Old Park Farm Garden Holders Association

Winnie will be hosting a Coffee Morning this coming Sunday 31st July.

The usual Bacon and Sausage cobs will will be available, bring along your own mug, is saves on the washing up.

As temperatures have risen dramatically over the last few days, Severn Trent is urging everyone to think about using water wisely while enjoying the sunny weather, to ensure there’s enough clean drinking water for everyone during this hot weather, whilst helping to save money on bills too. In particular they have asked customers to water gardens with a watering can rather than a hose.

There is no hose pipe ban in place at the moment, but this could change very quickly if there are no significant amounts of rainfall soon.

They have published at list of tips, here are a few of them:-

Top tips for saving water are: 

• When watering plants, use a watering can rather than a hose 
• A sprinkler or hose can use as much as 1,000 litres of drinking water in just one hour – which is more water than a family of four would normally use in a whole day! – and thirsty lawns will quickly bounce back once it starts raining again     
• Get yourself a water butt – it’s a great way to save water when it rains, and you can use the water for your garden when it’s dry – we’ve got discounted water butts available.   
• Clean your car with a bucket or with leftover water from the paddling pool, rather than a hosepipe or pressure washer, it’ll save loads of water and help keep your bills down   

So, please use water responsibly, I recently had a complaint from a tenant stating that the gardener next door had had there hose connected for four hours, four hours!!!!. If that hose was running you could fill 4 x 1000 litre tanks in that time, that is equivalent to half of our sites normal average daily water consumption.

I appreciate that we are currently experiencing an extreme weather event, but we need to reduce our water consumption, so when possible, use a watering can to water the base of plants rather than soaking your entire plot with a hose pipe. When filling water butts or tanks, dont leave them unattended risking them overflowing.

I have been urged to turn the water off for a couple of days, but after considerable thought, rightly or wrongly I have resisted that request for 3 reasons,

1. It is going to be a blistering hot day tomorrow (Tuesday), and it would be disastorous, if after all the hard work that gardeners put into growing there produce, should any crops fail due to lack of water.
2. The decision to restrict water should not lie with any one person or persons other than the “Management Committee” as a whole, as I believe this would exceed there power of authority.
3. There is no reference within our current “Site Water Usage Policy” with reference to “Heatwave’s” or “Extreme Weather Events”. This will need to be addressed, and the policy amended in the future.

Should Severn Trent introduce a hose pipe ban in the coming days or weeks, I would expect all tenant to abide by this ban, and though we have nothing in our Policy with regards to such a ban, should any tenant fail to abide by it. Please be aware, should any tenant/s fail to abide by it, it would be my responsibility as Secretary to inform the relevant authority who have been tasked to enforce it, and I assure you, I will.

I will hopefully be able to get our Committee together in the coming days to discuss our water consumption specifically, and will update the website accordingly.

John Stooke – Secretary

It seems that this Coronavirus and it’s many mutations are going be around for sometime, and according to some reports, infections are on the rise in most area’s of the UK, more so since the lifting of all restrictions.

When restrictions were lifted, the UK government published a huge list of “Guidleines” on its website, below I have inserted a snip it from the site.

If you leave your home

If you leave your home during the 5 days after your positive test result the following steps will reduce the chance of passing on COVID-19 to others:

• wear a well-fitting face covering made with multiple layers or a surgical face mask
• avoid crowded places such as public transport, large social gatherings, or anywhere that is enclosed or poorly ventilated
• take any exercise outdoors in places where you will not have close contact with other people
• cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze; wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser after coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose and before you eat or handle food; avoid touching your face

In recent weeks it has been brought to my attention that there has been a few cases of gardeners having tested positive and attending site.

As there is no legal obligation to isolate, I believe that it would be wrong to try and make any of our gardeners stay away, therefore, should you be unfortunate enough to test positive, but are still feeling well enough to leave your home and attend your plot, I will ask, in addition to the guidlines above, that you PLEASE :-

1. Try and reduce the number of and visits to site
2. Sanitise your hands prior to touching any common surfaces such as, padlocks & bolts on the main gates and water taps.
3. Stay within the confines of your own plot, unless entering/leaving site or connecting/disconnecting your hose.
4. Advise anyone that comes in close proximity or wishes to enter your plot of your positive status.

Please be thoughtful and consider others, they may have underlying health conditions that you are not aware of.

There is a sanitisng spray available at the top gate, but nothing by the main or bottom gates, I will look into putting something in place over the next couple of days.

John Stooke – Secretary

Winnie will be hosting a Coffee Morning tomorrow Sunday 17th July starting at 11am til 1pm.

Bacon and Sausage cobs will be on sale priced at £1.30.

Winnie will be hosting a “Coffee Morning” tomorrow 3rd of July from 11am til 1pm.

In addition to refreshments that are provided free of charge, she will be putting on “Bacon Rolls” for a small charge of 75p each should anyone feel a little peckish.

Wendy Thomas brought a troop of Beaver’s to site on Friday 17th June, you will see from the images that they got stuck in to working over a raised bed and enjoyed some seed planting.

Last week a number of gardeners and myself hosted our first visit from a local school, The Jubilee L.E.A.D Academy, and going on the email that I received from Gillian Brent, I have attached it below, I can assume it was a success.

So a BIG “THANK YOU” to everyone that helped make it a success, and those who gave produce for sampling.

Dear John

Thanks so much for hosting and facilitating the two visits by children from Jubilee LEAD Academy. The children really enjoyed seeing the allotments, meeting the gardeners, seeing the plants that produce fruit and veg and tasting some of the produce. It was really well organised so the children got the most out of the short time they were there. Thanks too for providing water; that was much appreciated by the thirsty children!

Will you pass on our thanks to Jane, Kay, Gill, and all the other gardeners who showed us their plots and to Steve for talking about bee-keeping. You were all very generous with your time and knowledge, and with sharing your produce. It was great for the children to meet members of their local community who they might not otherwise come in contact with and to make links between the school and Old Park Farm Garden

I hope we have encouraged the children to think about growing their own fruit and veg when they grow up and to eat fruits and vegetables that they wouldn’t normally think they liked.

I have copied in Riley Walker, the teacher who accompanied the children today so that he has your contact details. He may well bring more children next Summer when they are studying the same topic again.

Best wishes

Gillian