You are cordially invited to this month’s Community Sunday (September 20) from 11.00 to 12.30 at Garthdee Field Allotments. With regret there will be no communal coffee and cake session at the close and we will have to observe strict social distancing, while working in small groups, but there is plenty to do safely around the communal areas of the site e.g.
weeding South Bank and other boundaries remove large weeds from wildflower meadow (if any) pothole filling orchard tidying (e.g. fruit bushes) strimming of grass woodchip management etc.
This is a good opportunity to get things as shipshape as possible just before the visit of the assessors on Thursday for the Green Flag Award Looking forward to seeing all who can make it.
Dobies have sent out their new Group Scheme Catalogues and issued our new Discount Code (all our plotters and volunteers can get 40% off seeds and 10% off everything else).
I will pop the new catalogues and code details into the Octagon by the weekend. Be warned – lots of tempting new offerings!
We have very kindly been offered spent coffee-grounds from one of Aberdeen’s baristas. A quick internet check reveals that there are differing views on how useful coffee grounds are in a garden.
However the grounds certainly have some uses and are being delivered free of charge to our site. You will find a small pile accumulating at the bottom of our allotment site beside where George dumps the grass cuttings. Please help yourself.
A wee update on our membership of the Dobies Group Scheme for the season just finishing.
Fifteen orders were placed amounting to a total for seeds of £303. Our GFAA members saved 40% on those orders and the Association’s total discount on all items was £43.93. This discount will be paid to our funds sometime in September.
I am pleased to say we will continue to be members into the coming season on the same basis as before – plotters placing orders get 40% off seeds and 10% off everything else from the Dobies Catalogue. At the same time the Association gets a further 10% for seed orders and 5% of all else paid to our funds. A win/win I think.
Please note: The current Discount code will stop working as of 1 September after which date a new code will be issued.
Meanwhile the Volunteer Squad have lost the services of Gordon and Mike, who are unable to attend while the most recent Lockdown is in place. However, we have been lucky enough to have Ali and Irene join us over the last number of weeks and we are very grateful to them for their enthusiasm and hard work.
We had a great day on Sunday, spurred on by wonderful weather.
Ali, Stewart and Jordi – quite a lineup!
We had the help of a big team on the day – Ali, Stewart, Jordi, Callum and Irene and got masses done despite the hot weather. Over the last week or so jobs undertaken by the Squad have included:
seek and destroy missions against Sticky Willies on plot edges
weeding the Nursery plot
tidy up and refreshing of the Primary plastic greenhouse
removing barbed wire from the Southern wall/boundary
reinstating the sight line for drivers exiting the main entrance
hoeing the Octagon Path
spraying the areas of hard-standing, ready for weed removal
regular de-heading of flowers in the raised beds and around Octagon
regular watering of the communal greenhouses
weeding and adding woodchip to plot edges
removal of the broken compost bin by the northern carpark
regular weeding of the raised beds and around fruit trees
preparing the round picnic table by the Polytunnel
repair and painting of compost bins
Primary School compost bin turning/management
weekly litter picks of the whole site
painting of the Bothy cladding and A-frame board
reorganisation and tidying of the Communal Containers
woodchip pile management
Micro-plot paths weeding
strimming of ‘wilder’ grassy areas
weeding and maintenance of South and North Banks
tidy of North Car Park waste metal and wood ready for removal when the Public Skips open for trailers
giving a helping hand to injured or incapacitated plotters
This is not an exclusive list by any means and plotters have contributed their time to regular grass cutting, strimming, raised bed planting up, tree bowl trimming, entrance barrier painting and the like. My apologies to those I have not mentioned.
But the truth is, there is more to be done than we can get done at the moment. We have all sorts of jobs to be done – from 10 minute jobs to 100 minute jobs. If you have any wee bit of time you could offer, don’t be shy, ask a member of the Committee how you can help. If you could help out with the Volunteer Squad on a Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday please let me (Norman) know.
One suggestion – ‘adopt’ the path edge that borders your own plot and keep it tidy, weed-free and in a shape that does not impede or scratch cars as they pass by.
