All for one site and one site for allWelcome to the Edge Lane Allotment Society Newsletter! It has been a few years since the site had its own newsletter and there are a lot of new faces working the plots since then (including mine), so what better time to make a fresh start with a new look?

Allotments have never been so popular and waiting lists continue to grow, but it’s not just the ‘old-timers’ pulling up carrots and spuds, there’s animal keepers looking for a way to ‘connect’ to the land (even in the city environment) with pigeons; chickens, ducks and geese; horses; fish; pigs and goats; and (soon, we hope) bees. There’s families as well, trying to bring their children up to understand healthier values and experience fresh air and the outdoors lifestyle, and I for one count myself very lucky to be a part of Edge Lane Allotments, which is, I believe, unique in its diversity.

We are also extremely lucky to have a Committee that works tirelessly to continuously improve the site, through working parties, new initiatives, funding and sheer persistence – I hope I speak for everyone when I applaud the current Committee (as well as those that have gone before) for working so hard on our behalf.

What we hope to achieve with the Newsletter is to make sure that everyone is kept up-to-date with events and news, as well as providing information and advice (to those who need it) from fellow plot holders who have learnt through experience.

However, the aim of the newsletter is not only to inform and entertain, but also to bring us together as a community and as such, everyone is welcome to contribute – just bring your ideas to Andrew Climance (Plot 36) or Roy Forrest (Plot 50b), and if you’re not confident about writing it yourself, we are happy to do it for you.

That just leaves me to say thank you for being a part of Edge Lane Allotments and please, enjoy the read!Andrew Climance (andrew@climance.co.uk)

Edge Lane’s Nikki hits the news!Edge Lane plot holder Nikki Ryan did the site proud when her plot appeared as the ‘Garden of the Month’ in the May issue of Garden Answers magazine.

The article highlighted the wonderful progress that Nikki and husband Mark have made since taking over the plot, as well as providing very positive exposure for the Edge

Lane site itself. The article serves as a

reminder to us all of the progress that can be made with a little vision and a lot of hard work, and it is lovely to see allotments (and allotment keepers) like ours receiving the positive feedback that they rightly deserve. So, well done, Nikki and Mark!

Edge Lane Allotment SocietyNewsletter Summer 2012

Issue one of the old Edge Lane newsletter, by former Society

Secretary Alan Brown - an important piece of our history!

Our funding partners:

Edge Lane Site Manager’s reportIt is great that we have now got the interest and the people to create a quarterly newsletter, It shows that people on site are willing to get involved and move the site forward.

We have 11 names on the waiting list, but that does not mean that people on the list have not got their names down on other waiting lists, so if you know of anyone who wants to join our waiting list please get their name, address and phone number so we can add them to the list.

We are always looking for volunteers who just want to get involved in the social side of things, they can come and help out on Sundays on the community areas or just come and sit in the orchard and read; maybe walk around and have a chat to plot holders. The cabin will be open if people want to make a brew and just soak up the sunshine, (when we get some) or just bring the kids to feed the animals and see the wildlife.

Edge Lane Allotments Is slightly different from the norm, we want to promote and encourage the younger generation working with the older and wiser generation sharing new and wonderful ideas. There are no hard and fast rules on the site, we have a diverse committee with varied ideas and if an issue pops up that threatens the smooth running of the site the matter is discussed and voted on democratically.

Giving the people a voicePlease take a look at the following sites and if you want to take advantage of their services, contact Patrick Maher (Plot 65). We have worked with Peoples Voice Media (PVM) over the past four years, helping us to make new contacts and report on a regular basis about the site. Find out more at: http://peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk/

PVM is a not-for-profit community development organisation that has been working with communities since 1995, and it specialises in using social media as a

community engagement tool. It works across the UK and Europe and its goal is establish

a movement of community reporters which will develop local voices and distribute local views. Its objectives are to support communities to develop their own voice to:

• Improve their neighbourhood and communities.• Develop dialogue between communities and

agencies to support community cohesion.• Raise aspirations of individuals.• Work with the whole community to develop their own

solutions.• Undertake ‘authentic’ engagement.

