We have received the following from a local company:
We are a small local business specialising in native wildflower seeds ( We also offer other seed varieties, gardening products and other handmade items). It may be of interest to your members! Seeds are all home grown or bought from British farmers. Our aim is to get as many people sowing native wildflower seed as possible and believe our products are very reasonably priced.
We have received the follopwing notification of ecological surveys to be conducted on both sites in the next few months. Please give the surveyors any assistance they require – including access to your plots if needed.
Just a reminder to you all that there is a copy of the NAS leaftlet advice on what to do when our allotments flood. It is always a good idea to mark any items that may float around/away with your plot number, and preferably secure anything you don’t want to lose with a bit of rope etc.
River levels seem to have stabilised and with a few days of fine weather ahead, the water levels should start to fall again soon.
A gentle reminder that if you plan to keep your allotment plots for the forthcoming year (2025-2026) then the rents are due for payment in person at the allotment shop on Twenty Pound Meadow on any of the first three Sundays in September. Sunday 7th September is the first of these opportunities. As per last year, payments are by bank card only using our card readers – cheques and cash will not be accepted.
In anticipation of us becoming a cooperative society (Coop), we need to ensure that we have members’ details correct. At a minimum, we need names and addresses, but we would like to have email addresses and phone numbers. If you can help us with this it would be much appreciated (failure to do so may mean that we cannot transfer your membership to the new Coop, and your membership might be at risk).
Twenty Pound Meadow members – if any of you have plots that are not numbered or whose numbering is faded, please bring a slate or piece of wood with you to the Audit, as Sue Spencer-Longhurst has offered to paint numbers for people on all 3 Audit days.
If there are compelling reasons why you cannot attend in person then please email the Secretary for consideration. We still prefer you to pay in person as this is one of the few opportunities we have to discuss any outstanding issues there may be with your plot.
With best wishes
Nick
On behalf of the Committee
Dear Members,
In anticipation of the construction work for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme (likely to be commencing in 2025), the Environment Agency will be carrying out a series of ecological and environmental surveys on both our Botley Meadow and Twenty Pound Meadow sites. These will begin with a badger walkover in the week beginning 18 March 2024.
The EA has permission to access the allotment land and Committee Members will be on hand. The survey, which takes in other wildlife, will continue sporadically through to the autumn of 2024.
The notice, plan and indicative dates are all up on the Website if you would like to see them:
We ask you not to disturb any of the special and safe feeding mix which is put down in order to do an accurate survey of animals.
Thank you.
Nick and Verity on behalf of the Committee
Hi All
Susanna Pressel has asked me to circulate the following reply she has received regarding the three cherry trees near the east gate, that are due to be felled as part of the Thames Water pipeline replacement works. You can read the arboricultural report here.
Good morning Cllr Pressel,
I attended a site meeting 03/01/23 hosted by Thames Water to discuss the proposed installation of a new pipe and its potential impact on the trees near the bridge. The cherries on the west side and the willows on the east side are owned and maintained by Oxford City Council. Neither is located within a Conservation Area or subject to any Preservation Orders.
The possibility of removing one, two, or all the cherries was raised at the meeting to facilitate site access and the construction of a temporary compound. Unfortunately, the cherries are nearing the end of their lifespan and exhibit signs of bacterial canker disease, such as thin crowns, deadwood, and trunk and branch lesions. Given their limited life expectancy and condition, it would be difficult to justify a Preservation Order to protect them from removal. Additionally, Thames Water qualifies as a statutory undertaker under section 14(3)(a) of The Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012, granting them an exception to the usual planning requirements for tree removal for the maintenance of their utilities.
Thames Water at the time of my site meeting with them were sensitive to the high amenity of the trees at this location and the need to ensure continual, good quality tree cover in the area. They gave verbal assurances that once the work was completed, there would be a replanting scheme implemented to mitigate the loss of the cherries and to maintain or increase tree canopy cover in the green area adjacent to the bridge.
The suggestion that the trees could be transplanted to the allotment site may not be feasible due to the size of the trees and the equipment needed to undertake the removal of a large enough rooting area to ensure a good chance of their survival, and the costs would be prohibitive for trees that are coming to the end of their lifespan. However, if it could be done it would be an interesting exercise and I’m interested to hear Thames Water’s response to the idea.
