2022 November On The Allotments

Autumn moves along, nature is hunkering down – the allotments have given most of their produce for the year, the earth is settling down to rest for a few months, a quiet time of gentle tidying and preparation, in anticipation of the sun to begin rising higher in the sky again.

The site is in good health, green and lush, and so calm and warm the skylarks were still to be heard at end of October & outside tomatoes are still being harvested.

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2022 Plot Holders Excel at the Village Autumn Horticultural Show

Year on year the number of Plot Holders who exhibit at the Village Horticultural Show increases.

This year was the 120th Show, & Plot Holders made up a significant number of the entries across all the classes, & winning many of the prizes and awards in the Flower, Veg, Fruit, Cookery and Floral Art & Craft Classes.

The effects of the hot, dry summer was very evident in the vegetable classes - only 3 entries in the Potato, Runner Bean Beetroot Classes. The Tomato Classes were hotly contested though amongst Plot Holders, with a significant increase in the number of entries.

Congratulations to all the winners, but especially to the Plot Holders who entered for the first time & won prizes & awards- Kath & David Clarke (8B), Derek Eccleston ( Peppercorn Plot), Marion Allerton's Grand-Daughter, River Coop ( 48A/49A) & teenager, Rhett Prenton-Jones Shirley Prenton-Jones( 53A/B)

Plot Holder, Kath Clarke ( 8B) entered for the first time and scooped 3 of the 12 awards, winning Best Newcomer, Best Floral Art & Certificate of Merit for Floral Art

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Behind the Lines - By Ken Manning

Attending a recent lecture, Ken Manning was expecting to understand a bit more of the role of civilian allotments during wartime - the familiar 2WW ‘Dig For Victory’ campaign.

What he discovered, however, is how and why soldiers created gardens and held horticultural shows in the WW1 trenches on the Western Front.

Indeed, wherever war rages, gardens offer a place of escape & refuge, a way to humanize dehumanized situations, a means to reject suffering & are a powerful sign of human perseverance.

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Ken Manning - Growing Into Retirement

After nearly quarter of a century as Treasurer of Wellesbourne Allotments, Ken Manning retired from the post in April 2022

In truth though, Ken has provided much more than sound accounting. Under his stewardship the allotments have flourished.

As Ken looks forward to many more seasons tending his plots, we asked Ken what has kept him motivated & how things have changed

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ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE

APPOINTED AS THE QUEENS REPRESENTATIVE, TIM COX, THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF WARWICKSHIRE, CAME TO MEET MR & MRS LEWIS, WELLESBOURNE RESIDENTS & REGULAR VISITORS TO OSCARS, OUR DEMENTIA-FRIENDLY PLOT.

FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF OUR DEMENTIA - FRIENDLY PLOT, FROM A EMPTY, BARE SPACE INTO THE TRANQUIL GARDEN NOW ENJOYED BY LOCAL RESIDENTS LIVING WITH DEMENTIA, AND WHICH CAPTURED THE INTEREST OF MATT BAKER TO FORM A KEY PART OF THE BBC COUNTRYFILE PROGRAMME ON WELLESBOURNE ALLOTMENTS

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PLOT SPOTTING

FABULOUS DRONE FOOTAGE OF OUR AMAZING 7 ACRE SITE IN FULL SUMMER BLOOM - EVERY ONE OF THE PLOTS ARE LUSH, GREEN AND BURSTING WITH FRUIT, VEG AND FLOWERS

Drone flight over Wellesbourne Allotments July 2021 ©David Clarke - Plot 8a/b. Taken with special permission by Wellesbourne Airfield

AERIAL IMAGES

“ WHAT AN ASTONISHING ASSET THIS IS… PHENOMENAL… THEY ARE UNDER THREAT… THE INTENTION THAT PART SHOULD BE GIVEN OVER TO BUILDING LAND …WITH AN ALTERNATIVE PLOT OFFERED …INDICATES A TOTAL MISUNDERSTANDING … LIKE REMOVING AN ANCIENT WOODLAND & OFFERING TO PLANT ANOTHER ONE DOWN THE ROAD … NATURE, HORTICULTURE & WILDLIFE DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT “ - PROF. STEFAN BUCZACKI, NGS OPEN DAY 1ST AUG 2021

Buy your Green Manure seeds from the Green Shop now.

Sow over the next month to benefit the soil. Green manures are the organic way to

  • improve the soil fertility, including adding valuable nitrogen

  • improve the soil structure, giving better drainage or water retention

  • suppress weeds

  • attract beneficial insects and other predators

Also :-

Committee Changes

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2021 A Record Breaking Year For The Wellesbourne Allotments NGS Open Day

FOLLOWING A COVID ENFORCED POSTPONEMENT LAST YEAR, WE SUCCESSFULLY OPENED OUR GATES AGAIN, UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE NATIONAL GARDEN SCHEME, TO BRING OUR TOTAL DONATIONS TO THE SCHEME’S NURSING & HEALTH CARE CHARITIES TO £7,400.

REQUIRING A MONUMENTAL EFFORT BY AN ARMY OF VOLUNTEERS, THE GENEROSITY OF LOCAL BUSINESSES & VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS, WELLESBOURNE’S LARGE, LUSH & LOVELY VILLAGE ALLOTMENTS ATTRACTED 372 VISITORS, SOME FROM AS FAR AS DERBYSHIRE, & RAISED A RECORD £3,800.00.

OUR TREASURER & EVENT MANAGER, KEN MANNING SAID - “ THIS IS OUR 5TH NGS OPEN DAY & WHILST IT’S A CHALLENGING & EXHAUSTING EXPERIENCE, THE PLEASURE VISITORS GAIN & THE CHARITABLE DONATIONS WE ARE ABLE TO MAKE FROM THE EVENT IS REWARD ENOUGH FOR US ALL “

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Vitamin G: the gardening tonic we all need →

Anecdotal evidence of the benefits of allotment gardening for health & wellbeing have been reported over many decades & has evolved to become scientific fact.

A more recent study now shows that the pleasure of gardening which derives from being with plants, and the physical exercise gained from it, equivalent of going to the gym, is good for body and mind.

‘You can’t overdose on it’, and the more you do the greater the benefit you get.

Keep taking the pills!

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