New facesManchester progressive school has now joined the site and is really excited about the benefits to the users of the plot, more information about the school at: http://www.european-lifestyles.co.uk

One of the latest additions to the site is Manchester Carers. The idea behind this project Is to give some valuable time-out space for busy carers who just want to relax and chill out on a plot, even if it’s only for a couple of hours. Valuable free time to relax is so important for carers who work so hard looking after people and thanks for the help of Mark Ryan, who is helping to put up the polytunnel, and Sharon Comer, who will be running a starter gardening course to encourage and help plot holders. More information about Manchester Carers can be found at: http://www.european-lifestyles.co.uk

Before I go on to much I would like to say how important It Is for people to attend general meetings as this is where you can raise any questions for the Committee to discuss or suggest any ideas that you have; the committee are the people that you have voted in to run the site for you to enjoy.

A list of Committee members’ names and roles will be put up on the notice board soon.

Happy gardening and long live allotmenteers!

Patrick Maher (wmaher11260@aol.com)

A reminder that the new community polytunnel is available to all plot holders. Please remember to label your plants with your name and plot number, and make sure to look after your plants yourself. Photograph taken by Lily Climance, aged 8.

Annual General Meeting 2012

Edge Lane Blog WatchSummer jobs on the veg plotThe summer months are here and will hopefully bring some welcome sunshine. With any luck, all your hard work is now starting to pay off, so we need to make sure that the efforts you put in earlier in the year don’t go to waste. Keep on top of the important jobs such as watering, sowing quick maturing salad crops and also keep an eye on the weeds and diseases. Here’s a little checklist we’ve put together of some of the jobs that need to be done on over the summer months.

• Make sure all vegetables get a regular watering.• Make successional sowings of quick growing crops

like salad leaf and radish.• Plant out leeks and brassicas for winter crops.• Carrots can still be sown but beware of carrot fly

when thinning out.• Remember to keep removing side shoots from

cordon tomatoes and make sure the plants are supported well.

• Keep picking courgettes regularly before they become marrows.

• Peg down strawberry runners for new plants• Water all fruit regularly during dry spells. Mulching

around plants can help preserve moisture in the soil.• Pick peas and beans as they mature to stop them

becoming tough and stringy.• Finish harvesting early and second early potatoes.• Harvest sweetcorn as it ripens.• Harvest herbs before they flower. Take cuttings of

sage and thyme.• Keep a lookout for blight on potatoes, if caught early

enough stems and foliage can be cut off and burnt before it reaches the tubers.

• Weeds! Keep the hoe busy… little and often will keep the weeds at bay.

• Greenhouse ventilation is a must at this time of year. Also consider using a shading wash to stop the

strong sun scorching plants.• Turn the compost heaps and add water if its dry.• Spring cabbage, Chinese cabbage, hardy lettuce

and white Lisbon spring onions can still be sown now.

Happy Harvesting. Roy Forrest (royforrest@btinternet.com)

The Committee is currently trialling a shared ownership community farm project, starting with the keeping of pigs. The current arrangement will be reviewed in 12 months, but if you would like to get involved in the initiative, or have your own ideas, please contact Site Manager Patrick Maher or Andrew Climance.

Edge Lane Community Farm

Frugal Soul - www.frugalsoul.co.ukOur own Nikki Ryan started this wonderful website fairly recently and its popularity has sky-rocketed. As well as recording Nikki and Mark’s journey towards self-sufficiency, the site provides useful advice and innovative ideas, as well as more than a few bargains from reputable sponsors!

Shandy’s Dig - www.shandysdig.com Shandy’s Dig records the successes, failures and growing and animal-related adventures of Shandy and his family on Plot 36, Edge Lane Allotments. From battling weeds to rescuing and releasing hedgehogs, this light-hearted blog is an entertaining read!

