Celebrating local residents’ achievements was the order of the day at the prize giving event held at the Willingale Road Allotments site on Monday evening, 12 September 2016. The
presentations were made by the Town Mayor, Councillor Carol Davies who thanked
everyone who took part in the competition for their hard work and commitment in producing
wonderful gardens and produce of the highest standard.

Over 350 allotments at the Loughton Potato Ground, Roding Road, and Willingale Road
were inspected by representatives from the three allotment sites over three days and 46
plots were shortlisted. The final judging took place on Wednesday 27 July and the Town
Council is very thankful to Alec Hague, an allotment gardener with 40 plus years’ experience
from Ongar who carried out this task accompanied by the Deputy Town Clerk.

The Best Allotment in Loughton 2016 was awarded to Brian Smith, for plot 20 at the
Loughton Potato Ground. Brian received a large silver cup which he will hold for eleven
months, a smaller replica cup to keep, a £25 garden voucher and a certificate.

Alec Hague commented that Brian’s plot was ‘WOW – an enormous variety of crops, the only
plot to achieve maximum number of points for its crops’. Alec was unaware at the time that
Brian had previously won the Best Allotment in Loughton in both 2012 and 2013.

The Runner Up was Leslie Ford for plot 122 at the Roding Road allotments, who received a
silver salver to keep and a certificate. Alec commented the plot was “beautifully kept, brilliant
plot only second by the smallest of margins.

The Best Newcomer Award was awarded to Des Conor, plot 64 at the Roding Road
allotments, who received a large shield to keep for 11 months and a small replica to keep
with a certificate. Des had only been allotment gardening for 1 year and Alec commented
that his plot was “brilliant for only 1 year’s work”

Other winners were Teresa Witham, plot 53 and Emily Russell, plot 3 at the Willingale Road
Allotments, Jan Boucek, plot 17 and Rosie Partridge, plot 80 at the Loughton Potato Ground
and Dave Robinson, plot 5 and George Hartwell, plots 32a & 32a at the Roding Road Allotments who were highly commended. Five other allotment holders across the three allotments sites were commended for their efforts and received certificates.

Note to Editor:

This is the eighth year of the Best Allotment in Loughton to help raise the profile of allotments

and celebrate the work of the gardeners.

The Town Council is fully committed to the provision of allotment sites in Loughton with a

secure future. These should be affordable, fully tenanted, well appointed, well managed and

maintained, open to all, and valued by the communities they serve. Such sites also make a

positive contribution to the landscape and local biodiversity.

The competition, arranged by the Town Council, is for all allotment holders in Loughton. The

allotments in Loughton are The Potato Ground, Roding Road and Willingale Road.

Every month Waitrose local branches donate £1000 between three local good causes that their customers choose.

At the checkout customers receive a token, which they then place in the box of the good cause they would most like to support. The more tokens a cause gets, the bigger the donation they receive.

So if you're shopping at Waitrose Buckhurst Hill please do drop your token in the Roding Road Allotments & Leisure Gardens box!

We will be operating a new seed scheme for 2017.  The scheme is still with Dobies and the committee will issue catalogues as before.

Individual members order from and pay Dobies direct using a unique code which will be sent with the catalogue. The code will give 50% discount on seeds and 15% on everything else the same as last year.

You may also receive special e/mail offers.  Catalogues will be available Sept/Oct .  Please let me know if you require a catalogue.

Diane Tong
Secretary (RRA&LGA)

Email: Rodingroadallotments@btinternet.com
Telephone: 0208 5080228
You can also use the committee contact web-form here.

It is planned to change all the gate padlocks on Wednesday the 11th of May 2016.

A new key will be issued once your yearly rent has been paid, the garage will be open on the following dates for rent payments and key collection 

• Sunday 3rd April 2016
• Sunday 10th April 2016
• Sunday  17th April 2016
  
  

Keys will be issued on the basis of one key per member, regardless of the number of allotments you let. Joint names on the tenancy agreement will not automatically mean that two keys will be issued.

Second keys or joint name tenancy extra keys will only be issued at the discretion of the committee, with an additional charge of £30 per key.  Please request in writing to the Association Secretary applications for second keys stating why you require a second key.   

There will be no charge for a key issued to existing members. Lost keys will be charges at £30 plus an admin fee of £10. Deposits for returned keys when giving up the tenancy will be refunded at the original deposit paid when the tenancy commenced or the deposit paid for the second or lost keys.

If you will be unable to collect your key from the garage a key will only be available after the 18th April 2016 from Letting Officer by appointment.

If you have any further questions or need to make an appointment to collect a key please contact Robert Tong, Lettings Officer.

Please note Keys will be only available from the letting officer and other committee members will not have any keys.

What you could be growing on your allotment now...

The weather forecast for this weekend sees a maximum temperature of 15 deg C., showing that spring has well and truly arrived.  While there is still the risk of frost, and the ground is still quite wet on the site, there are now lots of options of what to plant out or sow on your plot.

Outside, you could be sowing directly root crops, peas, broad beans, summer salads, brassicas, leeks, spring onions and swiss chard & leaf beet.  Onion sets should now be planted and early potatoes can go out now as well.

