Wombles in Wellingtons Allotment Competition – Launch April 2007

Promoting Sustainability…

Win compost and other goodies by entering Fairfield’s brand new allotment competition.

Four sets of prizes are available for individual allotmenteers as well as whole allotment sites, but hurry, the closing date for entries is 31 July 2007.

The word `sustainable’ is relatively new; but the concept, particularly for allotmenteers, has been practised for years. It’s simply a way of life.
Fairfield Materials Management wishes to reward sustainable practices and new initiatives on whole allotment sites (not individual allotment plots) in Greater Manchester.

They are looking to reward community spirit too.

Competition Categories

We have prizes for four categories in total – 2 collective prizes for a whole allotment site – and 2 categories for individual entries.
Allotment Group Categories
Most Sustainable Allotment Site

Best Community Spirit Allotment Site

Individual Categories

Oldest allotmenteer

Youngest allotmenteer

Go to http://www.fairfieldcompost.co.uk/index.html for more information.

This is going to be a diary of events on my plot throughout the year. I will try to list the work to be carried out during the coming week and list on a regular basis through the week the work done each day.
I have four plots, all together, which are worked as a single unit. The plot has a central path with two plots on each side, and each plot is split into two beds with flower beds between each plot.

I have two polytunnels, each 14ft wide and 28ft long, which take up one plot. The tunnels are not the full width of the plot so there is room to grow permanent crops alongside them.
The other beds on the plot are used to rotate the different crop families on a four/five year rotation. More details of the plot will emerge as the season progresses.

JOBS FOR THE WEEK

1 Dig over the legume bed incroporating the manure spread on it during the winter. 3/4 done
2 Prepare the root bed and erect the cover for the carrot area. Done
3 Transplant seedlings in the polytunnel into either cell trays or larger pots . Done
4 Prune back the grape vines in the polytunnel to strong new growth. Done

This is not a total list as other jobs will become necessary as the week progresses.

Monday
Dig over a strip across the legume bed- 1/3 is now dug.
Water the crops growing in the polytunnel and the seedlings in there too.
Water the onion sets growing in cell trays and hardening off in the cold frames.
Tuesday
Continue with digging the legume bed.
Water crops as above.
Wednesday
Only a short lunch today so only the watering gets done.
Thursday
Roy watered seedlings for me- my knee gave way on me so I’m having difficulties.
Friday
Managed to do some transplanting sitting on a high stool,and some watering.
Saturday
These pills I’m on certainly work as I can work with a stick. Today I have watered all seedlings and managed tocover the frames for the carrot bed with polythene.

CROPS PICKED DURING THE WEEK

I have picked the first of this years asparagus this week,it was worth waiting for!, as well I am still picking the Purple Sprouting Broccolli and the over wintered leeks(this years are already growing).

The last few weeks have been busy on the plot with the weather so warm. I have planted out my potatoes for this year and tidied up the bed so that they can be earthed up as they come through to keep the frosts off!

I have transplanted some shrubs into the garden area from the pots that they have been growing in, until they were big enough to go out.
With the weather being so mild, I have also sown several rows of beetroot and a few rows of parsnips. The parsnips were sown into compost which filled the holes I made with a steel bar, this ,hopefully, will give me straight parsnips with just one leg.

I have been asked to provide details about TRIM – so here are some details about them below:

Our retail yard is really the working hub of our activity. Our workshop, office and yard are based here and it is where our collected timber is processed (ie de-nailed, de-screwed etc), sorted (by quality, size and type) and stacked ready for sale to our customers.

We aim to sell on our timber to builders or members of the public at a much reduced rate than they would pay for new timber plus, of course, it saves sending it to landfill and spoiling the environment.

Subject to availability, we stock timber in all kinds of sizes from 1″ x 1″ to 8″ x 2″. This can either be treated or untreated timber. We also sell plywood, MDF, chipboard, chip and oak flooring (including tongue and groove), hardwood decking (anti-slip and treated), scaffolding plank timber and, occasionally even wooden railway sleepers, although they are rare and we often use them in our workshop for making benches and other items. Floorboards are also something which are in high demand so checking before coming to the yard would be advisable. We have even started stocking timber of a much larger size too. Again, availability on this can vary so please check with us first, or bear it in mind when visiting us.

Forther details can be found under ‘Find a Plot’ and then ‘Miscellaneous’.

I am finally getting around to harvesting the rain-water off two of the roofs on my allotment.

One is a pent-roof shed while the other is a chicken coop.

We all know how rain-water is superior to tap water for plants and it is good for the enviroment, saving energy and costing nothing – once the system is up and running.

All I have to do now is fix the download pipes into the barrels I have.

The other job is one of safety, I need to cover the barrels to keep the water ‘fresh’ and keep out wild-life and mischievous kids.

For those without barrels or butts, then do an ebay search for water butt.