April 2015
12/04/15 19:18
KIRTON AND FALKENHAM GARDENERS CLUB
Next meeting: Thurs. 14th. May - Visit – ‘Fernatix’, The Old Manse, Stoke Ashe.
Meet the Green 6.00pm for car share.
April meeting - Marianne Charles.
For our April meeting we welcomed Marianne Charles from Gardening with Disabilities ( Norfolk) , (GDN), who had made the long journey from Holme next Sea, West Norfolk to be with us, quite a trek. GDN is a club with a strong membership which was set up 20 years ago and is now a registered charity. The club is a support group which encourages and enables people to manage and enjoy their gardens, when, for various reasons, they find gardening activities difficult.
In her illustrated talk Marianne showed us how gardening can be made easier by the use of suitable tools and innovations, and having good access in the garden for planting and maintenance.
GDN meets monthly at Sandringham, visits places of gardening interests, provides the opportunity to borrow and test a selection of user friendly tools, has a library lending service and has a gardening adviser for home visits. GDN also has a show stand and exhibits at various shows most notably the Sandringham Flower Show.
All in all a very worthwhile organisation enabling people to manage and enjoy their gardens and at the same time benefit from the therapeutic effects of gardening. Their oldest active member is 97, so hope for me yet! 64 members enjoyed Marianne’s talk. She charged no fee and the club made a donation to the charity.
May visit – Thurs. 14 May – Fernatix, Stoke Ashe.
For our first visit of the summer we journey up the A140 to Fernatix, The Old Manse, Stoke Ash . Fernatix is situated on the A140 and parking is limited so we meet at Kirton Green 6.00pm for car share.
International dept. (aka Shaw’s Tours) – Troyes 21/24 May.
Our long awaited trip to Troyes is on the horizon and our Galloways coach is scheduled to depart Kirton Green at 6.15 am, no that is not a typo we leave at 6.15 am. So be there in good time for passport formalities which are of more significance this year passports have to be scanned at Eurotunnel on the outward journey, apparently Theresa May thinks this trip is a cover for a mass exodus to Syria). Apart from passport you should carry your EU health card and don’t forget your euros. Thos. Cook offer a special rate on production of your membership card. Johan has been scurrying around the French countryside and our programme is pretty much finalised..
Your glossy tour brochure and labels should be with you around mid May. Tour now fully booked. Any queries contact Alma 616 or Jo 784.
Open Gardens
Richard Ayres’ own garden along with Carpenters End is open at Lode Sunday 12 May, 12pm to 5pm, admission £5 under NGS. Teas, car parking in Broughton Hall. Contact Roy 616 for more details.
Summer Outing – Sat. 18 July.
Still a few tickets available for this great day out. We have a conducted tour of King’s Seeds, Coggeshall in the morning, then on to Marks Hall Gardens where there will be time for a snack before a conducted tour of the grounds. Depart the Green 9.00 am , returning around 6.00 pm. Tickets, £17, from Jenny on 571.
Fete - Sat. 6 June.
The King family are organising the plant stall at this year’s fete so if you have any spare plants or gardening stuff contact Sarah on 448963.
Help!!
We need a minute secretary as Mike stood down at the AGM. Now this is not a big job, a lot of what Mike did has been taken over by Jenny but we do need someone to come on to the committee to take notes and produce minutes of committee meetings. We only have three committee meetings a year, plus the AGM, so this is not an onerous task. Free coffee and biscuits, zero hours contract. We have around 100 members so surely somebody can help keep the chairman out of trouble. I await your call on 448616!
Tales from the Allotments
A little rain and some sunshine leads to a transformation on the plots. This is a great time of the year for allotmentiers as they emerge from the bleak winter and see the first green shoots of spring , and indeed everybody has a spring in their steps.
Its not all fruit and veg, many of us grow flowers for cutting to earn a few brownie points. I like to grow daffodils as I can deliver to the house for Valentines and Easter, picked while still in bud they will last for days . Talking of St. Valentines Bob bought Rosemary a new pair of wellies, always the charmer! In addition to our tame robins and blackbirds we now have a very friendly cock pheasant who is a bit of a pain as he is just as destructive as wood pigeons when it comes to plants. He is quite cocky with it and seems to know it is outside the shooting season and wanders around as if he owns the place. He will need to watch his step come the ‘ glorious twelfth’!
