BISLEY ALLOTMENTS
PLEASE NOTE: ACCESS TO THE CHESTERGATE ALLOTMENTS SITE IS NOW FORBIDDEN TO ALL BUT ALLOTMENT TENANTS
Update from Lesley Greene - December 9, 2020
Food Bank
Lesley and Ann Adler will do a Food Bank collect and delivery on Monday December 14.
Please leave donations of fresh vegetables and eggs on the Allotment Hut Table by 10am on Monday morning.
This will be the only run in December.
Avian Flu
A further reminder to all who keep poultry that the deadline for protecting your birds is December 14 and this applies whether you keep a flock or just a bird or two as pets.
The virus can be spread on car tyres and feet - including dogs' paws - so Ben is kindly providing sanitation ‘baths’ at the entrances to the allotments. Please use them.
Gardening Naturally (a local company) has wild-bird-proof netting available. (If you buy this please remember not to leave it in coils on the ground after use; grass snakes, hedgehogs and slow worms can get caught in it and die.)
Dogs
A reminder that dogs should be kept on leads at all times if brought to the allotments.
Standpipes
Dylan has offered to put in standpipes on the allotments and the Parish Council is discussing the idea with him this week.
Soil health
For those interested in this fascinating subject, the following films are recommended - Kiss The Ground and This Good Earth - as is Garden Organic's Gardening Podcast of the Year.
The Soil Association...
...has 10 handy tips for a sustainable Christmas - and Stroud's own Natural Cookery Cook Erin Baker, who has an allotment in Spider Lane, Stroud, has produced recipes for a vegan Christmas for all those lovely vegetables you have grown this year. We can't attach PDFs to the website, unfortunately, but if you contact Lesley she will send it to you.
Update from Lesley Greene - December 7, 2020
Avian Flu
The Government has heightened its alert re Avian Flu, which is spreading through the country.
From December 14, all domestic birds must be kept protected from wild birds.
This includes birds kept as ‘backyard poultry' and as pets.
Please read the guidance and follow it.
Winter Mulching
Many allotment holders follow the ‘no-dig’ method of gardening.
This means you bulk up your vegetable (or flower) beds with layers of compost, leaf mould, and wet cardboard, or other ‘ down' (carbon) layers such as office paper shreddings, and these layers kill annual weeds and weaken perennial weeds.
In the spring, the beds are easy to gently fork over, ready for planting, and deep-rooting dandelions are easy to pull up. You will find that your vegetable beds are full of worms and all sorts of wonderful soil life, and any excess cardboard can be put back into the compost heap.
Charles Dowding has been talking about this method on Radio Gloucestershire for the last two Sundays; he mentioned that at long last the old traditional gardening organisations such as the RHS are finally catching up and practising it themselves with excellent results.
World Soil Day was on December 5, and was a timely reminder that globally soils are still being depleted by the loss of forests, deep ploughing, and the heavy use of fertilisers and pesticides. So composting and mulching is even more important and for maintaining vital nutrient levels in food.
Bisley Community Composting Scheme celebrated its 15th anniversary in mid-November.
Two founder members, Lesley Greene and Liz Howlett, are still Directors.
Hazel Saunders, the BCCS Membership secretary, baked a worm cake!
The scheme has provided an invaluable source of free, unsieved, peat-free mulching compost and leaf mould for those ‘no-dig’ allotment holders throughout this COVID summer.
BCCS is giving advice to an increasing number of climate action groups in the District who are recognising how community composting, by sequestering carbon, can help mitigate against climate change.
BCCS is, of course, a model for the ‘circular economy’, taking a local resource considered as ‘waste' and turning it into a valuable resource to go back to the community.
PERMANENT ITEMS
1. THEFTS AT THE ALLOTMENTS
Some allotment owners have reported having had seeds, seedlings, slug pellets and tools stolen from sheds or polytunnels. This is not a common occurrence at the allotments - in fact there have never been thefts there before 2020 - but people should be aware. Only allotmenteers are allowed access to the allotments currently, and other people should be asked to leave.
2. DOG-FOULING
There have been unpleasant reports of dogs fouling allotments: dogs are allowed at the allotments but the usual rules about collecting and removing faeces apply and must be followed. Failure to do so presents an obvious health risk, as well as being thoughtless and anti-social. The dog can't help it: owners can.
Update from Lesley Greene - December 9, 2020
Food Bank
Lesley and Ann Adler will do a Food Bank collect and delivery on Monday December 14.
Please leave donations of fresh vegetables and eggs on the Allotment Hut Table by 10am on Monday morning.
This will be the only run in December.
Avian Flu
A further reminder to all who keep poultry that the deadline for protecting your birds is December 14 and this applies whether you keep a flock or just a bird or two as pets.
The virus can be spread on car tyres and feet - including dogs' paws - so Ben is kindly providing sanitation ‘baths’ at the entrances to the allotments. Please use them.
Gardening Naturally (a local company) has wild-bird-proof netting available. (If you buy this please remember not to leave it in coils on the ground after use; grass snakes, hedgehogs and slow worms can get caught in it and die.)
Dogs
A reminder that dogs should be kept on leads at all times if brought to the allotments.
Standpipes
Dylan has offered to put in standpipes on the allotments and the Parish Council is discussing the idea with him this week.
Soil health
For those interested in this fascinating subject, the following films are recommended - Kiss The Ground and This Good Earth - as is Garden Organic's Gardening Podcast of the Year.
