August Open Day will be held at Rosedale Road on Saturday 16th August from 10.00am to 1.00pm.
Donations of allotment produce, cakes, jams, pickle and chutneys would be much appreciated.
CR will liaise with JF regarding flyer printing; he will also put up the usual signs.
CR asked for help in digging up the crops from “Keith’s Plot” on the morning of the Open Day.
Building on the success of the earlier Pruning Demonstration Denise
Beckley has agreed that Andy Klecha can use her trees for the follow up session.
This will be on Saturday 9th August at Rosedale Road and starting at 10.00am.
The focus will be on apple, pear and cherry trees.
Summer pruning encourages bud growth, winter pruning encourages leaf growth. It is essential that cherry or plum trees have finished fruiting before pruned.
Bullace Tree is a wild plum/damson type fruiting tree. When ripe the fruits will be yellow/red/purple, this should be end of summer. They can be picked for stewing, jam making, or freezing. They can have a largish stone.
It’s not too late to plant out tomatoes, squash, runner or French beans.
Q. How do you stop apples falling off?
A. Reduce apples to two per spur; if you do not the tree will shed excess fruit, naturally discarding the weaker fruits. This is known as the June drop.
Dear all
Please join us for the Summer Social BBQ on Saturday 14th June starting from 5pm at Rosedale Road site. Weather forecast checked and it looks promising, hopefully it will stay so.
We hope you will join us for a relaxing and social evening. Bring your food, cooking utensils, drinks, family and friends. We will provide the BBQ, tables, chairs and boules!
Best regards
Sharon
RRBMAA Secretary
Ne’er cast a clout until May be out!
The weather warning in Spain is for hailstones etc. There is no rain, or frost forecast for at least a fortnight, but don’t take it for granted – only plant out hardened-off seedlings – protect with fleece, or mulch, or under cloches if frost threatens. Bull Meadow site is a frost pocket, so be extra aware if that is where you have a plot.
You can plant any seeds you want now – but keep them watered e.g. cauliflowers need a lot of regular watering to grow to a decent size.
Hedgehogs have been seen on Bull Meadow for the first time for a good while. None have been reported at Rosedale Road. Maybe now that slug pellets are organic and not poisonous, this may be good for more hedgehogs on site as they are good at keeping down slugs and snails. Other ways of trying to control slugs and snails include crushed egg shells, coffee grounds, and copper tape.
A list of over ninety crops of Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs and Spices, Flowers, each with a detailed growing guide, complete with all the tips and tricks of growing, mainly for polytunnels. There is also a series of Monthly Growing Guides and Top 12 Crops freely available.
Potatoes, onion sets, broad beans, beetroot, carrots, kohl rahbi – all can now be planted
It’s currently warm weather and we’re in need of some rain. There’s been no frost for a couple of days and so hopefully we’ve seen the end of it, but just in case, don’t forget to protect delicate crops