General News - General News

The annual mulled wine and mince pie event (masquerading as a coffee morning) was held at the trading hut earlier today. A massive thank you to all those who helped clear the trading hut and put back together again after, for the donation of food, and also the raffle prizes. Steve our chief raffle ticket seller was in top form as usual, and special mention for Alex's mum Sue for two amazing floral bouquets. A big thumbs up to all involved - we are very grateful for all the efforts.



The morning was reasonably well attended, with Tony's legendary brew consumed at pace, and it was great to see some of our newer plot holders and longer association members trading tales.



We hope everyone had a good morning, which leaves us with nothing more to do than wish everyone a merry christmas, and a happy, healthy 2020.

It doesn't seem possible 2019 will soon tick over to 2020 and we are posting a reminder about the XMAS mulled wine event, Saturday 7th December together with opening and closing dates for the Trading Hut over the festive period.

As we close out the year we can advise the sign at the top of the site - reminding us all to close the gate has been re - furbished, - a big thank you to Karen and Tony, and an equal measure of thanks to Kevin (plot 77 and 78) for keeping the community orchard in trim. Peter Hunnable is organising to prune the orchard trees early next year, and if you would be interested in learning a little more about the art of pruning, catch up with Peter at the Mulled Wine morning.

The manure orders are being delivered to the site on Monday and Tuesday 9th and 10th October, and we are expecting the seed potato order early February.

Several members attended a talk given by Charles Dowding in relation to his 'no dig' methods, and this is already being attempted on project 63 (to a degree), and on plots 24,45 and 79, but some new members from the Marconi Belles are taking this route on plot 111 and with their blessing we are hoping to follow the progress made.



Ian, Kevin and Alex, the three Allotmenteers, have kindly agreed to provide some information for the web site in 2020 and we are looking forward to these updates. We are hoping further members may take part and hope these snippets have proved to be interesting.



We continue to deliver vegetables to our chosen charity, Sanctus into December, although the car boot full of produce is now down to a couple of mushroom trays, and consists of celeriac, leeks, parsnips, carrots, a final splurge of green peppers from the poly tunnel and some fennel which has proved to be really hardy. I believe we have managed to deliver (with the exception of an odd week) for almost 8 months this year, together with donations from other association members.



Project 63 continued to experiment this year, and a number of the outcomes have been tried by various plot holders. A separate post will follow soon, as we have one last experiment we are waiting to harvest.

We have seen quite a number of new members take plots and join the association and in many cases plenty of positive progress made and we would like to welcome everyone.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the Mulled Wine Morning.

Please be aware the trading hut will close over the Christmas period. The last weekend the trading hut will be open is the 14th and 15th December, and will re open for business on Saturday 4th January.

A selection of photographs taken on the site during the course of 2019 has now been added to the gallery section of the website. Many of the images have previously featured in various news articles during the year.

The image featured here is a garden spider carefully, very carefully wrapping up his catch, a wasp. The photograph was taken on the plot next to project 63. Having flown into the spiders quite significant web, the wasp fought for ages before succumbing. I took quite a few photographs of the struggle, and ultimately failed to complete a host of other jobs I set out to accomplish on the day!!

We regret to advise we had a few unwelcome visitors on the site over the weekend, and we understand this may not be the first instance in recent weeks. It would seem damage has been caused to various huts, poly tunnels, and we are unsure of the extent. The latter incident took place between 1330 and 1430 hours Sunday. If you have been affected, suffered damage, or find you have anything missing, the matter has been reported to the police. The incident reference is 651011219.

We would ask all members to remain vigilant.

Please be guided the delivery of manure is scheduled to take place on Monday the 9th and Tuesday 10th December. As with previous years if there is not access to the plot and delivery is made to a road or walkway, it needs to be lifted and put on the plot within 7 days to avoid any inconvenience.

Following our commitment to reduce single use plastics, Alex Horne kindly gave up his Saturday Morning on 26th October to collect our waste on behalf of the site. At the time of organising, little did we know it would clash with the England v All Blacks, Rugby World Cup Semi Final. Still, undaunted, quite a collection was gathered and disposed of.

A big thank you to Alex for organising (and missing out on much of the Rugby). Watch this space for any further activity in relation to plastic waste and potential future collections.

Image courtesy of Alex Horne

We are sad to advise long time plot holder and Association member Tony Bohannan has recently passed away. On behalf of the Association, friends and fellow plot holders we send our sincere condolences and offer Steve, friends and family our deepest sympathy.

Several members of the Allotment Association could be spied in the audience at Keen Hall on Thursday 24th October, attending a talk given by Charles Dowding on the subject of No Dig. The evening put on by Galleywood Horticultural Society attracted considerable interest as Charles presented his methods.

