Dates for your diaries
| Wednesday 13th July 10.30 – 12.00 | Café at the Barn |
| Sunday 17th July 10 - 12 | Maintenance working party – all help welcome. Tidying the herbaceous border by the Montenotte gate. Bring secateurs and gloves. Tea and biscuits provided. |
| Sunday 24th July 1 – 2pm | Lunch at the Barn (Note: no discussion group this month) |
| Sunday 7th August 10 – 12.00 | Maintenance working party – all help welcome |
| Wednesday 10th August 3.00 – 4.30 | Afternoon tea at the Barn (Note: we are trialling afternoon tea instead of morning coffee) |
| Sunday 21st August 12.00 – 2.00 | Discussion group (12.00 – 1.00) and lunch (1.00 – 2.00) |
Watering guidance
With the dry weather we’re having it’s a good time for a reminder about the watering guidelines available on our website. The key points are:
- Use watering cans where possible, there’s less run off than with a hose. And you can be more accurate with directing water at plants, and not watering weeds!
- NEVER leave a hose running unattended.
- Sprinklers are to be discouraged. Many allotment sites are banning their use.
- Ideally water plants early in the morning, to avoid evaporation loss during the day. On warm summer days, evening watering is also effective, the dry soil soaking it in readily and low humidity at night reducing risk of disease.
- Watering more thoroughly, but less frequently helps get the water down to the deeper root tips. Light watering may encourage surface rather than deep roots, leaving plants more susceptible to drought.
- To determine the need for watering, inspect the soil at a spade's depth. If the soil feels damp, there is unlikely to be any need to water, but if it is dry, then watering is probably required for some plants.
- Most watering should be aimed specifically at the stem bases beneath the foliage canopy, leaving the surrounding soil dry. This helps to limit weed problems and ensures all the water goes where it is needed.
- Mulching with a layer of organic matter or gravel at least 5cm (2in) thick, reduces moisture loss from the upper layers of the soil. This may amount to as much as the equivalent of 2cm (0.75in) of rain
- Removing weeds is vital, as weeds use up valuable soil moisture reserve.
Excess produce for the Hornsey Food Bank
We had this message from the Hornsey Food Bank earlier this year: "Thank you for all the great fruit and veg donations that your members have made to the food bank. It is greatly appreciated and we hope that we can continue to receive donations from you when the allotments begin to have produce again". We are now starting the scheme again so please leave any excess produce you have in the crate by the Barn, on a Monday or Tuesday before 4pm. Someone from the food bank will then collect.
Overgrown paths
Tenants have reported cuts on their hands from brambles overhanging the main paths - please make sure that all paths around your plot are free from brambles and overhanging foliage is cut back.
Netting
It’s very easy for birds to get trapped inside netting if it is not securely tied in. Do check that yours is.
The allotment committee, July 2022