Brian Hesketh, our guest speaker at our meeting on Wednesday 15th March 2023,  mentioned a gardener publishing results of his own compost trials comparing with peat composts, here is the link for anyone who would like to view this:

https://www.jackwallington.com/peat-free-compost-trials-2021/

Jack Wallington says : “Over the last 7 – 8 years I’ve only used peat free compost after I switched and found my plants grew exactly the same or better in peat free compared to peat. In that time I have grown thousands of plants from seed as well as permanently in large pots. If the bag doesn’t clearly say ‘peat free’ it will contain peat dug from natural habitats. Digging peat reduces habitat for wildlife and releases millennia of carbon locked into peat bogs, which then converts into climate warming CO2.”

Jack’s website has plenty of other valuable information and is worth viewing at: https://www.jackwallington.com

Pictured above, Bridport Tree Planting Co-Ordinator, Joe Hackett, hands over a gift of ten apple trees to BADAS Chair, Fiona Dare, in front of some of the lucky recipients.

“Just the start of what we hope will be a good partnership,” said Joe afterwards. “We hope in the autumn to be able to give more ”food trees” – not just apples but pears, plums, nuts also – to people with allotments. We want to do everything we can to encourage production oflocal nutritious food”

Bridport Tree Planting has been in existence since the autumn of 2019. Part of West Dorset Friends of the Earth, it started with a gathering of names of people interested in trees to help fight climate change and increase biodiversity. Soon it grew in strength by being able to give away three non-fruit native species like rowan, hazel, hawthorn, birch to each household – this still applies – and planting trees in such public spaces as Asker Meadows and St. Mary’s Fields. “I remember well that first public planting. Seventy people turned up. It was organised chaos!” said Joe. “Soon after that two good things happened. We were sponsored by Groves Nursery, who generously gave us a tree or equivalent for every tree they sold – and we were lucky to find a private sponsor who is very keen on trees. Thanks to her, we have never been short of money. We’ve planted or given away close on a thousand trees a year.”

John Hinsley, another local resident, is a key part of the success, ordering in free saplings from Ovo Energy as part of the I Dig Trees initiative, and advising local groups and individuals. Bridport Tree Planting has just finished planting another public open space – Flaxhayes at the top end of St. Swithins Road – and works closely with Bridport Town Council.

For more information, and if you wish to receive Bridport Tree Planting’s newsletter, sent to 250 people, apply to joe@thehacketts.uk

Our Christmas Meeting  is on the 14th of December at Mountfield 2022 7:00 pm.

There will be wine, soft drinks and mince pies etc!

Our first plant event was held at the Hub at the end of April . It attracted a good number
of members who both brought excess plants and took away others that they fancied
growing. It was a bit early for a lot of vegetable plants, but there were tomato, cucumber,
tree spinach, mint and a variety of flower plants to be had. Tea, coffee and biscuits were
also available as were some gardening books and plant pots.
We look forward to seeing members at future events, even if you just stop by for a chat.

Lots of work has been done at the hub and the committee has passed a plan for planting.
The previously cultivated area that was covered in Bristly Oxtongue has been covered in
thick cardboard, to suppress the growth, and then in donated topsoil spread to level it up
with the surrounding paths. The area will be grassed once the trees are in and will provide
space for a gazebo for events if cover is needed. Some will be left uncut with wild flower
seed added to provide for pollinating insects and other wildlife.
The plan is for 6 new trees to be planted and all are now sponsored. Hopefully, they will
be in by December.
The trees chosen are:-
Cooking apple-Wellington (also known as Dumelows Seedling)
Eating apples-Sunset
-Ashmeads Kernel
Plum-Victoria
Pear-Conference
Hazelnut-Webb’s Prize

On September 1st , we hosted an art event at the Hub, painting wildlife and flower cutouts to go on a frieze . This was displayed at Millennium Green on September 24th as part of The Big Green Week .

The members summer Barbeque will be held at the BADAS hub (Skilling North Allotments) on Wedenesday 13th July at 7pm.

We would be grateful if members attending could please let us know by phoning 01308 250260, so that we can estimate the catering requirements.

BADAS will have a stall at the food festival in ASKER MEADOW, with information about the
Society and we will be giving away Plot to Plate recipe sheets and info sheets
on composting amongst others things.
We will also be giving kids the opportunity to plant some seeds to take home
with them, tend them and watch them grow.

You can find more about the food festival by clicking here!

The weather forecast for the seed swap on Saturday 19th February 10am – 12noon  is wet with 40mph winds! It is thus postponed  until the following Saturday February 26th.

MOUNTFIELD COMMITTEE ROOM:
Member’s meeting: Wednesday 23^rd March 2022
AGM: Wednesday 14^th September 2022
Christmas social event: Wednesday 14^th December 2022

BADAS HUB (SKILLING NORTH ALLOTMENTS)
BBQ at the BADAS Hub: Wednesday 13th July 2022 (NOT CONFIRMED)

All meetings to start at 7pm

We have received the following invitation:

Bridport’s annual seed swap will be held at Bridport Community Shed. To find the Shed walk along the lane that runs down the back of Mountfield, Bridport Town Council House, DT6 3JP and it is in the yard on the right directly after the gardens. Bring along any surplus seed you may have and exchange them for other seeds or simply come and take seeds for a donation. There will be 100s of seeds there donated by the Heritage Seed Library.

