Welcome to Autumn!

SHOP HOURS ARE CHANGING IN OCTOBER

We're pleased we have managed to continue the shop service through recent difficulties. While we remain resurgent, there has not been quite so much footfall this year, and our merry band of volunteers have plenty of other interests to keep them going. However - many of you have asked about the return of Sunday opening..

So, to best serve everyone, we have decided to change our shop hours to:

• SATURDAY  14:00-15:00 - ONE HOUR ONLY  
• SUNDAY  11:00-12:00 - ONE HOUR ONLY

This will apply from October to end of this year (5th Dec).

(For September only, it will remain Saturday only, 13:00-15:00.)          

In the New Year we will then review and see how this change has been received.
 

POTATO ORDERS - UNAVAILABLE VARIETIES

Please download the form for your seed potato orders this year here

Due to ongoing concern about limited seed potato availability this year, we are asking you to return and place your orders by end October latest.

We are keeping prices at last year's levels (except pink fir apple).  

NB: Several potato varieties, and all red onions, are NOT AVAILABLE this year due to bad harvests. 

ASSOCIATION AGM

The annual general meeting for 2019- was held late (via Zoom) in Nov 2020. Under the constitution we must hold the next AGM by Nov 2021, to review year 2020. To do this we propose to hold the AGM again via Zoom and perhaps on Nov 24th. This will be confirmed in due course. (We then intend to restore the next AGM to its rightful place in April 2022.)   

RHS NEWSLETTER

Click here to read RHS September newsletter

 

News from our site secretaries

 We hope you’ve had a productive season on your allotment this year so far.

 If you do have any surplus produce, the message below from local councillor Jonny Crawshaw may be of interest:

Hope all is well on the allotments? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them looking so well-tended!  I’m just getting in touch as I wondered whether it might be possible to pass a message around Scarcroft Allotment Tenants that The Collective Sharehouse would welcome donations of fresh fruit/veg if people have a glut! They’ve suggested that ‘robust’ fruit & veg would be most suitable and it can be dropped in to The Sharehouse whenever they are open – Tues/Thurs/Fri 9-11am or Weds 5-7pm. The Sharehouse is located within Clement’s Hall and accessed via the rear entrance on Cygnet St (at the bottom end of Swann St). They are currently making around 80-100 shares per week - which they believe represents around 40-50 families/households - so any and all help/donations will be gratefully received! 

We’ve had some reports from tenants recently of unwanted visitors on their plot;, items such as cycles dumped, and sheds broken into.  Please do report any criminal or anti-social behaviour to the police on 101 – they may not be able to take any immediate action, but it does help them to build a picture of what is going on and they will increase patrols if there is an increase in problems.

Most of the asbestos on site that was identified by you and by us has now been removed; we’re aware of just two places where we’re still waiting for collection/assessment.  We shall be meeting Dave Meigh from City of York Council on site later this month to push these forward, so if you’re aware of any asbestos on your plot that you haven’t told us about, please do so in the next week or so.

We did a full site inspection over the weekend.  Although most plots have been well looked after over this season (see Councillor Crawshaw’s comment above!), there are some cases of neglect and we’ll be following this inspection up in another month or so.  The autumn is a great time for tidying your allotment and tackling unproductive areas in preparation for next season…

Finally, a local sixth-form student has asked us if tenants would like to respond to a survey they are doing for an A-level project about the social benefits of allotments. If you would like to respond to this, please use this link:  https://forms.gle/rReAjMHY43E7kLWs6

All the best,
Claire and Graham

 

Association lawn mower service cut

At a recent Zoom meeting of the Association committee, we discussed the lending of mowers to members, which has not happened for over a year now because of the Covid restrictions. Graham has been organising this, and he commented:

"I've been very concerned for quite some time about the Association's position if there were ever an accident with one of the mowers resulting in serious injury.  That's why I've tried to develop all the health and safety information and forms etc.  I think that, despite all those precautions, the Association (and me in particular as Chair and effectively the person overseeing the use of the mowers) would be legally liable. Our liability would not be limited - and I would be sorry to have to sell my house to pay for a claim!"   

While we appreciate that this service may be very much missed, the committee has decided that the Association will no longer lend mowers to members.  

