What happened in 2017...
January 2017
The first week in January we received the excellent news that a FIVE year lease was agreed 'in principle' between the landowner and the Town Council, so five more years at Marsh Lane - what a great start to the year!
It was a cold start to the year with a little snow (very little) and frosty nights making the ground too frozen to work - for most of us.
It was good to see another variety of bird (green woodpecker) on the site along with the many thrushes which are hopefully enjoying the huge number of slugs and snails we have!
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February 2017
February was windy, very windy, with Storm Doris and Storm Ewan paying us a visit and sending plot furniture to all corners of the site.
But it's great to see early signs of life in the bulbs on some plots around the site.
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March 2017
Aah, March when gatherings start and more plotholders come out of hibernation! Although the sun only showed itself in small bursts it's a nice social month of the year.
We had a workday - lots of hedge-cutting and clearing, with a warming tipple for the helpful volunteers and some new plotholders.
And, a welcome delivery of manure to the site - £1 per barrowload for plotholders.
Now here's what we know the end of March offers us - Springtime!
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April 2017
April is the beginning of our lease year (changing to February in 2018) so advertising for more new plotholders. The new mini plots have proved popular with newcomers - if they find they love growing their own they may move to larger plots or stay with the small plot if it suits their needs. It's nice to see how they're getting on as the plots are near the gate.
More colour appearing on the site and little lines of seedlings appearing... with sunshine and rain in almost equal amounts.
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May 2017
2017 is proving to be a windy year, but May has given us some lovely warm and sunny weekends - perfect.
OK, so perfect also means the right amount of rain... maybe not all in one go!
But look how good the site looks by mid-May.
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June 2017
We started June with the first ever HAHA Plant Sale, held at the Fairfields Allotment site and we collected £91.65 for the Air Ambulance.
What a lot of fun we had and so many visitors - plotholders and other gardeners from the area. We'll definitely have a plant sale next year now that we know how enjoyable it is!
June was another windy month and not very warm wind but towards the end of the month we had a mini heat wave with temperatures in the high 20s.
Sadly our treasurer, Ted, resigned in June but he's still a very active plotholder and helps out with our socials. We'll miss Ted on the committee but many thanks to Andy for taking on the treasurer role, ably assisted by Zoe.
July 2017
July skipped between drought and cold rain so the site is obviously looking its best. And not just for Hungerford in Bloom which was, not at all suprisingly, won by newcomer Ivan. His plots are outstanding at all times and we're so glad to have a such a lovely skilled gardener on site - oh yes, have I mentioned his wine-making?!
Here are the results for the two categories for the Marsh Lane Allotments:
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Over 2 Poles First Place – Ivan Montague Second Place – Neal Pike Joint Third Prize – Glenn MacKenzie & Geoff Wood Geoff & Jill Greenland Very Highly Commended – Robert James Up To 2 Poles First Place – Lesley Jones Second Place – Maurice Elliot Third Prize – Maria Kopec Very Highly Commended – Andrew Downs |
We had an Open Day with tea and cakes - unfortunately we discovered a week earlier that other big events were also on the same day so we down-scaled.
However the lack of non-plotholders didn't stop us enjoying tea cakes and various other beverages on offer from generous plotholders!
August 2017
The HAHA/RBL Horticultural & Handicrafts Show is definitely on the Hungerford calendar now. We were missing a few regulars because of holidays, which was a shame - we need to ensure that the date is planned early next year to avoid this if we can.
Marsh Lane plotholder NEAL PIKE won the Banksian Medal this year for the most horticultural points and his wife, JANE PIKE, won the most handicrafts points. CONGRATULATIONS!
Meanwhile the allotments are flourishing with so much produce and flowers - what an amazing spot to spend a few hours, especially when there isn't much to do, apart from watch the wildlife buzzing about.
September 2017
At the beginning of the month we had a Plotholders BBQ It was such a lovely day that plotholders who popped down to harvest couldn't help but sit down and join in with the socialising.
The committee decided to have another set of mini-plots at the top of site (or is it the bottom?) by the gates. At just less than 1 pole (25m2) and £12 a year they've proved popular this year. This is the larger plot divided up ready to have three grass paths sown between the mini-plots.
The wind again caused problems as the remnants of Storm Eilleen hit and Autumn was beginning to show.
We're still working hard to ensure that the Marsh Lane Allotments site is embedded in the heart of Hungerford and not just those of us who have plots on the site. So, we had to add the allotment site to the Community Mural as part of the Arts for Hungerford Visual Arts Trail. The artist, Simon Jardine, was there to improve on Zoe and Belinda's work - well, they're growers not painters :-)
October 2017
The HAHA displays at the Hungerford Food Festival are really eye-catching. Our plotholders really provide us with some interesting and lovely-looking veg.
And we were able to show photos of the Hungerford Nursery School children who are learning about where their food comes from by visiting a plot at the Fairfields site.
And, as has become a tradition, Kerry provided 'award winning' scones, with donated jams and delicious elderflower cordial at the top of the stairs.
November 2017
The BIG NEWS! We received our funding from the National Lottery's Big Lottery Fund grant and now we have a compost toilet on the site! Saving HAHA ~£700 every year on portaloo rental.
Well, it was such big news we had to have the mayor cut the ribbon for us didn't we?! And we had champagne with lots of people queuing celebrating..
A big thank you to the National Lottery for providing us with this funding!
December 2017
Merry Christmas to all our plotholders!
And there is always a celebration for the committee members to thank them for all their hard work over the year. Particularly Geoff, our Chairman, and all the other volunteers who put in many hours of work so that the Council don't need to.
See you in 2018!