Charles Dowding has consistently deployed his no dig technique, from commercial market gardens to domestic. A recognised expert on the subject he has featured on Gardeners World and BBC Scotland's Beach Grove, and published various books with his ideas.

It occurred to us his technique of no dig may be most appealing to new plot holders, faced with a strip of land covered over with grass and potentially weeds. His method removes on the whole the need to dig over and remove all of this before any other activity undertaken, and demonstrates how to overcome with a series of steps using cardboard, manure and compost to suppress.

There are also a series of on line You Tube video's of his activities and it may be worth taking a view, not just for new plot holders, but for existing plot holders keen perhaps to take some manual effort out of their activities.

If any further information required, don't hesitate to catch up with Karen or Ray on site.

The headlong rush to Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier in the year (witness the huge amount of chocolate and toffee tins in the stores over a month ago). So why not press the pause button on and stride down to the trading hut for 10.30 AM on Saturday 7th December for the Melbourne Park Allotment Association annual mulled wine and mince pie morning.



The event is completely free of charge, and is a great opportunity for a chat and put that seasonal thrash on hold for a couple of hours. A raffle is held on the morning, and Tony's legendary secret brew will once again be bubbling away for all to sample.



We look forward to seeing everyone on the morning.

The Association held it's 15th Annual General Meeting on Saturday 5th October. A good turn out from members received information in terms of activity on site for the year, latest developments in relation to the St Peter's College Site, together with an overview of the financial position of the Association. After the meeting closed, the awards and certificates were presented to the winners of the Annual Site Allotment competition.

A big thank you to the team who cleared the trading hut on friday to allow the meeting to take place, and then cleared up and moved everything back in again after.

The Allotment Association is arranging for the disposal of single use plastics on 26th October 2019. The collection is being made between 10.00 hrs and 12.00 hrs and Alex Horne has kindly organised to dispose of everything we collect on the day.

Items which can be disposed of or re cycled include plastic plant pots, plastic bags, wrap, bottles etc. We cannot accept any hard plastics, for example guttering, drink crates, tubing or similar.

You must bring the items to the collection point on the morning and importantly please do not leave anywhere on site. If there is any doubt, Alex will be on site during this time to offer assistance in terms of disposable or not as case may be.

Our good friends at the Wilderness Foundation are operating an open day at the Allotments on 28th September between 1pm and 3pm. For those who may wish to know more about the Wilderness Foundation, a host of details are available on their website and if you search for Down to Earth, an item dedicated to Jonathon's team and the project on this site. We understand there may also be some Apple pressing taking place during the afternoon.

A brief view of what the Foundation does is taken directly from their site as under


'Our Down to Earth Allotment programme is based in inner city Chelmsford where we run six plots, opening them up to a range of community groups and schools.

Most of our young adult volunteers are living with mental or physical disability, and we also use the allotment to engage recovery clients from Open Road (Drugs & Alcohol charity), MENCAP, New Hall School and Columbus School & College, catering for young people with complex and severe learning difficulties.

Currently the food grown at the allotment is shared amongst those growing it as the best way to learn where our food comes from and engage people with the subjects of nutrition and cooking.[/]

The Allotment Association is now taking orders for farm trailer loads of manure for delivery at the end of November, beginning of December. The price is £31.00 per load delivered to your plot.

There is a limited quantity, and ordering can be made at the trading hut. Orders can only be accepted with full payment giving your name and plot number. Cash or cheques (made payable to 'Melbourne Park Allotment Association'. Orders are required by the 17th November latest.

As most plots are now occupied it is expected that most loads will have to be delivered on to the road ways. It will be a condition of ordering that the load must be removed within 7 days to enable vehicular access. Plot holders not ordering manure are asked for their patience in view of the temporary position.

Orders can be given at the trading hut or to Peter Hunnable or Karen Lawrence.

Trading Hut

Owing to the popularity of the previous seed potato order we will again be taking orders for Sentana Potatoes which are proving to be more or less blight resistant.

The price will be @2.80 per 2.5 kilo bag.

Orders are now being taken at the trading hut or can be given to Karen and Tony. It would be appreciated if you can please order by Sunday 24th November, with delivery anticipated for the end of January, beginning of February.

Trading Hut.

The Melbourne Park Allotment Associaton regrettably informs all members of the sad news in relation to the passing of Arthur Dowsett.

We send our condolences and sincerest sympathies to family and friends at this sad time.

Arthur has been a long standing member of the Site and Association, and was one of the original committee members many years ago when the current structure was re - established.

We have probably all listened, watched or read the plethora of news and articles surrounding the damage caused by single use plastic bags, and the inability to effectively re cycle. From David Attenborough and Blue Planet, to the shops, stores and supermarkets we cannot have failed to be informed about the position, and almost certainly the imposition of 5p or 10p per bag may have been added to our bills at some point (where we have forgotten to take our own bags in).

