Report on the Seal Village Allotments 2015– 2016

February
/ February / 15 Hawthorn hedging put in – more saplings wereplanted around the perimeter
Our Annual Meeting was well attended in the Seal Church hall – Old gardening magazines and packets of seeds were given out
March
/ 21/3/15 Working party -Started levelling paths and putting in scaffold boards. Other groups cleared areas around the allotment. Our fruit area has had more ground cover put down and Mike Cursons has added some blackcurrant bushes.
Manure – Manure has been dropped off at people’s allotment
Seal Church of England Primary school– They visited the allotments as part of their curriculum studies. Jenni Pasco helped the yr 2 children look around the allotments
April
/ Seal allotments have been around for 90 years!–The Sevenoaks Chronicle came up to the allotments to take a picture. The allotments were started in 1925 when Lord Hillingdon donated a piece of land to the village of Seal for agricultural use.

May
/ 12/5/15 Talk to the Seal Village tea set – Frances Fish gave a talk and PowerPoint presentation about the development and history of the Seal Village Allotments
16/5/15 Working party – We have managed to redo some paths and build up a bank with some scaffold boards. Hawthorn hedging was weeded to give them a chance to grow bigger.
31/5/15 Bring and buy sale–We had a rather wet bring and buy sale and open morning. It raised £82.00 and we used our new community area. There were a variety of vegetable and flower plants together with tea and cake.
June / 30thJune 2015 Kent county competition–Many thanks to the various plot holders who tidied up the site in anticipation of the judges visiting! They were most impressed with Alan Barratt’s plot for the men and Gill Tavares for the ladies. Well done to everyone who took part. The judges looked at crop quality, crop planning, and good husbandry on individual plots and on the site as a whole they looked at cultivation and freedom of weeds, water, maintenance of boundaries, inner plot paths and general tidiness of the site. Our plot has improved on last year compared with others in Kent.
July
/ Kemsing Primary School visited the allotments–Jenny Decoine brought along 13 children from the gardening club to look at the allotments and taste our wonderful strawberries. They enjoyed the visit and plan to come again next year!
August / 15/8/15 BBQ and working party - We had a productive time mowing paths and tidying up edges, clearing brambles, taking down very old sheds and some hedging. We all had a very enjoyable BBQ with Patrick cooking burgers and chicken.
Padlock on the gate was cut – This was reported to the police and new gate codes had to be given out
September
/ 12/9/15 Kemsing Horticultural show - The Seal Village Allotments did very well at the Autumn show. John Milligan won gardener of the year. All members are welcome to exhibit their produce and come along to their meetings.
26/9/14 Scarecrow competition – Only one brave scarecrow sat patiently by the fence! Robbie was helped by his granny Jenny Decoine to make the scarecrow
Kings seeds - Kings seeds were ordered this year from catalogues and we have raised £113.61 which goes back into our funds
Potato orders – Many thanks to Dennis Gibbens for collating the potato order. We have raised £32.25 for our funds.
Preschool visit the allotments – Debbie Bell brought along 30 + children to the allotments to dig up potatoes, and other vegetables. They were given a pumpkin to carve out for Halloween.
October / Subscriptions were collected in and the new gate code given out
Manure – Manure has been dropped off at people’s allotment. This has been very popular this year.
10 / 10 / 15 Working party - gave the allotments a clear up for the autumn, cleared some vacant plots and we put some carpets down as covering. We had a record 20 people over the morning so well done to everyone. It does make a difference!
November / Newsletters – these continue each month
Seal Association meeting - We met in the Seal village hall and each organisation put in bids for money which was raised from the special July day. We received £200to be spent on improving our water system by putting in more tanks.
December
/ 18/12/15Christmas meal at the Bell Kemsing – A very enjoyable evening and everyone went away with a free packet of seeds to grow this next year.
Face book - Throughout the year we have had photos and comments put on Face book –

Proposed future events 2016

March - Working party / July / August – Judging of allotments South East in Bloom
April / May – Working party days tba / BBQ August - National allotments week – Working party
End of May - Plant and seed bring & buy / October – Working party clear up
End of June – Working party tidy up / December – Christmas meal at the Bell Kemsing