News Archive 2018 & Prior

Down came the rain

Sheppey Horticultural Society's Annual Flower and Vegetable Show 2018.

Due to a very cold start to the year followed by the hottest summer for many a long time meant that once again it was a last minute decision by society members as to what items,if any, were available for showing. But as usual, everyone came up trumps which resulted in a wonderful display of fruit, vegetables, flowers, plants, cookery and crafts.

Sadly the nice weather on Saturday turned awful on Sunday. The heavy rain kept visitors away, so this year resulted in quite a heavy loss for the Society.

But, we'll be back - see you next year.

This is the week that is!!

This week-end is August Bank Holiday which means it's time once again for the Sheppey Horticultural Society's Annual Flower and Vegetable Show.

This year is the 55th show and once again is being held at Stones Garden Centre, Halfway Road, on Saturday 25th August and Sunday 26th August. It also ties in with the Garden Centre's Fun Week-end.

This is our main event of the year where members of the Society compete and show not only their fruit, vegetables, flowers and plants grown on the allotment or at home but also a chance to show off their skills at cookery, jam or pickle making and flower arranging as well as their expertise in photography and handicrafts.

The many varied classes for exhibitions provide the perfect opportunity for both allotment holders and all our home garden members to get involved in the show.

There are also categories for children related to Society members so that they can also join in the fun.

Exhibits are properly judged by accredited experts.

On Saturday Judging takes place at mid-day then the show will be open to the public from 2.00pm until 6.00pm

On Sunday the show is open to everyone from 9.30am.

Prizes are awarded on Sunday afternoon followed by an auction of produce.

Admission 50p

Refreshments are available.

Silver Spade Competition 2018

This is what you might call our ‘In House’ competition and it’s for the plot that receives the most points when judged by an official, independent Judge. The plots are marked out of a total of 100 points. There are 8 categories which include things like =

· First impressions,

· Condition and variety of plants,

· use of recycling,

· General layout and tidiness.

Since its inception a few years ago the two Silver Spades – one for each site - have become much sought after. Remember that apart from the kudos of winning a spade there is a £25.00 voucher for each winner and a £10 voucher for each runner-up.

For personal reasons the Judge had to cancel her visit on 11th July but rescheduled for later in the month.

At our Richmond St/Nursery Close site the winner was Sharon Mathis with 95 points and the Runner-up being Ian Gebbie with 94 points.

At our Medway Road site the winner was Mick Fagan with 93 points and the team of Julie Upward and Gillian Forbes Runners-up with 92 points.

Once again the Judge praised the standard of allotments at both sites.

Wow!!! Was this the best show ever?

With a superb display of vegetables, flowers and crafts, presented by Horticultural Society members, and with 353 visitors passing through the door, was the 54th annual show our best show ever? Certainly within memory of the Committee and Allotmenteers it well exceeded previous years.

Holding the show at STONES GARDEN CENTRE and combining it with their Fun Day, on Sunday, made for a very busy Bank Holiday week-end. All jams, honey and pickles were sold out and the auction of produce on the final afternoon collected £109.00. The 'tea & cake' stall was very busy and sales of raffle tickets also went well.

The Mayor and Mayoress presented the Certificates, Trophies and Cups but what everyone was waiting for was the announcement of the winner of The Grand Challenge Cup.

For many years The Grand Challenge Cup (for most points overall in the vegetable and flower sections) has been won by John Lewis but last year a serious and determined challenger, Alan Holliwell, lost out to John by the slimmest of margins. So, this year, all eyes were on the Society's secretary as he announced "The winner this year is...

Alan Holliwell

Well done Alan from everyone and, in particular, from John Lewis.

Thank you, once again, to Matthew Waghorn for allowing the society to hold our show at STONES GARDEN CENTRE and for his generosity in hiring the marquee for us. Thanks also go to all the staff at the garden centre for their hard work with the marquee and displays at the front and around the entrance way.

Listen to the interviews when Daniel from BRFM visited our show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1MwbBlRC_o&feature=youtu.be

Result of the annual 'Silver Spade' competition 2017

Once again the judge was impressed with the standard of the plots she visited. Several she classed as 'County standard'.

At both sites the results were very close with just one point between winner and runner up at Richmond Street/Nursery Close.

Medway Road Winner = Gillian Forbes and Julie Upward 88 points

Second place (to newcomer) = Tom Firth 86 points

Richmond Street/Nursery Close winner = Sharon Mathis 95 points

Second Place = Bernie Targer 94 points

This year the judging was very late and we know this caused problems for many Allotmenteers so the judge has already been booked for next year. Judging will take place on Wednesday 11th July 2018

BRFM visit to our Allotment Sites 2nd July 2017

On Sunday 2nd July, Daniel from BRFM visited, both, our Richmond Street and Medway Road Allotment Sites. After having a look round he interviewed several Allotment holders as well as our Chairman, Dave Gaze. Interviews can be heard during the Daniel Community Show on Monday 10th July 2017.

