QED Allotments Newsletter

Issue Number 15

Spring 2004

ALLOTMENTS REGENERATION INITIATIVE: NEW SCHEMES, MORE CASH

The Allotments Regeneration Initiative (ARI), a partnership between the QED Allotments Group, the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners and the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, has been awarded an additional £300,000 by its principal sponsor, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, to extend the life of the scheme until December 2005. The additional cash will pay for new tranche of grants of between £2,500 and £25,000 reserved exclusively for allotment associations and gardening groups, a national network of "mentors" to help plotholders to form associations and plan the most effective ways of regenerating sites, and a travel bursary scheme to enable gardeners to draw inspiration and ideas from visits to "flagship" allotments which will be identified in a new Good Sites Guide. ARI had logged over sixteen hundred "expressions of interest" from local authorities and allotment groups, who receive three free newsletters a year documenting the achievements of previous grant-winners, and a fast-expanding series of factsheets on issues ranging from providing toilets and improving site security to working with young people and raising funds. For more information on the Allotments Regeneration Initiative, visit www.farmgarden.org.uk/ari, or the QED Allotment Group's own website at www.btinternet.com/~richard.wiltshire/allot1.htm, or call Bethan Stagg at the ARI Office in Bristol at 0117-963-1551 In a related development, an inter-ministerial group has been established bringing together key central government departments and the ARI partners to monitor new opportunities for allotment regeneration beyond 2005.

AN ALLOTMENTS HANDBOOK, AND TALES FROM THE SHED ... Two years ago, following her research on allotments in Dartford and elsewhere, Caroline Foley published Practical Allotment Gardening, a beautiful book with exquisite illustrations that we recommended at the time as an ideal gift for gardeners. Now comes the sequel, to be published in May 2004: The Allotment Handbook, price £12.99 from New Holland (ISBN 1-84330-583-6). According to the publishers, "The Allotment Handbook is full of practical information and tips on every aspect of growing produce on an allotment. Beginning with the basics, there is information on finding a plot, preparing the soil, dealing with weeds, crop rotation and planting the beds. A chapter on gardening techniques covers propagation, protecting your plants, pruning and harvesting. A useful month-by-month section provides at-a-glance information on key tasks and gives pointers and tips to help keep the allotment productive all year round. Comprehensive directories of vegetables, fruit and herbs include information on sowing, varieties and pest and disease control. The book also includes useful information on allotments and the law." Meanwhile, for those who prefer to drink tea and watch someone else do all the work, there is The Shed, a take of allotment skullduggery from the author known as "MM", price £8.99 from Kit&Kel Press (ISBN 0-9546514-0-5).

ALLOTMENTS IN THE THAMES GATEWAY

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Greenspace Strategy for Thames Gateway published in January 2004 recognises the importance of allotments within Britain's fastest growing urban area:

"4.21 Kent is known throughout the world as the Garden of England, but relatively little fresh food is currently grown within Thames Gateway. Allotments, community gardens, urban farms, school orchards, commercial smallholdings and market gardens can all contribute to the greenspace network and offer ways for local people to have more direct contact with a supply of healthy food." (ODPM, Creating Sustainable Communities: Greening the Gateway, p. 22).

This report also notes that: "Allotments and domestic gardens offer the healthy combination of fresh home-grown food, gentle exercise and landscape that changes dramatically through the seasons."

NEWS FROM LOCAL SOCIETIES ... Dartford East Allotment Gardens Association Trading Hut (Gore Road) opening hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 10.30-11.30. For information on plot vacancies please call Roger Howard at 01322-229290 Southfleet Gardeners' Society April 29: Lecture Evening, 8 pm [speaker/title to be announced]. Admittance: £1.00. June 13: Coach Trip to Hatfield House Flower Festival August 8: Coach Trip to the "Floral Stations Day" on the Kent and East Sussex Railway at Tenterden. August 14: Summer Show, 2 pm. Admittance Free: Sales, stalls ... September 22: Autumn Show, 8 pm - followed by a lecture by Graham Johnson on "Kent: AN Unusual View". Admittance: £1.00 For further information please contact the Chairman, Mrs N Salway: 01474-833622. All events take place in Southfleet Village Hall, Dale Road, Southfleet. Sutton-at-Hone Horticultural Society August 7: Annual Show. Schedules and further details from Mrs Linda Garner: 01322-864555. Tredegar Allotments Club For information on plot vacancies please call Malcolm Still at 01322-401971. West Dartford Allotment and Garden Society September 4: 63rd Annual Autumn Show, Dartford Grammar School, 2-5 pm. Schedules from the Trading Hut, Devonshire Avenue. December 1: Annual General Meeting, Christchurch Hall, 7.30 pm. Trading Hut in Devonshire Avenue: opening hours Saturdays and Sundays (Except September 4), 10.30-11.30. Wilmington Horticultural Society August 14: Annual Show, St Michael's Hall, 2 pm. Meetings 1st Monday of the month, at the Pavilion, Oakfield Lane. Schedules for the Show and further details from Mrs L Whelpdale: 01322-220479.

DARTFORD FESTIVAL ALLOTMENT COMPETITION 2004

This year's competition will again be for three trophies: the Borough Shield (for best allotment in the Dartford Borough Area on a site supervised by, or leased from, Dartford Borough Council), the Villages Cup (for best allotment in the Dartford Borough Area on a site supervised by, or leased from, a Town or Parish Council), and the Fred Brown Cup (for the best performance by a novice allotment gardener). The prizegiving ceremony will take place at the Civic Centre in the Autumn. Entrants will be met on their plots for judging on the weekend of July 3-4, 2004. Judging will be in the capable hands of a senior officer of the allotment federation in Bexley, who has been asked to give consideration to the following criteria: (1) crop quality, (2) crop planning, (3) good husbandry, (4) waste management within the plot, (5) use of organic methods, and (6) visual amenity. If you have an allotment in the Dartford Borough area and would like to take part, please return the slip below, by June 5, 2004 and await further details.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Your Name: ____________________________________ Phone Number: ________________

Your Home Address: _______________________________________ Post Code: __________

Allotment Site: _________________________________________ Plot Number: ___________

Were you gardening on this site before January 1, 2003? YES/NO (Please delete as appropriate)

Please return this form to:

Dartford Festival Allotment Competition 2004, 18 Stanham Road, Dartford, Kent DA1 3AW.