The Internet has become an amazing resource for us allotment keepers and here we have decided to highlight a couple of local bloggers who are doing their best to entertain and inform.

If you or someone you know has their own gardening or allotment website, let us know and we would be happy to feature them in the next newsletter.

Also well worth a visit: www.allotment.org.ukAuthor John Harrison’s much respected allotment website is now eight years old and more helpful than ever, with tips and advice and a welcoming online forum where you can exchange ideas or simply have a chat with like-minded people.

Allotments play a key role in BiodiversityThe variety of wildlife that can be seen on our allotments is truly staggering and Edge Lane is particularly lucky to be able to boast of a vast array of native flora and fauna; a quick look at the photographs above shows that, in terms of encouraging wildlife, we are certainly doing something right! In addition to a wonderful array of birds, regular sightings include hedgehogs and voles, frogs and toads, and less common amphibians and reptiles, including a new family of smooth newts and a healthy community of slow worms, which are particularly rare in the North West.

There are, of course, the less welcome visitors, from the humble household cat and egg-stealing magpie, to rats and mice, and the merciless fox and mink - though their presence is, to a large degree, inevitable.

But are we doing enough to encourage wildlife to our plots? Allotments play an important role - particularly in urban and inner-city environments - as havens for much of Britain’s wildlife and, without providing for their needs, we risk seeing a continued decline in their numbers.

Here are just a few suggestions that will encourage wildlife to your plot, and to the site as a whole.

Bug boxes - Let’s start at the bottom of the food chain! By putting up lacewing nests, bug and bee boxes, you are not

only providing a food source for birds, but also encouraging natural predators that prey on the dreaded aphid and other pests, thus protecting your tender crops.

Bird nesting boxes - These can be bought cheap or made very simply. Take a look online at the different types of nesting box and decide which better suits the birds that visit your plot.

Ponds - nothing attracts wildlife like a pond, and it needn’t be a large one. Believe it or not, even an upturned submerged dustbin lid filled with water is a magnet for many species. Remember to provide a ramp for animals to exit the pond and keep an eye on the children and pets near deeper ones!

Woodpiles - a small woodpile of logs and/or branches will attract insects and toads among others. A rock pile will also attract frogs and newts!

Bird tables and feeders - Fill your feeders with a variety of treats, sit down quietly with a cup of tea and just watch them enjoy it!

You can find more ideas and advice at websites such as www.wildlifegardener.co.uk and www.rspb.org.uk.

Wine making demoA wine making demo was held in the cabin on Sunday the 20th May. It was led by Ron and Marie who are quite experienced at making their own wine. Thanks go to Brian for supplying the equipment used, which consisted of demijohns, siphons, warming mats and a kit for making about six bottles of wine.

It is hoped that this equipment will be used for further wine making sessions and that a

club can be formed by those interested. Ron and Marie have agreed to present a further demo when they have their own fruit available.

The afternoon was rounded off nicely with a little wine tasting session and some lovely homemade scones with jam which Marie had made.

Further sessions will be held so if your interested lookout for a notice on the gate or get in touch with Ron or Marie on plot 51.

Cheers!

The plight of ‘would-be allotmenteers’ in Ashton has again resurfaced (it never really went away). For those who don’t know about the action being taken, here’s a brief outline.

When Tameside Council and developers took over the land that was Ashton Moss to build a motorway, leisure facilities and a business park, many allotments were flattened in the process. Allotment holders were promised that sites would be reinstated but several years later, still nothing.

Currently, there is no allotment provision in Ashton. If you visit the Council’s website and try to register for an allotment in Ashton you’ll be out of luck, as the option to do so isn’t there anymore. There are about 700 names on the Tameside waiting list for an allotment.

