The word drought often conjures up images of faraway countries suffering from months of baking sun and no rainfall. It is not often a word which you’d instantly link with Britain, but unfortunately times seem to be changing and hosepipe bans are becoming more frequent. Where possible every gardener should have water butts to harvest any rain that does fall. If you do decide to water your allotment, the best time of day is during the cool of the morning or evening. Water the roots of the plant and concentrate the watering to once or twice a week, as opposed to giving your plants frequent light showers, otherwise you’ll encourage the roots of the plant to seek water near the surface, as opposed to deep down on the earth.

Manure and Mulches

There is something that all gardeners can do to help prepare themselves for drought conditions and hosepipe bans and that is to ensure that your soil is fertile and contains plenty of organic material, which will help it to retain moisture. The condition of the soil is of paramount importance to your crops, and the easiest way of ensuring your plants have a good start in life is by ensuring that the four main growing chemicals needed – calcium, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, are present in your soil.

You can check this by buying a good quality soil testing kit from the garden centre but as a rule of thumb, add back into the soil whatever was taken out by the last crop grown. One of the quickest ways of adding these nutrients is through the addition of farmyard manure (well-rotted over a twelve-month period), green manure (crops high in nitrogen, grown specifically to be dug into the soil e.g. clover) and good quality homemade compost (garden and food waste, not cooked meat, well-rotted and turned over a twelve month – two-year period).

Not only will these products improve the quality of the soil, but also the soil’s ability to retain moisture, meaning you won’t need to water your plants so frequently (and in some cases not at all). Dig the manure into the soil during a dormant period, end of the summer or early spring are ideal times.

Good Plants to choose for dry conditions

When choosing plants for your allotment it is a good idea to go for those that originate in a hot climate and so evolved not needing very much water, or ones where the edible part of the plant grows below the soil – meaning its roots (and the crops) all benefit from deep water.For ExampleCarrots – never water, it will lower the yield

Gardening in Climate Change Conditions

Calendar of events 2020

January 2020

February 2020 Seed Exchange Cancelled

March 2020 Easter Fun Day Cancelled

April 2020

May 2020

June 2020

July 2020 Patchway Festival - Lottie open to public – BBQ, table top activities and scare-crow competition Cancelled

August 2020 BBQ Saturday 22nd August from 3.00pm. Plot Holders & family only.

September 2020

October 2020

November 2020 November 05th at 6.30pm. Bonfire BBQ and Refreshments.

December 2020

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Good plants to choose for dry conditions Cont’d Potatoes – Water only when the flowers have just opened, but otherwise there should be enough moisture in the soil to sustain the plants.Parsnips – watering doesn’t benefit the cropJerusalem artichoke – never water, otherwise you encourage the formation of leaves and not tubers.Rosemary & Thyme – woody herbs which can withstand dry seasons.Beetroot – don’t over water as this will increase leaf size not root size, but don’t allow the soil to dry out completely.Brussel Sprouts – established plants will only require watering during exceptionally dry weather.Kohlrabi – the root system of this is plant is well developed for sourcing water and so can withstand very dry seasons.Onions – after the plant has established, they require little watering and never after mid-July as this will delay ripening.

There are some plants which survive very well during wet weather and as such require a lot of watering during a drought. Therefore, it is best to avoid the following – celery, courgettes, marrows, pumpkins, squash, rhubarb and spinach.

Fund Raising Events during 2020

The Committee had four events planned this year, being the Seed Exchange, Easter Fun day and the Patchway Festival Allotment open day & Bonfire night. The Committee had to cancel three of the events due to the coronavirus but we are delighted to inform you that we can at present plan for a BBQ open air event at the allotment site on Saturday 22nd August from 3.00pm. The other event planned is the annual bonfire for 5 th November from 6.30pm with BBQ & Refreshments.

Current & Future Allotment News

There has been a very challenging time since February this year with the many rules for social distance and hygiene that had such an impact on the community meeting of plot holders that we value so much. The Committee have spent many hours and effort making sure we comply with the ever-changing rules so the Allotment Society is able to stay functioning in the best way possible.

The Committee are now delighted to say the toilets and kitchen are now open for use to any plot holders, with just the sensible rules of social distancing remaining for the foreseeable future.

On behalf of the Allotment Society We have to thank the following Committee members and plot holders who through their great effort and time ensured as soon as the Patchway town Council gave us the green light to open the Allotment facilities:

Doug, our Secretary & his wife cleaned, cleared and organised the Allotment kitchen.

Diana our Minutes Secretary carried out the very important role of cleaning the toilets and kitchen floors.

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Contact the committee: allotmenteer@outlook.com

Mike Kennedy removed all the toilets locks, and due to social distancing has single handed over the last few months for the majority of work renovated the long lost store room at the back of the main shed, into a repair shop for mowers etc for the plot holders / Committee use.

Derek our Treasurer with Keith a nearby plot holder removed all the hoarded junk from the old mower shed and transformed the shed space into a now working store room for old spades, forks etc.

New Allotment Handbook July 2020

Since the new Allotment Handbook has been recently published, there as been feedback from plot holders with the mention of car parking and driving on the main paths around the Allotment site.

The Committee made a majority decision recently to not allow any vehicles on the main paths for any reason. This issue has been raised at the Committee many times over the years and there are numerous reasons why we had restrictive access to the main paths for vehicles. The feedback from plot holders is that they feel the minority of plot holders who will not comply with previous rules of vehicles allowed to drive on the main path ways should not prevent the majority of plot holders who comply and stick to the rules.

Under our Constitution plot holders can bring up any issue at the AGM for discussion and voting will then be carried out, with the final voting deciding how the Allotment Society move forward. The rules in the Allotment Handbook are very important guide to follow to ensure a safe and harmonious as possible environment for all plot holders on site.

The ideal situation for a plot holder to bring an issue to the AGM is to raise it by emailing the Minutes Secretary on the following email address: allotmenteer@outlook.com

The issue needs to be raised at least two weeks before the AGM date (this year AGM held on 05 th October 2020) requesting to add the item on the AGM Agenda.

Thefts on the Allotment Site

There has been reporting to the Committee over the last month a number of thefts of fruit and berries in particular from plot holders. The Committee are not taking these thefts likely and are going to put a number of proposals being finely tuned at the moment to ensure we can secure and monitor the Allotment site. The first thing we have successfully carried out on the weekend is to the new lock on the side gate on Clermont close. Can all plot holders please ensure the allotment gates are secure after entering and leaving the site. If you are near the end of the day, it is vital you lock the gate, as plot holders have left gates open before overnight.

Contact the committee: allotmenteer@outlook.com website:

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