Gordon Road Allotment: Seeds Seeds and More Seeds

Well I am so busy preparing for this year's plant sale I don't know which way to turn. Our allotment site is having a major face lift too. I'll publish photos as soon as I can take some i.e when I have a bit of spare time in daylight hours.

One of our most active members applied for a grant to create raised beds for disabled or elderly people and for school children and to enable major clearing of the perimeter and reestablishment of a secure boundary fence. We have been subject to numerous break ins (the latest this week) and vandalism due to lack of a secure fence. The council has only been able to afford chestnut palings and kids seem to find this sort of fencing irresistible. Usually only some old tools get taken but occasionally crops disappear too. This is much rarer and has usually been associated with builders renovating houses overlooking the site eyeing up the crops whilst they have their tea break.

As for the plant sale to be held in May; I've been preparing lists for the helpers who will be sowing the seeds and potting on. This requires a great deal of organisation so that we can keep track of what has been sown and when. and eventually how many plants we have to sell. The proceeds of this sale will go towards the funds enabling us to maintain the amenities we enjoy on our allotment site. We now have a wonderful eco loo (mentioned in a previous blog) accessible to wheelchairs, or at least will be after some essential alterations have been made. We have a nice new tea room with tea coffee and biscuits provided, where we can take shelter when the weather turns bad as well as other communal areas where we can congregate when the weather is good to have our bar-b-ques etc. There are also mowers and wheelbarrows which need to be maintained as well as electricity and water on site.

All of this costs quite a lot more than individual rental for the plots; we therefore need to find a way to raise money every year to keep these facilities going for the enjoyment of all plot holders. Hence the plant sale. which was originally conceived to allow the Society to have an annual show. Showing of flowers, fruit and vegetables lost popularity as most people didn't want to enter their crops into a competition so the money raised now is more usefully used to benefit the site and the people on it.

The organization of the sale requires a whole team of people to grow the crops, organize the setting up of the stalls, selling the plants on the day, making cakes and selling teas and coffees to the visitors and finally clearing up afterwards.

However all this is yet to come but it all has to start somewhere and that is my job.

The sale is very popular with local people who queue up on Sunday morning before the sale starts waiting to get in. There is what can only be described as a stampede as the gates open.

Here are a few photographs from last year showing a little of what was grown for the plant sale 2010