BRFM is on 95.6FM

Link to those interviews on https://youtu.be/nhztyjebteo

Great News

Matthew Waghorn has stepped in and told us that we can hold our Annual Flower and Vegetable show at STONES GARDEN CENTRE, Halfway.

We just need to plan the format that it will take but a worry has been lifted from our shoulders.

Thank you, Matthew.

Rents for 2017

The Society is pleased to announce that rents and subs for 2017 will remain the same as 2016.

We still need to ask that everyone be as responsible as possible with watering when using hose pipes on their plots. Remember the old adage - "Water your plants not your plot".

The scandal of Richmond Street!

Once there was a scarecrow - a really lonely chap

He just stood about each day dressed in his trousers, jacket and cap

Then one day on a plot near by, a fair maiden did appear

and what they've been up to ever since is now very clear.

All's well that ends well. Happy families..."ahhh"

£564.00

£564 is what the Society has just had to pay out for skips to remove waste and rubbish that is continually being dumped on both the Medway Rd and Richmond St sites

Please do not dump rubbish on our sites - WE ARE NOT A TIP. Any rubbish that cannot be either burnt or composted must be taken away. Equally, do not bring rubbish on to our sites to be dumped; we have recently had non Allotment type rubbish dumped. Not only is there the cost of skips but also peoples time to remove the large amount of waste that is appearing.

PLEASE WOULD PLOT HOLDERS ALSO WATCH OUT FOR ANY STRANGERS BRINGING IN RUBBISH WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE OF DUMPING IT ON OUR SITES - THANK YOU

Can you spare some time

Can you spare three hours once a month on a Sunday morning. Volunteers are needed to help in the Society's shops, working alongside the few who are there now. It would allow those already helping to have a break now and then.

For several years we have had prisoners from Eastchurch doing all sorts of maintenance and site tidying jobs. Unfortunately this scheme is no longer available to us so perhaps, if you do not fancy helping in the shop, a couple of hours now and then to help around the sites?

Call into either shop on a Sunday morning if you would like to help.

Theft of Fruit...Again

Once again plot holders on the Richmond Street site have reported that fruit has been taken from their plots. Not only is this unfair to the plot holders themselves but theft of produce is intolerable and so MUST STOP. It would be very sad to think that a fellow Allotmenteer was responsible, so it emphasises the need to make sure that the main gate is kept locked at all times.

New Chairman

A well attended Annual General Meeting took place on Monday 21st March 2016. Following the official resignation of David Hale voting took place to appoint a new Chairman. Three candidates were put forward and following discussions by the Committee Mr David Gaze was voted in as Chairman of the Sheppey Horticultural Society.

Tom Berrisford stood down from his role of Site manager at the Medway Road Site and Amanda Berrisford stood down from her role of looking after the shop, also at Medway Road.

Mr Jim Walters will take over the role of Site Manager but the running of the shop is yet to be organised.

The Committee would like to say a big thank you to Tom and Amanda for their hard work at Medway Road and also to Tom for his involvement in maintenance work at Richmond Street and Nursery Close. You will both be greatly missed. (p.s. thank you Amanda for the cups of tea and coffee at the Committee meetings).

Thank you David for all that you have done

After eight years David Hale is to stand down as Chairman of our Committee. He will also be standing down as a Committee member. David has worked endlessly for the Society and continually carried out far more duties than was ever expected of him as Chairman. So on behalf of all Allotment holders and Committee Members not only would we would like to say thank you to David for all the work that he has undertaken but also thank you to Angela for her support of David and the Society.

Perhaps now you will both be able to put your feet up with a nice 'cuppa' and watch the produce grow on your plot without ever having to worry about what is going on around you. Relax and enjoy.

Rents for 2016

Rents and Subs for 2016 will remain the same as 2014 and 2015 but unfortunately the huge increase in water usage has meant that the Society has made a large loss on the annual budget. Therefore it is necessary to increase the Water Fees from £1.50 per Rod to £2.00 per Rod. This will mean, for example, that a 3 Rod plot will pay £6.00 for water this year as against £4.50 last Year. A 5 Rod plot will pay £10.00 for water this year against £7.50 and a 10 Rod plot will pay £20 for water this year against £15.00 last year. Other size plots will alter accordingly.

We hope this will avoid a loss again this year and feel that it is a comparatively small raise considering that there has been no rise for at least two years. It does allow us to continue providing 'Allotmenteers' with water, to their plots, when there are many allotment sites which do not have a water supply at all.

We still need to ask that everyone be as responsible as possible with watering when using hose pipes on their plots. Remember the old adage - "Water your plants not your plot".

We now do have our own Bees

We do now have our own Bees. At the Medway Road Apery we now have one colony of Bees and two swarms which we hope will both colonise.