Roy Mallett 616
Next meeting: Thurs. 14th. May - Visit – ‘Fernatix’, The Old Manse, Stoke Ashe.
Meet the Green 6.00pm for car share.
April meeting - Marianne Charles.
For our April meeting we welcomed Marianne Charles from Gardening with Disabilities ( Norfolk) , (GDN), who had made the long journey from Holme next Sea, West Norfolk to be with us, quite a trek. GDN is a club with a strong membership which was set up 20 years ago and is now a registered charity. The club is a support group which encourages and enables people to manage and enjoy their gardens, when, for various reasons, they find gardening activities difficult.
In her illustrated talk Marianne showed us how gardening can be made easier by the use of suitable tools and innovations, and having good access in the garden for planting and maintenance.
GDN meets monthly at Sandringham, visits places of gardening interests, provides the opportunity to borrow and test a selection of user friendly tools, has a library lending service and has a gardening adviser for home visits. GDN also has a show stand and exhibits at various shows most notably the Sandringham Flower Show.
All in all a very worthwhile organisation enabling people to manage and enjoy their gardens and at the same time benefit from the therapeutic effects of gardening. Their oldest active member is 97, so hope for me yet! 64 members enjoyed Marianne’s talk. She charged no fee and the club made a donation to the charity.
May visit – Thurs. 14 May – Fernatix, Stoke Ashe.
For our first visit of the summer we journey up the A140 to Fernatix, The Old Manse, Stoke Ash . Fernatix is situated on the A140 and parking is limited so we meet at Kirton Green 6.00pm for car share.
International dept. (aka Shaw’s Tours) – Troyes 21/24 May.
Our long awaited trip to Troyes is on the horizon and our Galloways coach is scheduled to depart Kirton Green at 6.15 am, no that is not a typo we leave at 6.15 am. So be there in good time for passport formalities which are of more significance this year passports have to be scanned at Eurotunnel on the outward journey, apparently Theresa May thinks this trip is a cover for a mass exodus to Syria). Apart from passport you should carry your EU health card and don’t forget your euros. Thos. Cook offer a special rate on production of your membership card. Johan has been scurrying around the French countryside and our programme is pretty much finalised..
Your glossy tour brochure and labels should be with you around mid May. Tour now fully booked. Any queries contact Alma 616 or Jo 784.
Open Gardens
Richard Ayres’ own garden along with Carpenters End is open at Lode Sunday 12 May, 12pm to 5pm, admission £5 under NGS. Teas, car parking in Broughton Hall. Contact Roy 616 for more details.
Summer Outing – Sat. 18 July.
Still a few tickets available for this great day out. We have a conducted tour of King’s Seeds, Coggeshall in the morning, then on to Marks Hall Gardens where there will be time for a snack before a conducted tour of the grounds. Depart the Green 9.00 am , returning around 6.00 pm. Tickets, £17, from Jenny on 571.
Fete - Sat. 6 June.
The King family are organising the plant stall at this year’s fete so if you have any spare plants or gardening stuff contact Sarah on 448963.
Help!!
We need a minute secretary as Mike stood down at the AGM. Now this is not a big job, a lot of what Mike did has been taken over by Jenny but we do need someone to come on to the committee to take notes and produce minutes of committee meetings. We only have three committee meetings a year, plus the AGM, so this is not an onerous task. Free coffee and biscuits, zero hours contract. We have around 100 members so surely somebody can help keep the chairman out of trouble. I await your call on 448616!
Tales from the Allotments
A little rain and some sunshine leads to a transformation on the plots. This is a great time of the year for allotmentiers as they emerge from the bleak winter and see the first green shoots of spring , and indeed everybody has a spring in their steps.
Its not all fruit and veg, many of us grow flowers for cutting to earn a few brownie points. I like to grow daffodils as I can deliver to the house for Valentines and Easter, picked while still in bud they will last for days . Talking of St. Valentines Bob bought Rosemary a new pair of wellies, always the charmer! In addition to our tame robins and blackbirds we now have a very friendly cock pheasant who is a bit of a pain as he is just as destructive as wood pigeons when it comes to plants. He is quite cocky with it and seems to know it is outside the shooting season and wanders around as if he owns the place. He will need to watch his step come the ‘ glorious twelfth’!
Roy Mallett 616
