD • CONCENTRATED • One or two handfuls per sq.metre for vegetables, soft fruits, flowers A dissolved handful in one gallon of water for an excellent liquid feed Scatter a handful on each layer of garden waste to enrich the compost Ideal for lawn feed at a handful per sq. metre 8 Kg bucket from e: [email protected] 20 Kg bag from £3.50 + vat delivered www.groworganic.org £5.95 + vat delivered Send orders to: Please send me:- 66 Bags of Groworganic @ £3.95 plus vat per bag ORGANICO LIMITED 33 Bags of Groworganic @ £4.25 plus vat per bag 60 8Kg buckets of pellets @ £4.00 plus vat per bucket DEPT 4, HAYES ROAD 120 (pallet) 8Kg buckets of pellets @ £3.50 plus vat per bucket COMPTON DUNDON 100 (pallet) 10Kg bags of pellets @ £3.50 plus vat per bag NR. SOMERTON 25 20Kg bags of pellets @£6.40 plus vat per bag SOMERSET 55 (pallet) 20Kg bags of pellets @ £5.95 plus vat per bag TA11 6PF (tick appropriate box) Name ____________________________________________ Address __________________________________________ TEL: 01458 272202 _________________________________________________ FAX: 01458 273337 Post Code _____________ Tel Number _________________ NO CHEQUES REQUIRED - Delivery and payment arranged through our wholesaler 2 Contact details Allotment and Leisure Gardener Issue 4 • 2010 Head Office Secretary: Mrs D McDaid Administration: Mrs K Maher, Mrs E McInally & Mr I Blaikie Legal Advisor: Mrs Liz Bunting 8 12 Officers of the Society President: Mr C Nickerson Chairman: Mr A Rees MBE Vice Chairman: Mrs S Fleetwood Treasurer: Mr D Rawlings Local Authority Representative Cllr Mrs J Wood Standing Orders Committee Acting Chairman: Mr I Crawford Mr P Lofts, Mr D Gibbs, Cllr Mr J Graham Design, Print and Advertising Sales Crest Publications 20, Moulton Park Office Village, Scirocco Close, Northampton, NN3 6AP Tel: 01604 670820 email: [email protected] Front cover Evening Light: A painting by Chris Cyprus. Visit www.chriscyprus.com. Look out for an article on this artist’s work in the next edition. PLEASE NOTE: NSALG enquiries should be made to: Head Office, O’Dell House, Hunters Road, Corby, Northants NN17 5JE Tel: 01536 266576 Fax: 01536 264509 email: [email protected] web: www.nsalg.org.uk 18 24 SUBMISSIONS ADVICE Letters and articles for publication should be sent to: NSALG Head Office CLOSING DATES: Issue 1 2011: 06/12/2010 Magazine Submissions: All submissions MUST be typewritten and sent by post or email to Head Office. Articles should be limited to 600 words. We will wherever possible include articles that are sent in by post but cannot guarantee their inclusion. When submitting articles, please provide name, addresss, phone number and e-mail address if applicable. If submitting by e-mail, the subject line should read ‘NSALG magazine’. 28 39 Photographs and images: Ideally your images should be of good resolution, 300dpi (photos taken with In this issue… mobile phones are not good enough quality). Send photos via email preferably Regions & reps.........................................................3 AROUND THE REGIONS or originals in the post (photocopies / Chairman’s Comments.....................................5 Northern......................................................................23 printed copies will not be used). Legal .................................................................................6 Yorkshire.....................................................................26 Letters..............................................................................7 North West................................................................31 If you need help with any of the above Book Review...........................................................10 East Midlands........................................................36 please call Jayne at Crest Publications West Midlands ......................................................39 on: 01604 495495 or email: FEATURES Eastern.........................................................................44 [email protected] Allotment Gardens: Food and Health...12 South East ................................................................47 NSALG Management Committee, Officers, Editor and Publishers, Garden School at Sugnall...........................12 do not necessarily agree with the views expressed by contributors Southern.....................................................................49 to this magazine and do not accept any responsibility for any Mike Thurlow errors in transmission in the subject matter of this