Full of Beans?

Pat was full of beans so decided to have a go at inventing a tasty snack.
Rumour has it that she has volunteered to cater, so we can have a site meal out to celebrate Christmas!!

Click here for the recipe.

Fruit Expert

You may be interested in this web site that claims to have pretty much everything you need to know about fruit.


Joe - there is even a whole page about Goji Berries. For those of you who have never heard of them, to quote the web site "They’re the latest ‘must have’ miracle berry in celebrity circles. Said to banish cellulite, boost your immune system, contain more vitamin C than oranges and more iron than steak."

Although Pat I don't know what they would say about chocolate covered Goji berries!

To view the site click here it certainly seems to be worth a visit.

Meeting on 29 July 2007

At last we had some good weather and our meeting took place! - thanks to those of you who attended for making the effort after so many near misses. The minutes will be circulated and also placed on the web site shortly.

Simon has resigned from his position as treasurer so if anyone is interested in becoming our new treasurer then please get in touch with me. Either send an email or come and have a chat on site.

Sue

Photos of site taken last week

I managed to grab a time when it was not raining to take July's photographs. Click here to view the larger album.
It really doesn't look like July on lots of plots. We could let it really depress us but at least we have dry homes and we can have another go next year. We need to oncentrate on what we have managed to harvest in this appalling summer rather than what we have lost!

Third Time Lucky?

We are going to try for another date for our association meeting.
The new date is Sunday 29 July.
Same time: 2:00 p.m.
Same place: Jan's plot
Hopefully not the same weather!!
Maybe we need a large tent!
Could you email to let me know whether or not (weather permitting) you and/or your family will attend.
I don't want to transfer to August as many people will be on holiday then.
Sue

Will it ever stop raining?

For those of you who haven't already guessed, we had to abandon the meeting arranged for last weekend. 6 stalwarts turned up in spite of torrential rain but it was felt that we couldn't really go ahead. The meeting will be rearranged in about a fortnight's time - time and date will be posted as soon as possible. Maybe by then we may just get some dry weather!
It's hard to believe that this time last year we were being kept busy watering. Wonder what all the garden magazines will talk about now instead of advice on water conservation and the need to grow drought tolerant plants. Remember the lovely weather we had at the beginning of the year - is this payback for us being smug then?
Is anyone, anywhere in the world having some reasonable weather? What are you growing that seems to like the permanent downpours that we are experiencing? What problems are the weather causing you?

Barnsdale

When we visited Gardeners' World Live at the Birmingham NEC, we were impressed by the Barnsdale stand. There were lots of plants on display there that we wanted for our garden but many were unavailable at the show. As a result we decided to kill two birds with one stone and pay a visit to Barnsdale where we would be able to visit the gardens and pick up the plants that we had ordered. We were glad that we did as the gardens are well worth a visit and the plants in the large nursery are of a very high quality.

Click here to view the photographs and video that we took on our recent visit.

Yet another bonus ball rollover!

Message from Jo:
Yet another rollover this week!

The number drawn was 11, which is unallocated.

The estimated prize fund for this week is £75!!
All stakes must be paid by 5p.m. each Saturday and the unallocated numbers are offered for sale to fully paid up members.

Tatton Park

Next week the RHS Flower Show will be held at Tatton Park
During June Martyn and I had a day out at Tatton Park in Cheshire.
Click here to view some of the photos and video that we took during our visit.

July's diary has been started

July's diary has been started - click here to visit.
After a really good start to the year, crops are either static or suffering from the present weather. Never seen courgettes to be so slow to take off. We need some warmth and sunshine! We went to visit Barnsdale this Sunday, (it was Geoff Hamilton's garden and featured on Gardeners' World). It is now owned by Geoff's son and daughter-in-law, the crops growing in the allotment garden, ornamental kitchen garden and other parts of the garden seem to be suffering in very much the same way as ours - windswept and suffering from lack of warmth. Brassicas were well netted against the wood pigeons that were much in evidence too.

Allotment Garden at Barnsdale

It would be interesting to know if other areas of the country are faring better than us. Use the comments attached to this post to let us know.

When we get the chance we will pop some more photos and video of Barnsdale on the web.

Bonus Ball 6 July

Message from Jo:
It's another rollover! Will the prize fund ever be won?

The ball drawn was 37.

The estimated prize fund this week is £60.

Just a quick reminder I must have your stake by 5pm for you to be eligible to win. Extra numbers are available to all members who are paid up to date.

Let's see if we can get a winner next week.

DON'T FORGET! - Association Meeting 15 July 2007

Can I remind you that the next meeting of the Association will take place on Sunday 15 July 2007 from 2:00 on Jan's plot.

Click here to view the agenda. Please let me know if you have any items for AOB. It would be useful if you were aware of the minutes of the last meeting so that these can be approved as correct.

The last meeting was very well attended - I really hope that this wasn't just a honeymoon period and that as many of you as possible will be able to attend. Please pass on this information to neighbouring plot holders who do not have email or Internet access and forget to check the notice board too

Please let me know if you are able to attend so we know how many chairs we need to find. I hope that the weather has improved by then. If not we may need plenty of large umbrellas!

Bonus Ball 30 June

Message from Jo:

"It's another rollover!

The number drawn was 48 which is unallocated.

The total raised so far for the Association Fund is £116! Well done to all those who continue to take part in the draw.

Estimated rollover prize fund this week £40."
Well done to you too Jo!