January Monthly Update
ALLOTMENT NEWS
It was the dull ‘dog days’ between Christmas and New Year’s celebrations and NOGS’ allotment was calling.
The last Saturday of the year was the 30th a regular fortnightly work party at the allotment.
Weather forecast promised a dryish afternoon. The work was mostly tidying up after the wind over Christmas had blown things around, a few trellises put back up and cabbage cages rebuilt. My, but pigeons do like to feast on fresh cabbage, kale and all cruciferous greens and will eat them down to the stalks. We checked the potato store for condensation and deteriorating spuds and chose some to take home. Some had already developed tiny shoots, Spring is not so far away.
We found the ground wet but not waterlogged due to its sandy nature under foot and we have many paths surfaced with wood chip that are clean to walk on. At NOGs we are lucky to have big piles of wood chip dumped by the tree surgeons right by our gate and many barrow loads were brought in and spread to refresh the paths. Mmm, pine smelling garden paths! We are also lucky to have a big pile of park leaves dumped by the council just by our gate too. All useful biomass to add to and improve the soil.
Despite the rainy weather and soggy soil, the inside of the poly-tunnel needed watering. It’s always dry in there - a pleasant place to work whilst it is raining, especially when it smells pine fre sh. We fed and covered the rhubarb roots with manure and leaf mould, to feed and protect them from frost. Otherwise, after tidying up of the windswept veg beds and contemplating future pruning challenges of fruit trees and raspberry canes, it was time to go.
On shutting up, we found one of our home-made Christmas wreaths lying in the wet grass. We had left it decorating the gate. It was in good condition, laying in the cool damp it was a delight to see shiny green holly and ivy leaves and pine needles still fresh and glowing, reminder of a fun allotment party when we sat around the camp-fire drinking tea and weaving Christmas wreaths!
POTATO DAY
NOGs Potato Day will be held on Saturday 27th January 2024, 10am - 3pm at The United Reform Church on Edwards Lane, Sherwood. Entry £1 for non-members (Members are free).
A Membership Desk will be open to sign new members up – still £10 for a year. Prices will be kept to (or as close as possible to) last year’s i.e. tubers 20p each or 6 for £1. We will have more onion and shallots on offer as an increased demand is anticipated following the closure of Wilkos. A full list of the potatoes, onions and shallots will be available very soon.
CAKE APPEAL -can you help?
We would be very grateful for donations of cakes etc for our pop up café as we won’t have a Bakery stall this year.
Thomas Etty Seeds, talks throughout the day – lots of reasons to spend time catching up and getting advice.
Keep checking Facebook for the latest information.
That's all for now folks - Happy Gardening and a very Happy New Year!
The NOGs Team