publication. All South West...............................................................50 advertisements are included in good faith and NSALG Answers your Questions ...........................24 Management Committee, Officers, Editor and Publishers, cannot Wales.............................................................................53 therefore accept any responsibility for any services offered by Skin Cancer Awareness................................18 advertisers. No part of this publication may be reproduced without express written permission of the Society and Publishers. Biodiverse allotment gardening.............21 Competitions..........................................................20 3 Regions and reps NORTHERN Northumbrland and Tyne and Wear • County Durham • Cleveland • Cumbria • Scotland Mr Peter Horrocks 6 Moor Road North, Gosforth, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE3 1AD Tel: 0191 285 6412 Email: [email protected] YORKSHIRE North Yorkshire • West Yorkshire • South Yorkshire • Parts of Humberside Peter Horrocks Mr Tony Heeson Regional Rep 25 The Broadway, Balby, Doncaster DN4 9BS Mr Tony Heeson Tel: 01302 851557 • Email: [email protected] Regional Rep NORTH WEST Lancashire • Greater Manchester • Merseryside • Cheshire Mr David Morris 54 Princes Boulevard, Wirral, Merseryside CH63 5LW Tel: 0151 512 3882 • Email: [email protected] EAST MIDLANDS Lincolnshire • Nottinghamshire • Derbyshire • Leicestershire • Northamptonshire Mrs Shirley Fleetwood Mr D Morris 1 Veronica Drive, Carlton, Nottingham NG4 3QS Regional Rep Tel: 0115 952 6920 • Email: [email protected] Mrs S Fleetwood Regional Rep WEST MIDLANDS Staffordshire • West Midlands • Warwickshire • Shropshire • Herefordshire • Worcestershire Mr Maurice Lander 4 Franciscan Road, Coventry CV3 6HB Tel: 02476 502362 • Email: [email protected] EASTERN Buckinghamshire • Norfolk • Suffolk • Cambridgeshire • Bedfordshire • Hertfordshire • Essex and parts of London Mrs Karen Kenny 197 Cauldwell Hall Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 5DA Mr Maurice Lander Tel: 07712 766916 • Email: [email protected] Regional Rep Karen Kenny SOUTH EAST Regional Rep Kent and parts of London • Surrey • Sussex Mr Peter Neame 46 Sunnyhill Road, Herne Bay CT6 8LU Tel: 01227 362321 or 07742915297 Email: [email protected] SOUTHERN Oxfordshire • Berkshire • Wiltshire • Gloucestershire • Hampshire • Isle of Wight Mr Tim Cann 8 Nicholas Avenue, Old Marston, Oxford OX3 0RN Mr Peter Neame Tel: 01865 202104 • Email: [email protected] Regional Rep SOUTH WEST Mr Tim Cann Dorset • Avon • Somerset • Devon • Cornwall Regional Rep Mr Alan Cavill 6 Pinney Close, Comeytrowe, Taunton, Somerset TA1 4NW Tel: 07748 178964 • Email: [email protected] WALES Glamorganshire • Gwent • Dyfed • Powys • Clywd M Allan Rees MBE 77 Eustace Drive, Bryncethin, Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan CF32 9EX Tel: 01656 721865 • Email: [email protected] Allan Cavill Regional Rep 4 Mr A Rees MBE Regional Rep Head Office Chairman’s Comments After several weeks of not having a legal advisor I am pleased to organise and this she did admirably in a to announce that, starting at the end of September, Liz Bunting short space of time. Everyone was will be taking on that position within the Society. On behalf of impressed with the way the event had everyone I welcome Liz to our organisation and hope she will been conducted and felt it was a huge prove that we have made the right choice in her selection. We success, with all agreeing to the future of are all, I am sure, looking forward to working with you and hope allotments and the community within them. your stay will be long and fruitful. It was a great honour to accept on behalf of Torfaen Cold Barn Farm Allotments a It has been a little turbulent in recent months with Geoff passing European Diploma in recognition of special and Bryn’s departure, but I will say that Donna, Liz, Karen & Iain social activities. This is the first time such an award has been have rallied together and worked tirelessly to deal with the tasks made and I congratulate everyone who has been involved. at hand. My thanks go out to these members of staff for their exceptional dedication to the Society, for which I am very grateful. Whilst on a visit to Kings Seeds earlier this year, it gave me great pleasure to award Les Day a Life Membership for his continued In the last issue I predicted that legal costs would increase; support in maintaining an excellent seed scheme. Not only has subject to confirmation, this