The Soil Association...
...has 10 handy tips for a sustainable Christmas - and Stroud's own Natural Cookery Cook Erin Baker, who has an allotment in Spider Lane, Stroud, has produced recipes for a vegan Christmas for all those lovely vegetables you have grown this year. We can't attach PDFs to the website, unfortunately, but if you contact Lesley she will send it to you.
Update from Lesley Greene - December 7, 2020
Avian Flu
The Government has heightened its alert re Avian Flu, which is spreading through the country.
From December 14, all domestic birds must be kept protected from wild birds.
This includes birds kept as ‘backyard poultry' and as pets.
Please read the guidance and follow it.
Winter Mulching
Many allotment holders follow the ‘no-dig’ method of gardening.
This means you bulk up your vegetable (or flower) beds with layers of compost, leaf mould, and wet cardboard, or other ‘ down' (carbon) layers such as office paper shreddings, and these layers kill annual weeds and weaken perennial weeds.
In the spring, the beds are easy to gently fork over, ready for planting, and deep-rooting dandelions are easy to pull up. You will find that your vegetable beds are full of worms and all sorts of wonderful soil life, and any excess cardboard can be put back into the compost heap.
Charles Dowding has been talking about this method on Radio Gloucestershire for the last two Sundays; he mentioned that at long last the old traditional gardening organisations such as the RHS are finally catching up and practising it themselves with excellent results.
World Soil Day was on December 5, and was a timely reminder that globally soils are still being depleted by the loss of forests, deep ploughing, and the heavy use of fertilisers and pesticides. So composting and mulching is even more important and for maintaining vital nutrient levels in food.
Bisley Community Composting Scheme celebrated its 15th anniversary in mid-November.
Two founder members, Lesley Greene and Liz Howlett, are still Directors.
Hazel Saunders, the BCCS Membership secretary, baked a worm cake!
The scheme has provided an invaluable source of free, unsieved, peat-free mulching compost and leaf mould for those ‘no-dig’ allotment holders throughout this COVID summer.
BCCS is giving advice to an increasing number of climate action groups in the District who are recognising how community composting, by sequestering carbon, can help mitigate against climate change.
BCCS is, of course, a model for the ‘circular economy’, taking a local resource considered as ‘waste' and turning it into a valuable resource to go back to the community.
PERMANENT ITEMS
1. THEFTS AT THE ALLOTMENTS
Some allotment owners have reported having had seeds, seedlings, slug pellets and tools stolen from sheds or polytunnels. This is not a common occurrence at the allotments - in fact there have never been thefts there before 2020 - but people should be aware. Only allotmenteers are allowed access to the allotments currently, and other people should be asked to leave.
2. DOG-FOULING
There have been unpleasant reports of dogs fouling allotments: dogs are allowed at the allotments but the usual rules about collecting and removing faeces apply and must be followed. Failure to do so presents an obvious health risk, as well as being thoughtless and anti-social. The dog can't help it: owners can.
ABOUT THE ALLOTMENTS IN BISLEY
The Chestergate Allotments are located on the edge of Bisley, on the Stroud Road, and are provided by the Charity of the Ancient Parish of Bisley.
Current allotmenteers grow fruit, vegetables and flowers, and several keep chickens.
It's a great way to grow fresh and nutritious food - often more interesting or unusual strains of fruit and veg that are harder to find or more expensive in the supermarkets.
You don't need any great experience or knowledge to take on a plot - there are always friendly people around to offer advice and lend tools if you need them, and free plants are also often provided.
Rent is £15 per year, and many allotments are still available.
If you would like to take on an allotment, please email allotment warden Lesley Greene or telephone her on 01452 770018.
Next door to the allotments is the Bisley Community Composting Scheme.
This is a members-only scheme that takes garden waste, composts it in large bins and makes it available to members as unsieved soil conditioner or, for a small donation, as sieved and bagged green compost.
Membership is £30 per year.
If you would like to join BCCS, please email Hazel Saunders or telephone her on 01452 770606.
At the Stroud end of the allotments area is Bisley's Community Orchard, which was set up in 2013 in memory of a very popular local resident, Lyn Hemming. It was planted with seventeen indigenous Gloucestershire apple varieties and two perry pears.
It is largely left to grow wild in order to provide a habitat for bees and other insects.
Current allotmenteers grow fruit, vegetables and flowers, and several keep chickens.
It's a great way to grow fresh and nutritious food - often more interesting or unusual strains of fruit and veg that are harder to find or more expensive in the supermarkets.
You don't need any great experience or knowledge to take on a plot - there are always friendly people around to offer advice and lend tools if you need them, and free plants are also often provided.
Rent is £15 per year, and many allotments are still available.
If you would like to take on an allotment, please email allotment warden Lesley Greene or telephone her on 01452 770018.
Next door to the allotments is the Bisley Community Composting Scheme.
This is a members-only scheme that takes garden waste, composts it in large bins and makes it available to members as unsieved soil conditioner or, for a small donation, as sieved and bagged green compost.
Membership is £30 per year.
If you would like to join BCCS, please email Hazel Saunders or telephone her on 01452 770606.
At the Stroud end of the allotments area is Bisley's Community Orchard, which was set up in 2013 in memory of a very popular local resident, Lyn Hemming. It was planted with seventeen indigenous Gloucestershire apple varieties and two perry pears.
It is largely left to grow wild in order to provide a habitat for bees and other insects.
