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Use the coupon code ‘bridport10’, just apply it at the checkout for any purchase made and you’ll get 10% off from the entire order!
INGREDIENTS:-
1 ball of Stem Ginger finely chopped
500g Rhubarb trimmed and sliced into 5cm lengths
120g Caster sugar
2 heaped tbsp Flour
25g Butter in small cubes
320g pre-rolled Puff Pastry sheet
Milk to glaze
METHOD:-
OVEN 180C FAN
1. Place ginger and rhubarb into a mixing bowl
2. Add sugar and flour ,mix and leave for 15mins
3. Add butter
4. Unroll pastry onto baking sheet
5. Spread rhubarb mixture evenly leaving a 3cm border
6. Lift pastry border and fold it over the rhubarb
7. Brush edge with milk
8. Bake for 35–40mins and cool for 20mins before serving
Click to download recipe
These are the charges applicable from April 2018, as agreed by the Finance committee in January 2019: –
Whole plot: £25.00
Half plot: £12.50
Water Skilling whole: £10.00, half plot: £5.00
Just to remind you that Horse Manure is still available – a trailer load of 2½ tons plus costs £50 cash, payable on delivery (in the Bridport area only). Phone 01308 250260 or email bridportallotmentsociety@gmail.com for details.
Our Chairman attended a lecture on 16th February 2019 given by West Dorset Beekeepers’ Association concerning raising awareness of the Asian Hornet and it’s potential impact in the UK. Colin reports: It is important that people watch out for the Asian Hornet Queens which are coming out of hibernation during late February and march.
They should be photographed, if possible, but not killed until their location has been reported and an expert has visited. It may have started making a nest which has to be found and destroyed. This can be difficult to do as the hornet has to be tracked.
This invasive pest has destroyed 30% of the honey market in France!
You can download an identification poster here!
For up to date information there is further information available at the British Bee Keepers Association Website
Photos by Mandy Rathbone
By Caroline Bretherton 2012. Available from: http://www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/15912/runner-bean-and-courgette-chutney-recipe
Put the beans, courgettes, apples, and onions in a preserving pan or a large, heavy, stainless steel saucepan. Then add the sugar, mustard powder, turmeric, and coriander seeds. Pour in the vinegar and stir.
Cook over gentle heat, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a boil and cook at a rolling boil, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 11/2 hours, stirring from time to time, until the mixture thickens. Stir continuously near the end of cooking time so that the chutney doesn’t catch on the base of the pan.
Ladle into warm, sterilized jars with non-metallic or vinegar-proof lids, making sure there are no air gaps. Cover each pot with a waxed paper disc, seal, and label. Store in a cool, dark place. Allow the flavours to mature for 1 month and refrigerate after opening.
At this time of the year when there is a likely hood of freezing, the water troughs are often tuned off and empted. Members with Polly tunnels should always make sure that they have their own supply of water available.
So far as tools are concerned, ordinary garden tools – spade, fork, hoe, rake, trowel etc. are all that are needed to make a start. Later on you may think in more ambitious terms – cultivator, strimmer, lawnmower (for your barbecue area and access path!), or perhaps find somebody to share the cost of these expensive items.
The important thing, however, is to make a start!
The Allotments Society has written a Leaflet entitled The New Allotment which may prove helpful to newcomers
There are two ways in which you can get an allotment in Bridport:
Council allotments are currently located at Flaxhayes (36 allotments), Skilling (59 allotments), West Allington (44 allotments), Priory Gardens (13 allotments), Community Orchard (16 allotments), St Cecelia’s (16), Walditch (16) South Street (1 allotment) and St Swithun’s Road (2 allotments).
Due to the present wish to accommodate as many people as possible until more allotments can be opened, those belonging to Bridport Town Council are re-let to residents of the Bridport Parish only, and it may also be necessary to confine new tenancies to half size plots .
Existing tenants who live outside the town boundary pay twice the annual fee, but 50% is reclaimable from their own parish
Palmers manage a number of allotments at land they own at Gundry Lane Bridport
An obvious answer is access to cheap, fresh produce of quality which you can grow organically if you wish, in season and throughout the year. An allotment, properly managed and maintained, will make a substantial contribution to the household economy and quality of life of even quite extended families
But many allotment holders find that there are other benefits to be enjoyed – healthy activity in the open air, the opportunity to experiment with crops and varieties that suit one’s individual taste together with a sense of achievement when things turn out well.
There is also a strong sense of community. Allotment holders represent a formidable body of hard-won knowledge and experience which is always available to you as a beginner and to which, as you gain in confidence and experience, you will be able to contribute in turn.
We also foster links with allotmenteers in neighbouring parishes, in the interests of all concerned. If you know of any groups of allotment holders who might benefit from association with us, do not hesitate to get in touch.
Once you have taken on your allotment you will be able to grow fruit and vegetables, flowering plants and herbs pretty much as you wish within the boundaries of your plot. You will however be required to fulfil certain obligations designed to protect the use and enjoyment of their allotments by your fellow growers. If you take a Council allotment you will be asked to enter into a formal agreement to keep your allotment clean, free from weeds, in a good state of cultivation and fertility, and in good condition.
Arrangements on the Palmers allotments are somewhat less formal, but the obligation to act as a good neighbour is one that should be recognised by all allotment holders The amount of time that you will need to commit will vary depending on what you want to get out of your allotment. During the preparation, growing and picking season, between, say, April and the end of October, you would probably need to budget 4 – 8 hours per week. You could spend longer, some manage on less.
In 1929/30 Bridport had 533 allotments covering nearly 34 acres. In 1961 it had 150 on just under 10 acres, in 1985 only 99 allotments on 6.5 acres, and that number was further reduced to 81 on just 5.4 acres by 2008. However the Bridport Town Council continues to make every effort to recover from this state of affairs and has opened further new allotments, giving a total of 203.
Palmers provide a further 19 plots, a diminishing number.
Allotments were established by the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 with local authorities having a statutory duty to provide them if requested by six appropriate parliamentary constituency electors. A standard size is 10 rods (about 300 square yards or 250 square metres). Allotment numbers peaked during the Second World War at 1.4 million plots – said to produce 1.3 million tons of food. Numbers then declined with some upturns (particularly during the period in the 1970s when TV programmes such as “The Good Life” were current. By 1996 there were around 297,000 plots available but currently numbers are increasing with an upsurge of interest in growing food crops, and waiting lists are now increasingly common (Harrison 2012).
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At the December meeting of the Allotments Society, members heard an informative and interesting talk by Derek Pride, Fellow of the National Vegetable Society, entitled “Growing, Showing and Judging”.
