Get yourself a cup of tea and sit down comfortably, it’s going to be a long read…
It feels, some days at least, as if spring has finally arrived after a long wet winter.
It’s great to see so many plot holders down at the site, busy preparing for the upcoming season.
Preparing your plot
Now is the time to get on top of those annual weeds and turn over the soil ready for all those lovely new plants just waiting in the wings!
If you haven’t had chance to get some extra goodness on to your plot there is plenty of manure left in a big heap next to the new communal shed. It’s really good stuff, well rotted, full of worms, an excellent addition to your soil. It’s a very reasonable £5 a barrow, compared to £7 at B and Q for a smallish bag. If you do decide to get some then please pay via bacs and the NOAA bank account using your plot number as a reference and mentioning manure. All the money raised through manure sales is going towards the completion of the shed.
If you are like me, then you have ambitious planting plans for your plot, which then get lost somewhere along the way! I try to bear in mind the list that we are given by the Harrogate District Allotment Federation of the criteria that they look for when they come to look around the site prior to the allotment show in August. We’ll let you know the date nearer the time. Meanwhile it might be helpful to share some of them with you…
They look for the general tidiness of the site rather than individual plots (apart from those which are nominated in the best plot on site category), paths and hedges kept cut, accessibility to plots, diversity of crops grown – a good variety of vegetables, fruit, flowers, tidy communal areas, sustainability (eg does every plot have a waterbutt and/or a compost heap), engagement with the local community, good communication with and between plot holders, events etc etc. There are more criteria and I’ll try to find the complete list and share it well in advance of the site visit so that we can be prepared.
Seed Swap Update
Thank you to those who supported the Seed Swap earlier this year. We had planned to make it a twice yearly event but the left over seeds were put in the Swap and Share area in a weatherproof box and it is good to see that they have almost all gone. If you have spare seeds left over after planting this year please feel free to add them to the box for other people to use. There’s no obligation to add seeds to the box, it just seems like a good idea to put them to good use before they go out of date. Someone commented that they were trying something new because they’d found some ‘new to me’ seeds. Excellent!
Plant sale
We are planning to have a plant sale on Saturday the 9th of May to raise funds towards the shed completion. I have been busy sowing seeds and currently have literally hundreds of tomato plants (15 varieties and counting!) that will hopefully be ready for the sale. I will also have some vegetable and flower plants and some perennials which I have been splitting and repotting. If you will have spare plants which you are happy to donate for sale then they will be most welcome. On this occasion we are going to charge for plants to help with fundraising but generally we encourage plot holders to put spare plants in the Swap and Share area, on which note…
Swap and Share
By the garage at the main gate there is a large trolley with some plastic crates on it and round the side there are some large yellow bags. This is the Swap and Share area, where we encourage plot holders to put spare and surplus plants, seeds, produce, tools, pots etc etc for others to use. It can be really useful, my two most treasured and useful tools came from there when I first started on the site.
It is not somewhere to dump rubbish or things that are broken or don’t work in the hope that someone else will get rid of them!
In the last few weeks there have been several items left there which were really just rubbish: a broken strimmer, a propane gas canister. Items such as these are your responsibility to take to the tip. We have had a tidy up and would ask that if you put anything on the Swap and Share then you keep checking and if it is still there a fortnight after you put it there then you dispose of it, as it is unlikely to be of any use to anyone.
We are investigating the possibility of getting a shared skip for the whole site so that people can dispose of items sensibly. We’ll keep you informed when and if we manage to organise something. Thank you for your help with this.
Grass Cutting and paths
Please can we remind plot holders that they are responsible for cutting the grass path to the east of their plot (ie to the right when looking towards the sewage works).
Thank you to Mick Townsend who has been cutting the grass along the main paths and on the lawn area. He and Richard Lee have also trimmed back the hedge along the top path.
Committee Updates
Recently Gary Sibson let us know that he was giving up the job of being Membership Secretary due to the pressure of work commitments. Gary has done this job for a long time as well as having served the NOAA as Chairman. We thank him for all he has done in the past and wish him well.
I am going to hold the fort as the Membership Secretary for the time being. I can usually be found on my plot (6B, Grey shed on the top path) if needed.
Waiting List and Vacant Plots
Just to let you know that we currently have a small number of vacant quarter plots that will be offered to those on the waiting list as soon as I get the keys and associated paperwork, so that new tenants can get started this season. Rest assured they wont be left empty for long.
Contact Details and Information updates
We are trying to ensure that we have the correct, up to date contact details for each plot holder. We realise that people change their email addresses and phone numbers sometimes so please let us know if you think we might have the incorrect details.
We like to include everyone on our Google Groups email list. If you aren’t getting emails from us via the NOAA google group it might be that the invitation to join has gone into your junk/spam folder as we invite everyone who has an active email address to join. When you receive the invitation, you have to accept it. Please let us know if the system isn’t working and we’ll try to resend the invitation.
Joining the group is optional. If you’d rather not join then please say. We try not to bombard you with too many emails.
Social Media
We have both an Instagram and Facebook page – NorthOutfallHarrogate. Please check them out for updates.
Site map
To encourage us all to get to know each other we are planning to produce a plot map showing plot numbers and tenants first names only. It would only be on display inside the site to plot holders, not to the general public. Obviously this is completely optional. If you would rather not have your name included please let me know.
Communal Shed
Watch this space. We’ll keep you updated as to the next steps as soon as we finalise the plans.
First harvest of the year
We’ve already had our first harvest of rhubarb, for crumble, of course but there are so many other things that you can do with it. I’ll pop some links to other recipes below.
Rhubarb and Ginger Brulee https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/rhubarb/rhubarb-and-ginger-brulee
Rhubarb Crumble ice Cream https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/meals-and-courses/desserts/rhubarb-crumble-ice-cream
Rhubarb and orange Muffins https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/rhubarb/rhubarb-and-orange-muffins
Hairy Bikers rhubarb Chutney https://britishrecipesbook.co.uk/recipe/hairy-bikers-rhubarb-chutney-recipe/
Thank you for reading.
Happy gardening!
Judi