January 2012
Please note the deadline for newsletter articles is 30th January - please send contributions to secretary, John McKinnie.
21st January - Please note that new members can now pay subscriptions on line, using PayPal or bank transfer. Please follow the instructions on the home page. If you still want to pay by cheque or cash, that's fine. In which case, just print off and complete the membership form as before (form also foundon the home page).
November 2011
21st November - Note for the year ahead that all HRAA members can attend gardening club meetings. The list of events is shown on the Diary Dates page on this web site. This includes information and a booking form for the trip to Kew on 28th April 2012.
12th November - Newsletter (with special feature - the caption competition) and NSALG magazine now on line (see links on Committee page). If you are member, then you will have received an email about these.
Please be aware that a couple with a dog have been seen on the allotments, twice in recent weeks, helping themselves to produce. We have a photo of the offending intruders. Again, members will have received this by email; any other plot holders reading this can contact the secretary, but please consider joining, as members will receive this information automatically. Non-members won't.
If you have not paid your membership fees yet, then please contact the secretary ASAP. We are currently setting up an on line payment system (we are just waiting to activate a PayPal account), but in the meantime if anyone wants to pay using on line banking, please contact the secretary or treasurer for HRAA bank account details.
Finally we have a couple of vacancies on the Committee and on the Produce Show sub Committee. Please contact us if you can spare any time to help; organise events.
Note for the year ahead that all HRAA members can attend gardening club meetings. The list of events is shown on the Diary Dates page on this web site.
October 2011
17th October - Annual General Meeting - please put the date in your diaries. Venue: The Corn Exchange, Cromwell Room, 7.30pm. You will be able to collect membership cards and sign up for the next year, as soon as formal business has closed (and assuming you bring your subs). There are vacancies for the Treasurers post, and two ordinary Committee members. Please do consider getting involved. Finally, contact the secretary if you have any issues you wish to add to the agenda.
10th October - Committee meeting. Please pass on any comments and questions you have to a committee member.
September 2011
Hopefully by now many you of came to the produce Show and had a great day. Find more details on the 'Produce show' page on this web site. Congratulations to Mark who won overall Best in Show.
August 2011
11th Aug - HRAA summer newsletter published - link is on Committee page of web site.
Summer edition of NSALG magazine also on Committee page - please note that to access this requires a username and password and that you are a fully paid up member of HRAA and the National Association. Contact the chairman if we are having problems with access.
Only three weeks to the produce show - have you downloaded your entry form yet ?
July 2011
24nd July - Flower and Produce Show: Please note that the final schedule and entry form is now on the Produce Show page of the web site. Hard copies are being printed and will be circulated shortly to those who require one. If you can help out, even for just an hour on the day, please let the secretary know.
23rd July - please let the secretary have all contributions for the next HRAA newsletter by the end of the month.
June 2011
6th June - Please note the social event on Sunday (12th June). Fun kicks off at 11 am with coffee and cakes, lots of activities for kids including dissecting owl pellets, balloon race and a word hunt/competition. There will also be a trip around the allotments for gardening club members at 11.30-12pm. Lunch (soup and rolls) at 12.30 and a second tour of the allotments at 1.30-2pm. Bring any plants you want to swap or get rid of, and keep your fingers crossed for good weather. Entry free to HRAA and gardening club members and families. Please contact a committee member if you are prepared to do a half hour stint serving tea/cakes or helping set up/take down at any point.
May 2011
2nd May - Spring newletter now on line with lots of interesting articles. The link can be found on the Committee page.
Still no sign of rain. Top tip.... rather than battering the soil into submission and busting your rake in the process, trying wetting the soil, leaving ten minutes then raking it again. You will find you get a tilth much more easily (may need to go back to step one and repeat a number of times).
April 2011
Gardening club moving forward......
A community 'interest meeting' was organised by Robin Bletsoe on 28th March, with the aim of establishing a gardening club in St Ives, for those people with an interest in horticulture, but who are not allotment tenants.
For anyone wanting to join the gardening club, a copy of the standard Application form (se Committee page) should be completed by each individual family member who wishes to join. They can be taken to Robin at:
53 GREEN LEYS, ST. IVES PE27 6SB on either Thursday 7th April between 19.00 and 21.00 or Sunday 10th April between 10.30 and 13.00.
We are anticipating being able to issue the membership cards at those times. Please remember existing HRAA members do not need to apply for membership they are already Members.
Please note new Date and Venue for first gardening club meeting: Thursday 19th May 19.30 - 21.30 in the Free Church Hall which is downstairs. The topic for now is 'An Open Meeting for Q&A, Plant Identification, Cultural Tips and general exchange of Garden News'. We also hope on that evening to advise details of other forthcoming events / activities.
For further details email Robin at: robin.bletsoe@yahoo.com.
9th April - Draft schedule for Produce show now on line - look on Produce Show page. Planning going well - all classes agreed and judges booked. If you would like to help, or know of any local business who would light to sponsor the show, please let the secretary know.
6th April - more woodchips have been delivered and deposited around the allotment site. They are free for everyone to use, but do encourage any non-members helping themselves to join the association.
Please keep the car park clean and tidy now the main pile of woodchips have gone. We know it is full of piles of soil and hardcore, but these were not left there by the allotment association. Please let us know if you see anyone dumping rubbish in the car park. The shed and the Madingley mulch bag left there in the winter have now gone.
Looks like another dry spring is with us ! Cambridge hit the news for having had no appreciable rain in March. Time to batter the clay soil into submission if you did not get it dug over before the winter !
March 2011
2nd March - plans are progressing well for the development of a gardening club in St Ives, set up under the auspices of HRAA. A public interest meeting has been planned for the 28th March at 7.30pm in the Free Church, so if you are reading this and interested in joining a gardening club, but you are not an allotment tenant, please come along.
February 2011
6th February, 2pm - on site event today - confirmed, weather is looking good. Walkabout and advice on pruning and fruit tree care. Meet at Plot 50.
5th February - many months after making our Barn Owl box, this has finally been installed near the allotment site and is now part of the network of about 90 boxes in Cambridgeshire. Here is a photo of one of the 'owl men' completing the installation, putting some woodshavings into the box. Let's hope a bird finally makes residency.
Please ask Richard if you want to know the exact location. Note that only licensed bird handlers are allowed to ring bids and check owl boxes, and otherwise it is illegal to tamper with them. If you think that anyone has been interfering with the box please let us know. For further information see www.hushwings.co.uk.
January 2011
14th January - Happy New Year everyone ! Today we had nine lorry loads of woodchips delivered at the allotments, courtesy of David Wilson Homes. These are free to everyone on the allotment site, but please bear in mind if you are not a HRAA member, that the more people who join the Association, the more we can do for you and continue to organise deliveries of compost and soil improver etc.
You will note that because of the waterlogging on much of the site, most of the woodchips have been left on the car park. If you are going to take some, please clean up after you have finished - the woodchips contain some clods of earth, so when you have finished, please throw these onto the bank, and get them off the surface of the car park. We need to show the town council that we can look after the facilities !
Finally please note that the woodchips must NOT BE TAKEN OFF SITE. They are not for home use. We need to make sure every gets a fair chance to use them on their plots. Thank you.
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