Kr,
Jane Rackley TechArborA
Assistant Tree Officer | Planning & Regulatory Services
Oxford City Council
Please find the agenda and the paperwork here for this coming Saturday’s AGM at WOCA – starting at 6pm
I’ve just found a project for the winter!
I’ve been spending hours cleaning seeds from our Szechuan pepper tree (you want the pink husks and not the gritty seeds). I searched online and came across a home-made seed cleaner which I eventually traced back to the UK-based Real Seed company.
Basically, it uses your vacuum cleaner to create an air current which separates the seeds from the chaff. The design is open source which allows you to make one for yourself but have to credit them. You can watch it working on YouTube.
Dr Muiris Houston [writing in the Irish Times recently]: You can pick up serious injuries and ailments from horticultural activity, but some risk assessment will mean you enjoy only the advantages.
I’ve always thought of gardening as a relaxing pastime. It certainly became a bigger part of my life – as it did for many of us – during lockdown. I’ve never thought of it as anything other than a fairly harmless hobby until I came across a recent piece in the Conversation by Anglia Ruskin University emergency medicine specialist, Dr Stephen Hughes.
IMPORTANT – due to a spate of break-ins and other damage on site we have changed the padlock code for Botley Meadow. The new code was sent to all members on the WhatsApp and email lists but if you are on neither and need access to the site don’t hesitate to get in touch with Nick on 07740 460173 to get the new code
Gus writes:
We should be thinking about the challenges to the natural environment and whether we could respond to these in our own small way. There is concern about the decline of insects and especially pollinating bees.
This is what we (Gus and family, together with Jude) hope to address with the proposed wildflower patch next to the car park by the shop. The plan is to grow a small hedge of trees at one end and tall perennials elsewhere in that small space.
We chose the hedge trees and perennials with a blossoming sequence from March to October, thus providing food for early and late pollinators, especially solitary bees which are early arrivers and key pollinators. The trees we chose for the hedge include goat willow, cherry plum, hawthorn, field maple, wild cherry, alder buckthorn, crab apple, dogwood and guelder rose. We chose tall perennials because shorter plants couldn’t compete with the existing plants (grass, horsetail, etc.). It will take about 3-5 years to become really established.
I know flooding is a risk but most of our trees and perennials actually survive the floods (comfrey, teasel, goldenrod, oregano, ragwort, hogweed, iris and lavender). The new apple trees that we planted in the orchard in 2020 have also survived. But long dry periods like last summer combined with flooding are a real issue when deciding what to plant.
Gus is on plots 64A and 65A TPM
Tobias writes: I wanted to share an idea with all of you:
I have been thinking about whether there is a case to research and discuss the following topic:
Preparing our allotment site for climate change
In 10 years’ time the open, sun and wind-exposed plot will most likely not work as well if at all. It will require too much water to keep going, and many types of vegetables will need some shade, some cooling and protection from strong winds.
An introduction of the right, small canopy trees and shrubs, in the right places might be able to:
This canopy and shrub layer would need up to 10 years to establish so now would be a good time to get it started. It would require expert advice and design. Here is a video to support my thinking
I am not suggesting creating a huge forest garden, but these techniques might become mandatory for us to be able to grow crops in the future.
Do you think this is a worthwhile initiative? Please feel free to share with me any comments.
You can find some interesting examples of UK forest gardens here.
Thank you,
Twenty Pound Meadow
On plot 34B and 35B
In light of the recent WhatsApp group debate about whether to add coffee grounds to your compost I’m reproducing an article from www.growveg.co.uk that might be useful
Coffee shops often give coffee grounds away free to gardeners, as they’re a waste product they would normally have to pay to dispose of. For coffee-loving gardeners like me, this freely available resource sounds like a real boon. But some gardeners suggest that using coffee grounds could be ineffective or, worse, harmful to plants.
I decided to sort the facts from the hype and find out just how beneficial – or otherwise – coffee grounds are in the garden. (more…)
You are most cordially invited to join Sunday 5th is the first rent audit day ~ so pay your dues and party on! Which is when you can meet up with other plot holders who garden on each of our sites: Twenty Pound Meadow and Botley Meadow.
How the picnic will work:
Many thanks to Anne James and Tim Kiggell for organising this and all the others who have helped!
Members might have heard someone from my organisation today reporting that the low levels of rainfall over winter and so far this spring may lead to drought conditions over the summer. For more information, you might like to read the latest hydrological