Bridport Seed Swap

Saturday 29th January 2022, 10am to 12noon

Bridport Community Shed.

For more info call Eileen Haste,  07879 280334

We are sorry to announce the cancellation of the social meeting which was due to be held at Mountfield on Wednesday, 15th December 2021.

It has been decided that we should ensure the safety of our members by adopting a precautionary attitude with regard to the spread of the new omicron COVID-19 mutation, as the consequences of catching this virus are unclear.

We hope to be able to hold this social event in the future when circumstances improve, and hope to see you then.

New E10 petrol and garden machinery

Standard unleaded petrol on garage forecourts now contains 10% ethanol, this petrol may not be compatible with many items of garden machinery such as strimmers and lawnmowers. The AA have advised gardeners to use super unleaded from September onwards. The UK Government website advises checking the appliance manual or asking the manufacturer or dealer before using E10. Even if your appliance is compatible the new petrol may cause problems if the mower or strimmer is left unused over the winter months.

(From the National Allotment Society https://www.nsalg.org.uk/news/garden-machinery-and-e10-petrol/)

For information, Colin Sparkes advises that there is a special small engine fuel called Aspen 2 (for 2 stroke) and Aspen 4 (for 4 stroke). It has a longer shelf life and is cleaner; it is however a little more costly than car petrol. It is obtained from the Small Engine Company in St. Andrew’s Industrial estate, Shoe Lane Bridport. Supposed to give machines a longer life; it also improves the starting of your machine – which he can vouch for, especially after standing over winter.

Member Tristan Allsop recommends a book called Silent Earth* by Dave Goulson (who is speaking at BridLit on Friday Nov 12) about the catastrophic decline in insect populations across the globe.  He spends a couple of pages writing about and singing the praises of allotments, and I wondered if members may be interested in what he has to say:

From Silent Earth* by Dave Goulson

I think there are better ways to grow food and I would argue that farming could learn something from allotments. Allotments typically have lots of different crops grown in small patches, and often look quite messy. You might think that an unpromising model for what food production could look like, but let me tell you a little more about them.

First, a recent study from Bristol University, based on data collected from around the UK, found that allotments had the highest insect diversity of any urban habitat – higher than gardens, cemeteries or city parks, higher even than city nature reserves. Allotments teem with life, probably a result of their higgledy-piggledy nature, with a huge diversity of crops and flowers being grown, some fallow and weedy plots, old decaying sheds, fruit trees and currant bushes, compost heaps, occasional ponds and more. This is also helped by the generally low use of pesticides: Beth Nicholls, who was previously involved in the studies of pesticides in bee food described in Chapter 7, has more recently been surveying pesticide use on allotments near Brighton, and found that most use few or no pesticides. When growing food for our personal consumption or to feed our kids, most of us are much more sparing in the use of pesticides than any conventional farm.

Secondly, Beth has also been working with allotmenters to collect information on the productivity of allotments, and the results are astonishing. Many produce the equivalent of 20 tons of food per hectare (a typical allotment is one-fortieth of a hectare), with a few producing the equivalent of 35 tons or more. This compares very favourably to the main arable farm­land crops in the UK, wheat and oilseed rape, which produce about 8 and 3.5 tons per hectare respectively (much of this going to animal feed or to produce the heavily processed foods that help make us fat). Bear in mind also that the allotment produce is negligible food miles, zero packaging, healthy fruit and veg, often produced with minimal chemical inputs.

Thirdly, research has found that allotment soils tend to be healthier than farmland soils, with more worms and higher organic carbon content, helping to tackle climate change.

Fourthly, a study in the Netherlands found that allotmenters tend to be healthier than neighbours without allotments, par­ticularly in old age. The researchers could not discern whether this was due to the consumption of fresh fruit and veg, the exercise gained from allotmenting, or perhaps the social benefits of having an allotment. Given the abundant evidence that being active, outdoors and in green space is good for us both in terms of mental and physical health, this result is not surprising.

To summarise, allotments seem able to produce lots of food, support high biodiversity, have healthy soil, and make people healthier. This seems like a win-win-win-win situation. Clearly there does not have to be a trade-off between food production and looking after nature.

Click here for more information!

*Goulson, D., 2021. Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse. London, United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing.

We will be introducing the new BADAS hub at Skilling North allotments on Saturday 2nd October from 11am-1pm. Tea, Coffe & biscuits will be served. We hope that members will give us ideas and suggestions to help develope the hub as a social centre for local allotmenteers.

The 2021 BADAS summer barbecue was held on the 15th July and was a well-attended and most enjoyable evening; members enjoying burgers and sausages (with a vegetarian option) provided by our chefs Fiona, Mandy and Roger with drinks dispensed from the bar by Jeni Edwards our newsletter editor. Thanks also go to Chris Miller who trimmed the grass at the hub (see photo) prior to the event. All in all a great event – held on a beautiful summer evening!

The theft of a 3m x 2m polytunnel  has been reported from Gundry Road allotments. This occurred on the night of Monday 3rd May 2021. The Police have been informed. If anyone has any information concerning either the whereabouts of the tunnel or who is responsible for taking it, please contact the local Police on 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by dialling 101