What does this have to do with Edge Lane you might be asking? Well it’s about sticking together and supporting a group of people who have come together to attempt to ‘free’ the land that was taken from them. On St George’s Day in 2011, a group of people got together on land just off Moss Lane next to the M60 Motorway and started a green revolution. They began to clear small plots of weeds and turn the land back into what it was promised for, growing food. Cameras turned up from the BBC and the story made the local news, The One Show and several articles in the local press. The response from the Council and developers has been muted and still nobody comes to explain when and where an allotment might be developed, so the people carry on gardening and bringing the land back into use.

What can you do to help? Well, you don’t have to do anything, just spare a thought for them or talk about it amongst your friends. If you feel you might be able to help why not join the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/125146417562968/

You could go along to help free the land or just have a chat to show your support. Whatever you decide to do is fine, but thanks for taking the time to read this.

Roy Forrest (royforrest@btinternet.com)

Ashton allotment action

The Allotment ShopThe shop is open every Sunday from 11.00 to 12.00 or immediately after Committee or General Meetings if there is a clash. Peter, Brian, Julia and Jess run it on a rota.

Peter (Plot 66) is happy to open up on demand at other times if he is around – just ask. We sell compost, growbags, manure, bamboo canes, weed control, fleece, Enviromesh, capillary matting and a range of fertilisers and soil improvers. Prices are generally competitive, especially for ‘loose’ fertilisers, which we pack ourselves.

We’ve just produced a guide to what we sell which gives more information on how to use our products. This will be available from the shop.

Our 2012 price list is posted on the shop door. Later in the year there will be a chance to benefit from bulk buys of onion sets and green manure seeds as well as to order seeds at very reduced rates through the National Society of Allotment Gardeners scheme.

Our aim is to provide value to plotholders rather than make a vast profit, but all surplus goes to the Allotment Association.

Sunday Roast - from plot to plateIf you’re planning your first vegetable garden and wondering what to grow, a good starting point could be your Sunday lunches, says Paul Peacock.

The best motivation for starting a vegetable plot is the fantastic variety of foods you can grow. One of the most appropriate starting points when you are growing for the first time is to base your vegetable choice on what you like to eat. Sunday lunch, whether it’s a salad, a curry or a full-blown British roast, is the ideal way to sort your plan.

My listPotatoes, turnips and swedes, parsnips, carrots, cabbages, broccoli, peas, beans, onions, shallots and salads; lots of different kinds of salads.

How much space?You’ll find that to grow all of these vegetables requires quite a modest space. There’s no minimum size for a veg garden, but a ten square metre plot will give you quite a lot of produce. Of course, if you can double this, so much the better. As a rough guide, you should plan on a third of your plot being down to potatoes of various kinds, and then divide the rest into ten sections grouped together, with cabbages, cauliflowers in one group; turnips, swedes, parsnips and carrots in another; peas, beans and salads in another and, finally, onions and shallots bringing up the rear.

When to start?In the middle of the growing season start slowly while you steadily plan and prepare the plot for greater things next year. If your plot is overgrown, clear away a tenth of it and plant some salads, lettuce and radish, and pop-in some garlic cloves all around the edge to deter slugs. If the plot isn’t too bad, buy some cabbage plants from the garden centre and plant them at 60cm intervals, with rows 60cm apart and finely dig a patch of soil and sow some carrot seed.

Compost heapNow, there’s a lot said about compost heaps. My first one was made from three wooden pallets joined to make a ‘U’-shaped enclosure. It had a layer of newspaper at the bottom and then the vegetable matter on the top. For every six inches of material, add another layer of newspaper, and soak it with a bucket of water. (If you can dare to add some urine to the water, so much the better!).

Right now and into summerBy August, clear a space for Japanese Onion. These will be ready for lifting in the spring, by which time you’ll be ready with more traditional varieties such as ‘Sturon’.

Try sowing Radish ‘Mino Early’, which is a winter radish and will do well if planted right now.

Lettuce and cabbage varieties called ‘All the Year Round’ do well if planted at any time of the year. Don’t worry too much about planting times, just pop them in the soil and see what you get – you will certainly get a decent first crop.