This issue was brought home to the Allotment committee recently. Over the years we have bagged and sold produce and used bags we had collected, purchased or 'acquired' almost 13 years ago. With our stock running low, we were forced to purchase further stock, and due to our requirements being reasonably limited the price shocked us.

We therefore decided we should also join the populous sentiment in terms of single use plastic bags, and encourage members of the association and plot holders to bring along their own bags, boxes or receptacles for purchases such as bird seed, grow more, chicken pellets, to avoid using further single use plastic bags. Rather than modify all the product pricing, we are proposing to charge if we use a bag at 5p (small - 3kgs) or 10p (large - 6kgs), effective from 1/10/19.

We would like to encourage all members to bring along their own bags or boxes so we do not have to charge any extra, and by placing this message on the website and on the noticeboards, hope this is sufficient notice for everyone to organise to 'bring their own'

We hope everyone will understand the position we find, and appreciate the support.

image courtesy of Paul Willsone

Whilst our allotments provide us with a plentiful bounty of fruit and vegetables, they are also a great source of natural wildlife. From butterflies, moths, spiders, beetles, the humble bumble and other bees and insects. The allotments whether cultivated or uncultivated provide us with an array of these beasties, which all have an important role in terms of either pollination, or unfortunately in the case of caterpillars and slugs / snails eating our beloved crops, and they in turn become food for frogs and snails etc etc.

Recent spots on the site include a Ringlet Butterfly (image courtesy of Paul Willsone) and an Argus (image courtesy of Paul Willsone). Various texts suggest the Ringlet butterfly is quite widespread, preferring grassy meadows, hedgerows and clearings, am uncertain we have seen one on the plots before, whilst the Argus is a slightly more common visitor, although it is again suggested to prefer free draining dry grassland areas.


Image courtesy of Paul Wilsone
A big thanks to Paul for supplying the images.

Earlier in the year we reported on the possibility of slugs being the first beneficiaries of Brexit as the Government banned Slug Pellets, in principal due to a chemical called Metaldehyde. However, one of the principal manufacturers of Slug Pellets has won a High Court case challenging the government's decision. The following text was presented recently in Farmers Weekly.

The metaldehyde slug pellet ban, a decision spearheaded by Michael Gove while he was Defra Secretary, has been overturned following legal challenge. In an unprecedented move, the decision by the former Secretary of State to ban metaldehyde slug pellet products has been declared unlawful.

The High Court has approved an order, agreed this week by the company that’s challenged the legality of the ban, that formally overturns the December 2018 Defra ruling to withdraw all products containing metaldehyde, with immediate effect “Metaldehyde is back on the market and we’ve reverted to where we were eight months ago,” confirms Philip Tavener of Chiltern Farm Chemicals who took the legal action to bring Mr Gove’s decision before the High Court.

“The sell-out and use-up periods previously put in place no longer apply; it’s business as usual.”

He explains that the legal basis of Defra’s withdrawal decision required Mr Gove to form his own view on the impact of the metaldehyde products on non-target species, but he did not do so Mr Tavener added: “A few days before a hearing was due to take place in the High Court, the government conceded that its decision-making process was flawed. The decision was unlawful.”

Some farm groups dispute the environmental impact of its products on non-target species. The industry has been working for over a decade as part of the Metaldehyde Stewardship Group (MSG) to steward the responsible use of these products.

In 2017 an enhanced MSG stewardship programme was launched that had been approved by officials at the Chemicals Regulation Division.
It introduced new buffer zone requirements, promoted reduced usage and the adoption of Integrated Pest Management.

Mr Tavener said that retaining metaldehyde in the market removes the industry’s dependency on a single slug control solution and provides farmers with an 'important, reliable and trusted treatment' for controlling the arable sector’s 'most damaging pest'.

Taking the metaldehyde status back to pre 19 December 2018, the Court's order confirms that the applications for product re-authorisation remain outstanding, and Defra are required to decide afresh as to whether to grant re-authorisation for the products or to revoke the existing authorisations.

Please be guided the Melbourne Park Allotment Association Annual General Meeting will be held on 5th October, commencing 10.30 at the Trading Hut. As usual light refreshments will be available prior to the meeting.

It is really important members of the Association take time out to attend this meeting where an update is provided in relation to activities on site (and even off, with the St Peter's build taking place). it also provides an opportunity to express a view or ask any questions in relation to the site and the Association.

Similar to last year we will also be presenting the certificates and Trophies for this years Annual Allotment Competition and it would be great for as many people as possible to celebrate with their fellow plot holders.