Winter 2012
Inside
this issue
Page 2
Briars Wood Allotment Open
Day
Page 3
Allotments as a community
resource
Page 3
November “now and then”
Page 3
Poem – “Grow your own”
Briars Wood Allotment
Open Day
As
part
of
National
Allotment Week in August,
Briars
Wood
Organic
Allotment
in
Hatfield
opened its gate to the
public for an afternoon.
The event promoted the
benefits
of
allotment
gardening,
the
natural
“health service”.
Page 4
Water conservation, mulch,
compost & manure
Page 5
How to grow onions and garlic
Plotholder Lesley taking time out!
Page 5
Recipe - Chocolate &
Raspberries Brownies
Page 6
Olympic vegetables
Page 6
Plans for 2013
Emma
providing
refreshments
The objective was not only to
promote allotment gardening to
the residents of Hatfield, where
demand for allotments has been
historically lower than that in
Welwyn Garden City, but also to
give tenants an opportunity to get
some together and show off all of their
Briars Wood Allotment Open Day
The Council provided free
seeds for children to take
away, refreshments and
promoted the national
initiative “Change for Life”.
The Council also helped
clear the site of historical
rubbish before the day,
and did its best to match
the hard work the tenants
put in to maintaining the
pathways and communal
areas.
Jane and her daughter with
Councillor Mandy Perkins
Shirley, Clive Wendy and John
hard work! Plot holders from
other sites can also get ideas
and advice – helping to
widen the circle of the
growing community in the
borough!
Plot holders were on site
tending their plots, helping
out, and answering any
questions from visitors.
Councillor Mandy Perkins,
speaking at the event said
“This is a great way to get
some expert advice and
become
a
champion
vegetable and produce
grower”.
Owning an
allotment is getting more
and more poplar and there
are many benefits” such as
getting out “in the fresh air”
There were displays of fresh
produce and there were
homemade cakes and jams
to sell as well as plants.
Money from donations for the
produce will go towards
buying a new polytunnel for
the site.
The polytunnel is used by
anyone on site who wants to
grow tomatoes, peppers and
other vegetables that prefer
a warmer growing
environment.
Andy spending time on his
plot
she said.
Both plot holders and visitors
enjoyed the day and many of
the plotholders would like to do
it again!
Open Days in 2013
Next year National Allotment
Week is 5th-11th August. We
would like to build on this years
success and have more sites
in the borough open to the
public during that week.
It doesn’t take a lot of
organizing. There needs to be
some volunteers to welcome
people at the main gate and
hand out information, but other
than that, tenants just need to
turn up, bring produce and
enjoy the day!. The Council will
provide gazebos and tables.
If you would like to have an
open afternoon on your site
then let us know that you are
interested and any ideas you
might have for the day.
Winter 2012 Page 2
November Now & Then by Terry at Moneyhole Lane, WGC
Terry took on his plot at Moneyhole Lane in
Panshanger in October and in just over 6
weeks transformed it, well in time for the
Spring! Terry explains:
The next day I used a pick shovel to remove the
top layer of grass and dig out all of the brambles.
I also used the pick shovel to turn the top layer of
soil. The pick shovel has been the best tool for
this kind of clearance. The ground is now ready
to turn over with a fork.
I still have so much to do but cannot wait to get it
ready for spring. I will soon add a green house
and a small shed and intend to mark out the
ground to add slightly raised beds and woodchip
the pathways.
The task ahead looked daunting as the site was
very overgrown and I wasn't sure what I would
find in between the weeds. I spent the day
cutting down all of the long grass, weeds and
never ending brambles with a set of hedge
shears. I found this the easiest way to cut
everything back to ground level. I then used a
rake to clear up and start a compost heap.
Grow your Own By Clive from Briars Wood, Hatfield
Plot holder Clive sent us this
poem he came across in a
newspaper – it might be very
apt for some of us this year!
“Grow your own” the adverts say
It’s fun I must agree.
So down on my knees with
spade in hand
I planted a raspberry tree.
Potatoes needed “chitting”
So I put them to one side
As I opened up my carrot seeds
And planted them with pride.
“Tomatoes” said my learned
friends,
“Now they won’t give you grief.
“Just nurture them with loving
care
“And feed the flowering leaf.
“Try runner beans and lettuce
You really cannot fail.
“Buy lots and lots of pellets,
though
“To beat the blasted snail”
Three months have passed and
woe is me
No berries have I found.
Just lots and lots of foliage
With slugs so fat and round
There’s lots of green tomatoes
(I’m praying they’ll trun red)
My carrots are so tiny
And the lettuce looks quite dead.
Perhaps my first potatoes
Would fill me with delight.
I dug one up with morning
And what a sorry sight!
Well, it seems a “veggie” grower
I was never meant to be,
So I’m on my way with purse in hand
Where I’ll “Buy one – get one free!”
by Mrs Barbara Spencer, Poole
Dorset
Winter 2012 Page 3
Water, Mulch, Compost & Manure
Autumn and winter is the
perfect time to think about
improving the soil on your
plot and preparing for the
new year.
Water conservation
If you are not collecting
rainwater, why not contact
your water provider to see if
they offer discounts on water
butts? There is also a wealth
of different suppliers on-line.
Mulch
Mulch is anything such as
leaves,
twigs,
manure,
compost, bark chipping. This
is not something that the
Council generally provides.
Mulch is good for suppressing
weeds and improving the soil.
The Community House Trust
has some projects with young
offenders who clear leaves in
the autumn. Please contact us
if you are interested in
collecting some.