Almost any variety of potato that’s already sprouted – ask a neighbour for a couple of sprouted potato plants – can be grown-on right now and, if you cover them with straw and earth them up, leaving a couple of exposed leaves, you’ll get some sort of a crop by Christmas. (Water them well after transplanting).

Start to planDecide on where your potatoes are going to be planted next year, and mulch that area with rotted manure 20cm thick, then cover with some carpet if you can, to keep the weeds down.

Between now and Christmas, leisurely clear your plot of weeds, make the soil good by adding compost and then mark out with sand what you’re planning. And if you can, spend the coming months talking to vegetable gardeners, just to see how they do it.

The planner will help you with the basics of the general crops needed for a traditional Sunday lunch, which makes a good starting point. Everything else, tomatoes, broad beans, leeks and so on can be simply and easily fitted in as you begin to gain confidence in the garden.

These are the easy-grow varieties from my list: Potato - (Early) ‘Rocket’, (Maincrop) ‘Maris Piper’; Turnips - ‘Imperial Green Globe’; Swedes - ‘Magres’; Turnips - ‘Snowball’; Carrots - ‘Nantes’; Cabbage - ‘All the year round’; Broccoli - ‘Boltardy’; Peas - ‘Kelvedon Wonder’; Beans - ‘Opera’; Onions - ‘Sturon’; Shallots - ‘Prisma’; and for Lettuce and other salads, try whatever takes your fancy on the shelf – they’re all easy to grow.

Join in!If you haven’t got an allotment, it’s still worth becoming a member of your local society because you get cheaper materials, composts, seeds and a whole lot of advice.

Spend the autumn months preparing. Chop away at the carrot and parsnip area so the soil is almost like satin when you come to plant your seeds. Fix-up a good water supply for the plot, just in case we end up with another hosepipe ban. The favourite way is to buy 205-litre water butts. Please make sure they are fitted with childproof lids.

Visit Paul’s website: www.citycottage.co.uk

I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Ramana, Anand and the good folks at Water Farm in Lancashire for so kindly gifting us the first two pigs for our Community Farm project. And also to say how impressed we were with their farm and the fantastic work that they are doing there.

Founded in October 2010, after it was seen that there was a need for positive change in society, The Water Project is an example of how people can live more from their hearts, expressing their innate positive qualities of kindness, selflessness and compassion. It supports individuals to be more aware of these qualities within themselves and gives people opportunities to experience these qualities in action.

The Water Project is committed to serving communities and their local environment by creating natural habitats and community gardens, encouraging as many members of the

New arrivals from Water Farm light up the sitecommunity as possible to be involved in doing something positive. Not only do individuals learn about nature and the environment, and contribute to providing more spaces for wildlife to flourish, but these projects also allow individuals in communities to work together to develop their skills and qualities.

It also runs weekly ‘Roadshows’ for children and young people, providing a spontaneous, free creative workshop about nature, the environment or animals. Tailored for children, workshops are educational, fun and creative, and seek to encourage the children to be aware of their own positive qualities, such as being kind or nurturing.

The Water project is also developing a ‘Citizenship’ Programme (Nature’s Pathway), which explores the positive qualities present within us all and how we can be more aware of, and act from, these parts of ourselves.

Find out more at www.waterfarm.org

Andrew Climance (andrew@climance.co.uk)

Hughie Snr welcomes the new arrivals

Committee members:Chairman - Mick BentleyVice Chairman - John Copeland Secretary - Peter TrumperSite Manager - Patrick Maher(wmaher11260@aol.co.uk)Treasurer - Julie Maher

EventsSunday, 10th June Jubilee PartySunday, 8th July (11am) Sausage & Cheese Making with Paul Peacock Sunday, 12th August Open Day and Veg Factor

Ron’s Wine & Beer Making sessions - Please check notice board on the gates for updates!