The Allotted Month - November 2008

As far as crops and harvesting go, this month has been very much the same as October. So I won't repeat myself.

Allotments generally are targets for vandalism, and Edinburgh's allotments seem to be at risk as much as other places in Britain. It's a sad reflection on what has been called our "Feral" youth. I've heard that in Denmark the allotments are respected, the public have access and there is little, if any, vandalism. I think that I'll emigrate to Denmark.

The Allotted Month - October 2008

The plot is steadily being cleared of crops. In section A the slugs had done such a good job of eating the Crimson Clover that there was very little left. Now both section A and B have been hoed over to keep the weeds down. For the first time in years there will be no clover foliage for the compost heap and no natural nitrogenous fertiliser from the clover roots. I'll be interested to see what difference this makes to the brassicas next year.

With our two years Big Lottery Funding we are now able to advertise
for a further Project Officer to work at Bridgend.Having consolidated
the work at the project site we want to build on the outreach work
already started. All the details are on the attached pdf.
For further information please visit www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk, or
call 0845 60 33 444 quoting the reference ECHP/ES/619

We would be very grateful if you could let anyone
know who might be interested in applying. If people want to chat to me
about the post, they can call me on 07789 500388.

Peter Wright, as Allotment Show Secretary, gave the following Report to the FEDAGA AGM:

Organisation.
The show committee operated well with the main functions of show schedule, location, judging, equipment and tombola stall undertaken by various members of the Management Committee. We enlisted the help of one of the local Scout troops to help with the heavy work of setting up and dismantling.

Costs.

Peter Wright gave an appraisal of the FEDAGA year at the AGM:

As we still do not have a President I, as the acting Chairman have been asked to give an overview of this year’s committee. I will use the headings we have for the Management Committee meetings and give a very brief review of our discussions.

Flower Show: see separate report.

FEDAGA/City of Edinburgh Council Liaison (CEC) Meeting.

The Allotted Month - September 2008

The summer glut is now well over and the plot is looking bare. Not such a wide variety for the kitchen now. Generally it has been a good season with the only real problem being the poor crop of carrots. Slugs love wet weather and they have been very active this year.

The FEDAGA Annual General Meeting unanimously agreed to support our representatives on the Council's Allotment Strategy Committee in their bid to have the Council (the landlord) implement a much more stringent eviction policy. For decades, it was noted, there have been far too many neglected plots festering away on Council-run sites. With the number of applicants steadily rising, the number of dirty plots that are not productive has attracted increasingly adverse comment.

This news item is taken from the Scotsman of 17/10/08:
The Environment Secretary, Richard Lochhead, yesterday promised to find more public land for allotments.
There are already 3500 people on waiting lists, and fears about climate change and rising food prices are fuelling the spiralling demand.
Mr. Lochhead said: "In the current economic climate, with food prices on the increase, interest in growing our own food has never been higher."

Result!! See this link for information on the exchange between Robin Harper and Richard Lochhead in the Scottish Parliament detailing the cessation of use of the herbicide Aminopryalid.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/spwrans/?id=2008-09-02.S3W-15366.h&s=allot...

The Allotted Month - August 2008