Our tree contractor, Gristwood
and Toms, deliver wood
chippings to a small minority of
our sites where there is room
to deposit it and access is
good. If you are interested
please contact us.
waste to be recycled at the
Cole
Green
HWRC
(Hertfordshire
Waste
Recycling Centre). The site is
located off the A414 between
Hatfield and Hertford on the
Hertford side of the Essendon
Roundabout. It is open seven
Manure
days a week and in the
You can buy manure from Ian summer time (April 1st to
on 01707 888548 who will
September 30th), from 8am
deliver a trailer load for around until 6pm and in the winter
£30.
time (October 1st to March
31st), 8am until 4pm.
“Riding for the Disabled”, is a
charity based in Rectory Road, Compost
Welwyn Garden City. It is Green
waste
from
almost opposite The Red Lion Hertfordshire Waste Recycling
pub on the B197. You can Centres is used to make
collect it yourself and make compost, called “Ace of
donation.
Hearts”. Each bag is 60 litres
in size and is being sold for
If you know of somewhere else £4.00. Unfortunately they do
in the borough where you can not sell it at the nearest centre
get good manure, please at Cole Green but it is
contact us, so we can publicize available from every other
it in our next newsletter!
HWRC, such as Stevenage
and St Albans. Just ask the
Green Waste
site operator for assistance.
You can bring your green
Buy one get one half price!
WasteAware have a great offer on compost bins
– buy one get one half price!
Made from recycled plastic and supplied with black
side hatch, the Compost Converters are available
two sizes, the Compact 220 litre (£15.50) and the Giant 330 litre (£18.00).
Call 0844 571 4444 or visit http://www.herts.getcomposting.com.
Winter 2012 Page 4
Allotments as a community resource
Allotments
are
a
real
community resource and the
Council
would
like
to
encourage tenants to share
the benefits and tell us all
about it!
There are many churches and
community projects that would There are a few community
welcome the surplus food from organizations and schools
allotments at harvest time.
on our sites and we would
like to hear more about the
If you are already sharing your benefits having an allotment
surplus
food
with
such brings them, so please
organizations, let us know so that contact us in the New Year
we can spread the word.
with your stories!
How to grow onions & garlic
Onions
and
garlic
are sure the tops are buried so the
remarkably easy to grow so birds don’t pull them out. Harvest
why not give them a go?
and store in July. “Solent Wight”
is a popular variety.
Get your garlic and onion sets
from the garden centre. Plant The easiest way to grow onions is
out individual cloves of garlic from sets, which you can plant out
about 15cm apart in January or in March or April. Space plants
February if November has 5cm apart and rows 20cm apart.
passed. Use a trowel to ease They only need watering if it is
them into the soil and make
exceptionally dry.
In August, when the skins
are firm and papery, lift the
bulbs and lay them on the
soil to bake in the sun.
Store in a cool dry place,
plait into strings and hang.
“Setton” and “Jet Set” store
well and “Red Baron” is a
good red variety.
Recipe – Chocolate & Raspberry Brownies
This seasonal recipe makes
15 brownies.
Preparation
takes less than half an hour,
with cooking time less than
an hour.
Ingredients
 350g/12oz dark chocolate
(55-60% cocoa solids)
 250g/9oz unsalted butter
 3 free range eggs
 250g/9oz dark muscovado
sugar
 110g/4oz plain flour, sifted
 1 tsp baking powder
 175g/6oz fresh raspberries
Method
 Preheat the oven to
170C/325F/Gas 3. Butter a
23cm/9in square cake tin.
 Melt the chocolate and butter
together, and then cool
slightly. (melt in a glass bowl
over a boiling pan of water)
when a skewer into the
middle comes out with
just a little mixture
adhering.
 Whisk the eggs until thick, then
gradually add the sugar and
beat until glossy. Beat in the
melted chocolate mixture, then
gently fold in the flour, baking
powder and salt
 Remove the cake to a
wire rack, and allow it to
rest
for
about
20
minutes. Cut the cake
into squares and remove
them from the tin when
cold.
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes
 Pour just over half the mixture
into the prepared cake tin.
Scatter over the raspberries,
and then cover with the
remaining mixture.
 Bake in the preheated oven for
about 40 minutes or until the
surface is set. It will be cooked
Winter 2012 Page 5
Composting
If you have just taken on a plot, start a compost immediately and
recycle as much organic matter as possible. Put a fine wire
mesh underneath to prevent burrowing animals and rats from
entering it. The recycled plastic compost converters are very
efficient and keep the site looking tidy.
Contact
Helen Sharpe
Landscape & Ecology
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
The Campus
Welwyn Garden City
Herts AL8 6AE
Tel: 01707 357329
Fax: 01707 357 375
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.welhat.gov.uk/allotments
Olympic Vegetable!
Carole at Briars Close
Allotment in Hatfield grew
a whopper of a pumpkin
this year.
The
pumpkin
measured
approximately 70 inches in
diameter and weighed about
11 stone. That was a lot of
soup for Carole’s household!
If you have a story about
something that you have
grown this year, whether a
success or a dismal failure
Carole’s pumpkin at the end of
then please send them in.
September.
Plans for 2013
Please contact us if you
would like to contribute
to the next edition of
Allotment News.
With the onset of frosts We will be running our
and Christmas looming, it competitions again, and each
is time to start planning for prize winner will receive a £20
2013 on our allotments!
National Garden Gift Voucher
which can be spent at your local
Whilst you will be ordering garden centre. You can check
your seeds and planning your the last edition of Allotment
beds for crop rotation we will News for the details and they
be organizing a series of will be printed again in the
evening talks on vegetable Spring 2013 edition.
growing again.
Invitations
will be sent out to all tenants Have a Happy Christmas and
Best Wishes for the New Year!
in early spring.