Dear growers,
Here are some very important dates for your diary.
Sunday February 8 at 11am sees fresh stock go on sale in our shop. No need to go to those commercial garden centres… our shop now has garlic bulbs, onion and shallot sets and seed potatoes for sale. Details are:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Germidour Garlic | 50p |
| Stuttgart Giant Onions (200g) | 70p |
| Golden Gourmet Shallots (200g) | 75p |
| Seed Potatoes | £3 a bag |
| First Earlies — Rocket / Lady Christl / Pentland Javelin | |
| Second Earlies — Charlotte / Maris Peer / Nadine | |
| Main Crop — Desiree / Picasso |
Lots of composts, fertilisers, sharp sand and netting too. Please also sign up for the rota to help out … it’s a great way to meet other gardeners . Thanks to the volunteers who helped unload the delivery pallets and stock the shop. What fun we had on such a cold morning!
Saturday February 28 at 10am we are going to have a pruning and advice session run by a member of Manchester Fruit Trees Cooperative .
Dan who has instructed us at Bradley Fold in the past has agreed to do individual plot holder consultation at a cost of £25 each plot. He will come to your plot for one hour and show you the best way to tackle your tree. If you are interested in this please visit the shop, let Debs know and she will give you a time slot. Obviously spaces are limited so it’s first come, first served.
Sunday April 12 at 2pm is our Annual General Meeting. Venue to be confirmed. We’ll be updating on the society’s business and future projects , and if you have any questions or topics to raise , please let us know in advance.
We have continued to work on securing our boundaries and again thanks to the volunteers, more dead hedge sites are being developed and we are looking to secure the boundary along the river thanks to a donation from the Environment Agency.
Unfortunately we are still experiencing thefts … please do report missing items to the police . If you have a plot near the site boundary you may well have volunteers crossing your plot to maintain the boundary. Hopefully there is a pathway they can use .. any questions, let me know. Please join the volunteers working parties if you can.
It’s timely also to share a reminder of our normal rules and regulations: please keep pathways clear, compost your green waste, take home your plastic waste and carry your tree pruning to the dead hedge areas. Be careful if you are buying young fruit trees … please only plant dwarf root stock … we have too many big unmanageable trees on site already. And no baby Christmas trees either! They look cute now but quickly create shade which hinders good cultivation.
Work is underway on our water supply (thanks again volunteers), we have upgraded our cctv ( another volunteer project) and we are arranging regular visits from our corporate partners who help look after the community areas.
If you want more regular updates and chatter, please join our Bradley Fold community WhatsApp group . Leave your mobile details in the shop, or message me, and we will add you to the community team.
Meantime all the best with your growing plans and seedlings for 2026,
Best regards from all the committee,
Janine Cottingham
Chair, Bradley Fold Allotments