DIG THIS!
Newcastle Allotments Newsletter

Autumn 2009

Hello fellow gardeners and welcome to those who have been lucky enough to be offered an allotment during the last few weeks. You will, by now, have realised two things; one is how difficult it is to get an allotment and, secondly, what you have let yourself in for.
In an attempt to ease the pressure on waiting lists the Allotment Working Group (AWG) are actively campaigning to persuade the Council to find and allocate land for allotments and everyone can assist in that endeavour by raising the issue with your local councillor. If you can get a group together, 6 or more would be ideal, and petition the Council. The AWG will happily give you all the help you feel you might need.

ALLOTMENT OFFICER

We now have a new allotment officer, Mark Todd. Mark has been selected after interview and he comes with a background in parks and gardens. He has yet to learn the electronic responsibilities of the job but I am sure his experience and new skills will ensure he is a valuable member of the allotment management group.

ALLOTMENT AND GARDEN SHOW

The show was again a great success and bigger than ever. This was largely due to the number of exhibits which exceeded all expectations. The show was opened by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Mike Cookson who was accompanied by his lady wife, and they spent some time viewing the exhibits and stalls prior to opening the show. Prizes were handed out by Councillor Pauline Allen, whose brief includes leisure services and who now has the good luck to be our link with the council. Stalls were manned by the beekeepers and park rangers and a children’s activities table was fully patronised. The AWG stall was bigger and better this year, with thanks again to West Denton Community Allotments for their contribution of vegetables, and the tombola was a huge success.
This year we had a display of work by the children of West Jesmond Primary School which they produced during their time spent on Highbury South Allotments. More below.
Our overall thanks must go, however, to the staff of Parks and Countryside Services without whose strenuous efforts the show could not take place. Sue, Helen and Susan worked tirelessly throughout the weekend and were ably aided and abetted by volunteers from the AWG, other council staff and volunteers from allotment associations.
Thank you all.
ALLOTMENTS AND THE COMMUNITY

 I mentioned West Jesmond Primary School's link with Moorside South earlier. They have a school garden covering 4 allotments which they visit every week, except during winter. The art work in the show display was the result of workshops conducted by 2 local artists employed by the allotments from money raised. The workshops were run for the children and for older people from the community seperately and then together. The design ideas were used to produce 3 large wall hangings which are now on display at the school. The theme of the project was "Growing Things"
 The connection with the older people has continued this year with produce being taken and distributed by the children to sheltered accommodation and care homes and a number of older people coming into school to participate in an art project on the theme of "Life in the 1930's".
Anyone with similar efforts please get in touch and let me have a brief description of what you have been doing. We need to show just how important allotments are becoming not only for individuals and families but for the community as a whole. 

With those of you new to allotment gardening in mind I am repeating some advice and information provided by Steve Emsley about soil needs.
So for all of you new to Allotment Gardening and for some who are not so new:

WHAT IS NEEDED FOR A BALANCED SOIL.  PART ONE.

Organic and non-organic gardeners alike need a balanced soil for all round healthy plants. The basic structure is formed from rock particles broken down over millions of years over which we have little control.  However added to this are many plant and some animal based nutrients, which we can be aware of and ensure they are recycled into the soil.  If we do not do this we are robbing the soil each year until it cannot produce healthy plants any longer.

The soil also contains billions of tiny living organisms mostly invisible because of their size.  They also live off of the plant matter added back to the soil, as well as off of each other in a beneficial food chain which keeps our soils alive. They feed the plants. If we don't recycle plant matter back to the soil (preferably by a compost heap) they die off and can't add to the fertility of the soil because we are not feeding them.  

Chemical additives such as chemical fertilisers burn off these tiny creatures and weaken the chains of life which makes a fertile soil.

As an organic gardener I am always looking to keep a wide range of plant based nutrients going into the compost heap in the form of plants and parts of plants.  

Many plants suck up nutrients from deep in the soil and bring them into their roots, stems and leaves.  We can then use these in the compost heap to create thriving living compost. Some of these plants are the leftovers of stems, roots, or leaves etc. 

Some are weeds and some can be grown specially as green manures to improve your soil.

The items needed in Large quantities are called MACRO nutrients. Those needed in smaller (but important) quantities are called MICRO nutrients.

In  this issue of Dig This we will look briefly at where to get MACRO nutrients.

There are four of these;

NITROGEN is vital to healthy leaf growth.  A number of crops specialise in collecting it from theatmosphere.  These are the  bean / pea family, legumes.

So all of the usual pea and bean crops, as well as green manures grown specially.  After you have grown your peas and beans to eat, there are the autumn , winter and early spring months when you could leave the soil empty.  However there are seven or eight other months when you could be growing field beans and harvesting them for  compost before your next crop. This is far more beneficial and accumulates lots of nitrogen. It also protects the soil from erosion and keeps the micro organisms in the soil active.

Other plants with good nitrogen levels to add to compost heaps are comfrey, clovers, alfalfa, lupins and vetches. I find field beans and comfrey the easiest.  Comfrey needs permanent  space, and is well worth it.

