Invitation to a Harvest Barbeque

Chris and Tam invite you to Come along to a

Harvest Barbeque
at
Grampound Road Allotments

“Get Together and Enjoy our Local Food”

This Saturday Afternoon 11th September
1pm to 4pm, weather permitting.

All Welcome

Bring your friends and family,
something to sit on and food and drink to share

For further details Phone Chris Jones on 07971 436319

Or Tam Battell at National Trust Trerice on 01637 875 404

Grampound Road Allotments are situated at the top of the village of Grampound Road

Longest Day and The Veg are Growing Growing Growing!

Our cabbages are going great guns. Spent a few hours yesterday weeding, liquid feeding (home-made nettle concentrate) and mulching with hay our vegetables with Sophie a volunteer from France. It's a truly multi-cultural experience! Other vegetables doing well at the allotment site are chard, brocolli, Curly

Kale, Lettuce and pumpkins.

Key Hole Garden being Constructed at the Grampound Road Demonstration Site

Tom, Joe Morgado and Chris Jones, putting the stones around the base of our keyhole garden at the Grampound Road Demonstration Allotment site.

Work has begun on our Demonstration Allotment Site

Work has begun on a Demonstration Allotment site at Grampound Road Allotments. The project is the inspiration of Chris Jones who owns the Woodland Valley Organic Farm and is supported by Tamasin Battell, Gardener in Charge, National Trust Trerice.

On Saturday May 1st, volunteers Charles Mulwana a Ugandan farmer and Joe Morgado from Chicago joined Chris and Tam to begin the work of removing turf and digging in organic matter ready for planting.


By the end of the day two beds had been fully prepared and one bed planted up with brassicas spinach and leaf beet.


The ultimate aim of the project is to demonstrate how to make the most of the space in your allotment, including inter cropping, companion planting and use the space in 3 dimensions through the use of climbling vegetable and fruit plants. Paths in the plot are also designed to optimise the productive space.


Chris Jones explains "we also plan to incorporate plants that are essential to our diet, but perhaps not commonly grown such as maize and sweetcorn that provide valuable carbohydrates. It's true that some planting combinations work really well and benefit each other and we want to show how that works."



Best practice in water conservation and water use will be demonstrated through the use of water collection and storage and different mulching techniques.


Tamasin believes that this project will really benefit anyone that sees it. "I want to stress this is not about us saying do it this way. The aim is to give people permission to experiment. Really to personalise their own site, make it work for them and make the most of the resources that are available. We hope to encourage a really creative approach to allotmenting and efficient resource use."

If you would like to find out more about this project email tamasin.battell@nationaltrust.org.uk

How to grow a big one!

Top Tips from our Garden Manager John Lanyon

- Choose the best site - they like to grow in an open sunny place where they get sun all day

- They like to be warm - do not plant your plant out until the temperatures have risen, the beginning of June I reckon but down here in the right place you could start a couple of weeks earlier

- Soil - veg gardening is all about the soil - it needs to be well dug - this basically fluffs it up, allows the root in and holds onto water and nutrients

- Feeding - these guys are best feed 2 ways - heavily incorporate well rotten manure when digging your plot and then liquid feed every three weeks when the plant is growing

- Let them flower and then wait until the best fruit sets - not necessarily the first, you will sense which one is going to be the best because it will develop the quickest and look keen - then cut the others off

- Then water and water and water your plant and it is the luck of the draw after that

I am looking forward to meeting you and your champion in the Autumn!

ps the most important thing is to enjoy the whole thing and share your fun with others.


Mr John Lanyon
Gardens Manager
Trelissick, Glendurgan, Trerice and Bosloe in Cornwall
Follow us on Twitter - www.twitter.com/NTHeartCornwall
Find us on Facebook - 'National Trust - Heart of Cornwall'