Chairmans Report

Welcome everyone, hope you’ve had a good start to the season. Thank you for your continued support and a big welcome to all new members as I know we have quite a few this year already. Veg plots should be all growing on nicely and hopefully we’ll all be lifting 1^st early potatoes in the next few weeks. Remember if you purchased ‘Swift’ potatoes they are ready to try in 60 days from planting.

Flower growers should be starting to see summer colour in their gardens and, as all our bedding plants have all sold now, you will also be enjoying some beautiful hanging baskets and containers too.

Don’t forget you can always enquire at the hut for advice about any problems with your garden. We do our best with personal knowledge and help of a few books to sort them out.

Good luck in the coming season

Graham Yorke

Chairman

Dates for the Diary from the Hut Manager

August

Varieties of potatoes, summer onions and shallots will be available to pre-order. The list will be emailed out, will be available on our web site and available as a paper copy to pick up at the hut. Please put in your orders before the end of September.

September

Garlic – this year I’m going back to getting some from the garlic farm on the Isle of Wight. It will be more expensive than last year’s but I know a lot of you preferred their varieties. We will have four varieties of garlic plus elephant garlic. NO PRE-ORDERING for garlic – 1^st come 1^st served.

September

King’s Seed catalogues will be available for pre-ordering your personal choice of seeds. I can’t stock every variety so if you have a favourite or fancy trying something different pick up a catalogue, put in your order and your seeds will be waiting for you when we reopen in January. Please put your order in before the end of October.

Any queries about any of the above please contact me.

Sheila Yorke

Hut Manager

Tel 01942 716925 / 07931270056

Email – graham_red@yahoo.co.uk

NLWGA SHOW SATURDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER 2023

Last year’s show was a great success. The new venue seemed to attract more people from the surrounding area due to the ease of access to the building. This year the NLWGA Show is to be held again at Crownway, Community Centre, Crown Street, Earlestown WA12 9DA .

Preparations for the Show are well under way. The schedule is available at the Sales Hut or can be downloaded from our website: www.nlwgardeners.co.uk

We are pleased to announce our regular sponsors are again helping fund the Show:

Loach’s, Kings Seeds, Think Ahead Community Stroke Group, Jewellery by Silvana, Bents Garden Centre, MJM and Haydock Park Golf Club.

We would like to invite Association members to sponsor one or more classes in the Show (e.g. it could be a vegetable or flower class that is a particular favourite and/or it could be in memory of a loved one who has passed away). A list of the classes and sponsors is in the Sales Hut: to sponsor one class costs £6.

Thank you to all our sponsors whose generosity helps make the show the success it is today.

Our Show is for YOU the people of Newton le Willows and surrounding communities who make the Show come alive with your beautiful exhibits. This year we have added some new classes in the vegetable section, i.e. Red onions, Squash or Pumpkin. To encourage children to join in the show there is also a new photography class for under 12’s titled ‘What I have grown’. All details are in the schedule.

Members: please spread the word to other growers, allotment holders and novices in all things horticultural to have a go at exhibiting and it’s not just for the green figured amongst us…we have the photography and cookery classes. This year’s Show includes baking classes (Beetroot cake and Peanut Butter Flapjacks) and three photography classes (Welcoming Garden Wildlife, Coast, and Royal memories).

Please check all details in the schedule.

The Bert Jackson Memorial Cup remembers a great character from the Rob Lane allotments and member of our Association. All new members will be sent a copy of our schedule together with a letter explaining how they could win the  Cup (or come second or third and still win a prize!)

Raffle tickets will be on sale at the show on the day for all members, exhibitors and visitors which has some amazing prizes from local businesses.

Thank you for your generosity as all proceeds will go to help fund the show.

If you need further information regarding any details of the show, please do not hesitate to contact me on the telephone number or email address below.

Thank you for your support.

Mrs Marjorie McMahon

Show Secretary Tel : 07805407475 Email: nlwgashow@aol.com

Trips 2023

We have planned two trips this year.

12^th August         Shrewsbury Show – the cut-off date for booking was mid-June

27^th September  RHS Bridgewater – please book at the hut. This is a free trip, just make your own way there.

Newsletter Distribution

A decision has been made by the committee to reduce costs and our carbon footprint from next year. To contribute to this, we intend to email the Spring Newsletter out to everyone who has given us their email address. When you sign to join the Association and give us your email address you give us permission to contact you with information regarding the Gardening Association. If we haven’t got your email address, we will post the newsletters to you. If you have recently got an email address then please let us have it.

The Spring and Summer newsletters are very informative and useful to members. They will always be on our website (nlwgardeners.co.uk) and we will have limited paper copies in the hut to pick up.

I am afraid it is the sign of the times that we have to put as much online as possible to keep the costs down. By doing this we hope to keep the membership fee the same for as long as possible.

When you come to join next year, it would be helpful if you could download the membership form from the website, complete it and bring it to the hut to save time, especially at the start of the year when the hut is busy.

Thank you.

Graham Yorke

Chairman