PHOSPHORUS promotes strong root growth and helps good flower fruit  and seed development.   It also helps with resisting diseases and in taking up other nutrients.  It is found in garlic, sorrel, marigold flowers, dandelions (drown in a bucket and then compost when mushy), clovers, chickweed, lupins, buckwheat, mustards, bracken, watercress and vetches.  You probably have some of these. (Just dandelions I hear you say, so don't waste them).

POTASSIUM.    A wonderful balancing component regulating the effects of too much nitrogen. It helps tuber development, such as potatoes, and for root crops. Helps sugars to move around the plant. Vital for many fruits Comfrey is a star performer. Also in chicory, fennel, dandelions, borage, watercress and bracken.

CALCIUM.   Promotes healthy stems and stalks. Helps healthy cell development.  Strengthens against diseases and helps uptake of other nutrients. Found in Comfrey, chicory, dandelion, sorrel, watercress and oak leaves. The oak leaves (and all tree leaves) are best put into a wire enclosure and left for 2-3 years to break down as they need a separate process of fungi rotting them down. It is not a warm composting process as for other plant matter.

They can be added to the soil with compost or used separately.

The plants listed above are some of the star performers you may have some access to. There are many other plant / animal sources of the nutrients above.  
All spare parts of plants you are eating and most weeds can be beneficially composted.  Grass cuttings can be added to compost heaps in moderation and mixed in, the rest added as a mulch around fruit trees or potato beds, or mixed into leaf mould.

If you use animal manures which are rich in many nutrients, they need 
to rot down for at least six months. On some allotment sites there is an excess of pigeon manure.  A few pounds / kilos of this in a compost heap are very helpful to the composting process. Most pigeon fanciers are pleased to let you take some. So why not be the first one on your site to let the pigeons help to feed you.

More next time.

 
BEES

Following on from the reference to “Bees” in the last issue I am indebted to Moorside Allotments for an article about their contribution to assisting the survival of the species. I have no doubt that they would be happy to give advice to any other association who would be interested and they can be contacted via Peter Whewell on 2840774.
 

Bee Friendly at Moorside
The bumble-bee and the honey-bee are facing uncertain futures and Moorside
Allotments is having a bee-friendly campaign to help both sorts of bees.

Honey bees.
A third of UK honey bee colonies have been lost in the last two years.
Although there is not yet definitive proof of the cause of this steep decline, the Soil
Association is convinced that this decline is due to the agricultural use of a certain
class of pesticide…neonicotinoids. It has been estimated that if this decline continues
we will have no honeybees left in ten years time. The soil association are leading a
campaign to ban neonicotinoids and you can sign their petition at
http://www.soilassociation.org It seems that urban bees are doing better than their
rural cousins, perhaps because they are less exposed to pesticides, so we can use our
allotments to support bee-keeping and maintain a reservoir of bees until such time as
the government acts.
Our council lease allows bee-keeping on site but our old Constitution at
Moorside did not allow bee-keeping, so we changed our Constitution this year and we
have formed a bee-keeping group that hopes to have two hives up and running next
year. In order to keep bees on site we require that bee-keepers are members of the
Newcastle and District Bee-Keepers Association, see:-

http://www.britishbee.org.uk/local/newcastle
and that they carry insurance and have attended a recognised course on bee-keeping.
The committee have to ensure that all gardeners have been fully informed about the
new hives, their location and what to do in an emergency, such as a swarm.
As well as establishing our on site hives, we are encouraging our gardeners to
plan bee friendly allotments, and to show members what sort of plants bees need.
Comfrey are an example of a plant that both helps bees and helps provide compost,
though it can easily get out of hand if you are not careful. The outcome, we hope, will
be happy Moorside bees and happy Moorside gardeners with lots of Moorside honey
to eat.

Bumble-bees
Britain has 24 species of Bumblebees but they are all in decline and we have already
lost two species. Bumblebees are major pollinators of wild-flowers which in turn
support lots of other wildlife, so loss of our bumblebees would be catastrophic for our
environment. Reasons for the decline are the loss of hedge-rows and flower meadows
and the use of pesticides and monoculture crops by agri-businesses. The Bumblebee
Conservation Trust are dedicated to establishing a mosaic of bee friendly corridors in
our towns and countryside and their website is:
http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk
Moorside decided to create a bee garden out of our small communal garden to
encourage both honey-bees and bumblebees and to show our gardeners what sort of
flowers the bees need. With advice from the Bumblebee Trust we have planted a
succession of flowers that keep the bees in pollen from late spring to early autumn:-
early heathers and flowering currant for April; nasturtiums, geraniums and foxgloves
for May and June; cornflower, scabious and bee-balm for July and August,
Michaelmas daisies for September. In addition we have created two bumble-bee nests
from upturned plant pots filled with moss from mouse-nests, though we have to report
that no queens have yet taken up residence in these desirable homes. Eventually we
hope to find a grant to help put up information boards about bees, their life-cycles and
how we can help them with suitable wild-flowers.

CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME

Contributions to this newsletter are welcome, whether they are news items about site activities or personalities, ideas, opinions or criticisms.
Contact me on 0191 2665910 email michaelarmstrong07@btinternet.com
Or Mark Todd on 0191 2773565 email mark.todd@newcastle.gov.uk 

The Allotments Working Group is made up of elected and co-opted representatives from across Newcastle and operates under the auspices of the City Council. 

Webmaster, Jim Lowery: 07799 406975 for messages, or via the website email link