If current members are interested in taking possession of a mower for personal use, please let us know by end of June and we will put names in a hat. Suitable donations would of course be welcome, but the mowers are offered as found and the Association cannot accept any liability for their condition or defects.  

Great news from the Association: partial re-opening of the shop from Saturday 15th May 2021

The shop will be open from 2.00 to 3.30 p.m. on SATURDAYS for sales from the door.

A full stock and price list will be available at the door and you can download either as follows

List of seeds at https://tinyurl.com/tfuz49fy

Current price list at  https://tinyurl.com/msn9fckb

Please note that Select and Collect will NOT be operating - there is now no need to pre-order.

Pay by cash or cheque.

If you didn’t get round to renewing your membership by e-mail, you can renew in person.

Here's a little guide to help you find out more about insects on your allotment

Our thanks to Sara Robin for this guide to pollinators and other insects you can find on many allotments. Thanks too to Dr Roger Key for his expert help.

Allotments are one of the best places in which to find insects and there is great fun to be had in being able to identify the creatures you spot.
Many of these creatures pollinate your fruit and vegetables, but they may also have other benefits.  Hoverfly adults are pollinators and some of their larvae eat aphids. Lacewing and ladybird larvae also eat aphids, and some ground beetles eat slugs.You can download a pdf of the guide by clicking on this link https://tinyurl.com/352enatj
 

 

Spring News

We’d like to bring you up to date on news and issues on the site.

Nesting Season

Spring is here and the considerable bird populations of the allotments have started to build their nests. The bird nesting season goes from March to August and hedge trimming during this time is best avoided.  In fact damaging or destroying  birds' nests is illegal, see https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/plants-for-wildlife/garden-hedges/hedge-law/ for more information.

We have had nesting Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Robins, Blue, Coal and Great Tits, and the wonderful Long Tailed Tits, not to mention Wood Pigeons and Magpies. Birds with declining populations like Dunnock and House Sparrows are found in very good numbers on the allotments. Lots of good advice on how to look after hedges and encourage birds at https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/conservation-and-sustainability/advice/conservation-land-management-advice/farm-hedges/the-value-of-hedgerows-for-wildlife  As well as trees and hedges, birds may be nesting in piles of brash/hedge trimmings that have been cleared from plots and boundaries around the site.

Considering the Neighbours

There’s a lot of activity on the site now, which is great!  We have had reports, though, of some things causing a nuisance:  children being allowed to wander onto or through neighbouring plots; dogs not closely supervised by their owners and allowed to wander or bark continually; radios etc. played loudly enough to disturb neighbouring plotholders.  Whenever you’re enjoying your garden, please help others to enjoy theirs too.

Asbestos

A few tenants have found asbestos on their plots while clearing areas ready for the growing season.  A specialist company will be visiting the site (and others in the city) in early May to pick up asbestos.  If you have found asbestos on your plot, please let us know, with details of what and where it is, and if possible with a photo of the material and location.  If you can do this before we do our full inspection in the week beginning 5th April, that will help us to draw up a list and information for YACIO to pass on to the company.

All the best,

Claire and Graham

Spring is in the air

We're hoping that there won't be any deep or prolonged periods of frost now, so we've turned the water supplies to the allotments back on and checked the taps.

Site Secreatries Graham and Claire plan to do their first full inspection of all the plots on the site during the week beginning 5th April, following the Easter weekend so it's time to get busy!

News (and an invoice) from YACIO

Allotment invoices from YACIO (York Allotments Charitable Incorporated Organisation) will be dropping through your letterbox any day now if they have not already arrived. 

Enclosed with the invoice is a newsletter with information on

• the cultivation standards expected of plot holders
• pruning blackcurrants (spoiler alert: do it now!)
• helping hedgehogs
• the need for more Trustees to help YACIO function.

It goes without saying that the plot fee is well worth the money, but the newsletter is well worth the read too!

New shop stocklist for 2021 now available

We thought it might be useful for you to see the items we'll be stocking in the Association shop this year so you can start to make some gardening plans. You can see the stocklist on the shp page here.                     

Prices will be shown on order forms once we re-start the Select and Collect service - lockdown permitting. Watch this space and look out for other communications in due course.

