A very warm welcome to Helen. We’re glad to have Sandy back after being poorly and we wish Jackie a speedy recovery. Hope the house move goes smoothly Sue.
1. Update from Angie – with everything that’s going on with her health Angie may take a bit of a back seat. She would love to be involved and will attend meetings whenever she can. She’s asked if there were any members who might be able to help with the running of the group. Ruth W and Sue A would be happy to help with any tasks.
2. The group discussed the different trials they are/ were involved with. All were glad to have done the trials as they were monitored regularly.
3. Linda mentioned two NGS Garden Visits for the group
a. 12 June 2016 – NGS Garden Visit at Cranbury Park
b. 7 or 10 Jul 2016 – NGS Crawley Gardens
4.Some members mentioned that they liked having name stickers on as they help with getting to know each others names better. Linda will bring labels to future meetings.
5. Linda gave a short chat about gardening. She said, ” Gardening gives me a feeling of wellbeing and satisfaction which makes me feel positive about my life and I get enormous pleasure from growing my food and cutting my flowers. After completing chemotherapy in May 2013, I started with one vegetable bed and just sowed tomatoes seeds in June. Popping a fully ripen tomato on a hot summer’s day is just wonderful. Now I have 4 beds plus a greenhouse! This year I’m growing salads, elephant garlic, peas, cucumber, tomatoes, melons, kale, sunflowers, strawberries, blueberries & blackcurrants. I’ve recently acquired 2 fig trees, 2 apple trees & a dwarf quince. I’ve planted dahlia, peony and hostas at the weekend and will be sowing more flower seeds!”
Linda then went through the different seeds she brought. Each member was given a pot with compost in it and could pick seeds they would like to grow. There was Strawberry “Mara des Bois” on sale with wild garlic. Wild garlic is so versatile and goes very well sauteed with mushrooms as you can see from the photo below. They keep well in the fridge for over a week.
Pots with compost in bags
The photo above shows less than half of Linda’s seed collection!
Sue C kindly brought some baby aloe vera plants and indoor baby plants for members to try planting – thank you Sue! Thank you also to all the ladies who brought extra envelopes for the seeds. Ruth did a sterling job with refreshments!
Great tips for growing tomatoes – http://www.lowerlovettsfarm.com/Articles/Details/5/Tomatoes
Resources for growing vegetables:
Growing your own vegetables by Which?
http://www.realseeds.co.uk
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/
Must buy: “Grow Your Own Vegetables” by Joy Larkcom
Back Garden Seed Saving by Sue Stickland
My inspiration for cut flowers:
http://www.sarahraven.com/
Resource for getting free compost bins, pots, greenhouses and top soil
https://www.freecycle.org/
Website for open pollinated (saved seeds will remain true to type year after year)
http://www.realseeds.co.uk
Make your own fertiliser:
1. Nettle feed (high nitrogen for leaf growth) – http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/video-projects/how-to-make-a-nettle-feed/220.html
2. Comfrey feed (for fruit and flower production. If you want to grow them in your garden use the bocking 14 ones which won’t invade your garden) – http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/13/alys-fowler-liquid-feed-comfrey
3. Fish head feed – ask your fishmonger for discarded fish heads. Put them in a bucket with water and put a tight lid on it. Leave for 6 weeks.
If you would like to read gardening magazines or any other types of magazines (food, home, etc), here is a link for 2 months free trial with Readly on your tablet or smartphone (you must remember to cancel after two months or you will be charged every month).
https://gb.readly.com/mse2x5m
Attendance: 8
Total collection: £8.00
Expenses: £1.10 for milk
Owe Linda £1.47 from last meeting in Eastleigh
Balance: £5.43 for the treasurer