If you have a plot that still needs clearing, and also to combat slugs, it can be a good idea to start off some of your sowings indoors. Brassicas, salad, leeks, peas and broad beans can all be started off indoors and planted out a little later.  Meanwhile you can concentrate on clearing your plot and making sure your beds are clear of weeds.

For more information and growing guides some useful links are below:

• Real Seeds have a useful gardening calendar for the year here.
• No-dig gardener Charles Dowding has a great article on what you could be growing in April here.

As we move into spring it will be nice to get back onto the plots to do some work, it has been one of the wettest winters in a long time so it's time to make up for lost time.

Happy growing in 2016!

Annual General Meeting Report

This year's Annual General Meeting consisted of four sections.  Presentations took place for Eddie and Maureen Boatman and Bob and pat Crout in recognition of their work for the Association.  A glass plaque and a certificate of thanks from Loughton Town Council was presented to Eddie and Maureen whilst Bob and Pat received a framed photograph.  The presentations were made by the Town Mayor.

After the presentations a talk was given on bee keeping by the allotment's resident beekeeper, Dave Mallindine, and there was a chance to taste some honey and an opportunity to look at some pollen and bee anatomy under a microscope.  Refreshments were served and a small buffet was provided courtesy of Waitrose, Buckhurst Hill.  The rest of the AGM was given over to discussing the rents for 2016/2017, election of committee and officers, accounts for 2014/2015, lettings report, discussion about new locks and keys and a site inspections report.

Bee Keeping

The Committee has had a number of requests regarding the keeping of bees.

To clarify the position: Following an agreement with Loughton Town Council, bees may only be kept in a specific area, under a special tenancy agreement and conditions.  No bees may be kept outside the designated area.

Allotment Bird Track Project

South East Essex Organic Gardeners are promoting a pilot survey to observe and record the bird presence on and around allotment sites.  The aim is to use the results to make measure the contribution allotment sites make to supporting wildlife.

The Scheme called BirdTrack is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology in partnership with the RSPB and other national ornithological societies around the UK and Eire.  Recording birds regularly from the same site can contribute to a greater understanding of the ornithological value of the site, this will provide important information for site safeguarding and to evaluate the effects of site management.

If the scheme goes ahead we will need a group of volunteers.  Please contact the Association Secretary if you would like to help.

Seed Scheme

Unfortunately because of problems with the Dobie's administration team we will no longer be able to offer a seed scheme this year.

The gate locks are changing
 
To improve security on the site it a has been decided to change the allotment gate locks, details of how to get a new key were enclosed with the rent notices posted to members.  The Town Council has given us a grant for two thirds of the cost and our thanks go out to the Town Council.

Vandalism and unwanted guests

A number of incidents, including vandalism and young people visiting the site have taken place over the winter months.  Please report any incidents or vandalism to the Association Secretary.  Preserve any evidence and take photographs reporting any damage, vandalism or thefts to the police immediately.  It is not true that the police are not interested in minor theft or vandalism - they take it very seriously. You can contact the Police by calling 101, or by emailing the neighborhood police team.

General Reminders

1. Rent must be paid on time.
2. The plot must be fully cultivated, this is taken to mean plants and vegetables.
3. All pathways / footpaths are to be maintained in a reasonable standard and kept free from debris.
4. No nuisance must be caused to other allotment holders.
5. No sub-letting of the plot must take place.
6. No new building may be erected without written permission from the committee.  The Town Council has requested we adopt the following maximum sizes for new structures:
   10 rod allotment:
   Shed: 8x6 maximum
   Greenhouse: 8x6 maximum
   Poly-tunnel or similar structure: no more than 25% of allotment
   Only one shed per allotment
   5 rod allotment:
   Shed: 6x4 maximum
   Greenhouse: 6x4 maximum
   Poly tunnel or similar structure: no more than 25% of allotment
   Only one shed per allotment
   
7. All access gates must be kept closed and locked at all times.
8. Water must not be wasted, and siphoning of water is only permitted from dip tanks into another watertight container , which must not be allowed.  Tanks being filled must not be left unattended.
   
9. The allotment must not be used for trade or business purposes.
10. The Association must be informed if the tenant changes their address.
11. No refuse of domestic waste (apart from compost of manure of reasonable quantity) must be brought onto the allotments.  Tree prunings, fence panels etc must not be brought onto the allotment for burning.  Building materials, including bricks and paving slabs must not be brought onto the site without prior permission of the Committee.  Bathtubs will no longer be allowed onto the site.
    

 Congratulations to plot 138 for winning the Best Newcomer award.

Congratulations also to the following plots who were highly commended in the awards: Plots 29, 41a/b & 42, 122, 152a.

The Town Mayor's Awards Ceremony was held on Monday, 14th September at Willingale Allotments and was covered in the Epping Forest Guardian.

We are very pleased to announce our bee keeping  area has been re-opened following a 20 year closure.

The apiary was relaunched in front of Loughton Town Mayor Judy Jennings, Town Clerk Enid Walsh and Duty Town Clerk Shirley Haynes, on August 13 with members of the allotment committee and West Essex Bee Keepers Association in attendance.

A talk was also given by the chairman of Essex Bee Keepers Association before the allotment committee and guests were treated to a honey tasting session.

Read more about the launch in the Epping Forest Guardian here.