 

 

 

 

A happy (and healthy!) new year to all

Many of us will be glad to see the back of 2020 for more reasons than the obvious and, thankfully, this New Year seems to dawn with special promise of better times to come.We send good wishes to all members and all those who garden at Scarcoft, Hospital Fields and Hob Moor for a happy, healthy and productive 2021.

Why not come along to our end-of season get-together at the Shop hut on Scarcroft Allotments, from 11:00 on 9th December. There will be mulled wine (+ soft drinks) and mince pies - bring your own mug!! The shop will be closing after this for the winter break.

Did you know the variety of wildlife you could encounter on allotments such as Scarcroft Site ? Check out our information below! 

Also available from Scarcroft Shop in a more-easily-readable leaflet form :) 

Mikron Theatre's latest performance 'Pure', at Scarcroft Allotments

We are over-the-moon to once again welcome Mikron Theatre to Scarcroft Allotments for the fifth time...
And even better - linking in with York's chocolate heritage, they will be performing the premiere of their latest production, 'Pure, The Business of Chocolate'. If you haven't yet seen Mikron's unique story telling, witty performances then this is a must; and if you have, well we're confident that this latest offering will tickle your taste buds just as before.

Tuesday 7th June at 7pm on the green triangle, Scarcroft Allotments.
No tickets required. Cash collection to be taken after the show

Gardener's Question Time review

The recording of BBC Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time at Clements Hall on Monday 18th April proved to be as entertaining and informative as any gardener could wish for. The buzz of anticipation was apparent as we queued up outside the venue early that evening - sharing the wording of our questions and pondering upon whom may be on the panel to answer those who were lucky enough (and brave) to be selected. It was a full house, all tickets sold out within 48 hours of going on sale the previous week, the audience was keen...

Yet, the backstory of how we came to this point will not be known by many. It was more than three years ago that committee member, Sarah Austin first proposed the Association put in an application to the BBC. So together the committee put their collective heads together and duly submitted one. Nothing was heard and it was assumed we had been unsuccessful... that is until the Beeb phoned Graham Sanderson (Chair) just 4 weeks prior to the proposed recording date. Emails flew in all directions... could we deliver in such a short time frame? After meeting with Linda Speidel, manager of Clements Hall, it was clear everyone was on board and keen to proceed. After a successful sound check by the BBC's technical crew we were given the green light... the cat was out of the bag and the horse was running (or is it the other way round?) Tickets went on sale and the rest is history. Our heartfelt thanks are due to Judith and her team at Clements Hall for taking up this unexpected challenge and tackling it so brilliantly and with such enthusiasm. Thanks are also due to Scarcroft School for the loan of their staging, and to all other individuals whose contributions made this event proceed so smoothly.

So what of the recording...?
The questions from ten intrepid participants were selected, and they were duly seated along the front row. The scene was set, the producer had done his warm-up act, and the panel was introduced...

Chaired by Eric Robson, the panel comprised, Matthew Wilson, Christine Walkden and Bob Flowerdew, each tackling the questions, 'discussing the purposes and positives of show gardens and advising on how to get the most out of supermarket herbs. They also recommend climbing plants fit for adorning a child's climbing frame and unusual plants to put in raised planters' (www.bbc.co.uk). To hear all questions and answers, the airing of the programme can still be heard here on BBC iplayer.

The recording also provided an interesting insight into how the programme itself was constructed. There was the occassional break in questions for the chair, Eric Robson to say specific pieces, such as his link to the recording made at York Minster earlier that day, as well as the re-recording of brief pieces of speaking.

The airing of the programme took place on 29th April. It was only through listening to it that everything fell into place, including the significance of making a recording in York. For we learned that the concept and design of Matthew Wilson's garden at Chelsea Flower show was inspired by the Minster's medieval Great East Window, and is titled, 'God's Own County - A Garden For Yorkshire'.

To sum up, it was a memorable evening's entertainment born out of a tiny seed planted three years previously, that was well nurtured to the point of harvest, and then supported and consumed by our city wide gardening community.

Bouncing in to Spring with a whole lot of news

The newsletter sums it up! What a week of news, and what a lot of dates to put in your diaries...
Look out for follow-up information on many of these events.
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Look forward to seeing you soon!