Chairman’s report
Sogs has confounded a widely held shibboleth, and it was not at all onerous to do so. Most Sogs members were involved and there was not a single one who did not end up with a huge smile on their face (or at least smiling inside, which any good yoga teacher will tell you is even more important.) One Sogs member had a particularly good time, he would not let anyone pass until he had made them smile. People would pay good money for an experience like that, and, actually, they did pay good money. Now where was I? I have lost the thread...Oh yes, Potato day. This was the 13th time that we have done it! And it was better than ever, the takings were up, and whilst it is important to be solvent that is not the only reason we do pot day. It may not even be the most important reason that we do pot day. (What do you think is the most important thing about pot day?) For me it is an opportunity to refresh my enthusiasm by spending time with other enthusiasts, and there is nothing more life enhancing than to be bathed in enthusiasm. There never was any doubt that we would all want to do it again next year but now the 1/3/17 Sogs meeting has given its formal approval.
So it is full steam ahead with the planning
starting now. The first thing is to set
a date and to make sure that Mathew can fit us in to his busy schedule. The next thing we need is ideas to keep the
day fresh and exciting, for our adoring public but also for ourselves too. What do you think? We need to keep the best of what we do but also we need something new (and possibly
cute). Come on, get your thinking caps
on, I want an idea from every Sogs member.
The madder the idea the better because every mad idea has a sensible
friend just waiting to be heard.
We have several things to look forward to
this summer in addition to our usual visits.
The Plant Sale at The Moat
project, which works with special needs clients, which we have
supported for the last 2 years, is on Sun. 7th May. When you are starting your herb and veg.
plants just do a few extra. Carol will
collect your plants or better still take them along on the day and get some more
of that enthusiasm that I have been banging on about.
An invitation from Maralyn:
We
are holding a Coffee Morning at 31 Harley Road, Condover SY5 7BA on Saturday 29th April, 10.30am -
12.30pm in aid of the Shropshire ME Group, if anyone wants to come along and
see progress in the garden. There will be a bring and buy: knick knacks, plants
and books, which will go on to a Garden Event supporting a village school in
Uganda. (Cakes
welcome!!!) Let's hope the sun shines. I have promised Frank it will!!
Our November talk was by Dave Thomlinson on Tools for Self Reliance.
This charity has a workshop in South
Shropshire where donated tools are refurbished. Some go to Africa, and some are
sold locally to swell funds for the workshop. Dave brought a selection of
skilfully refurbished tools, some of them antiques. He also brought and sold
tools on Sogs’ Potato Day. You can find out more on their website, www.tfsr.org.
January 4th
2017 Plants and Castle in Transylvania, Razvan Chisu (prounced like quiche)
When I
persuaded Siobhan to book this charismatic young man to give his talk I’m sure
she thought I was mad. What had the subject to do with SOGS? He’d spoken to my
own garden club and I knew that the story of his homeland, Transylvania, would
strike a chord with SOGs’ members.
Razvan was
fortunate to have grown up in a botanical garden where he spent most of his
free time as a teenager. No wonder he became passionate about plants. Then he
took a five-year course in Horticulture followed by BSc degree and a two year
Masters of Science course in greenhouse, vegetable and ornamentals production at
his home university. Botany was however his favourite subject.
After
graduating he worked for two years at the Herbarium in the Botanical Garden in
Cluj, Transylvania, Romania’s largest herbarium with dried specimens from all
over the world, some three centuries old. He began working as a freelance
gardener but needed more horticulture in his life and so he came to Britain
where he now lives.
His work as
a freelance gardener gives him the free time to pursue many other aspects to
this subject. He serves on the committees of the Cheshire Hardy Plants, Plant
Heritage, Alpine Garden, and the Saxifrage Societies. He edits a magazine and
co-ordinates Plant Heritage collections in Cheshire. With lots of other
memberships he is a very busy young man.
Razvan’s
slides began with a map of Transylvania, sitting roughly in the middle of
Romania with the Carpathian mountain range to the east and swiftly followed
were pictures of idyllic country scenes of peasants working the fields, using
animals to pull carts, cutting hay by hand and using special fences to dry the
hay on. It was like this country 100 years ago and 45% of the population is involved in subsistence agriculture. Being
poor, pesticides and fertilisers can’t be afforded and so most of the farming
is done organically with families having small numbers of stock, such as 5 cows
and twenty sheep. Village shepherds take the animals up to the pastures in the
morning and the cows make their own way home each evening for milking. Cheese
is made from the milk of cows and sheep. There are very few fences in the
surrounding countryside which looks like patchwork and the farmers know which
strips or fields they own in which they grow vegetable crops such as potatoes. Being in our country is a big difference for Razvan who is used to walking for miles through the
countryside and up on the mountains without meeting barriers or fences. The rugged terrain makes it difficult to use
large machinery and horses are still used to pull carts and ploughs. Whole
families from children to grandparents work together when necessary to get the
work done. A picture was shown of two old ladies clinging for dear life to the
back of a hay cart.
Reference
was made with pictures of the traditional way of scything* which the
Transylvania people are famous for and Razvan showed pictures of cottages owned
by Prince Charles as he is keen to support them and his cottages can be hired.
The hillsides were full of flowers, some of the 3,500 plus native plants
compared to the 1400 British natives, many of which we would recognise from
either our gardens or similar wildflower species. There were many salvias and
iris. Some hillsides were covered in the native stipa grass as in Steppe country
and which shone in the sunshine. He told the tale of a very important botanist,
Alexandra Borza who would stop a train by the emergency cord to get off and
look at a nature reserve, Zau de Compie, home of the Steppe Peony. This had
been the life’s work of an old man, Marcu Sancraian (1923 – 2006) who
perpetuated the species by spreading their seeds through the reserve.
Next came
pictures of the salt mines, Salina Turda, now a big tourist museum attraction
with underground lakes and stalactites but now a place to relax, to bowl or
attend a theatre. Pictures of the very
attractive towns and villages followed with their pantile red roofs, fortified
churches where the townspeople would store their food for times when they were
under siege conditions in the country’s troubled history. Razvan explained a
little about the history of his homeland from early history to unhappy
communist times and now a more peaceful democracy.
The last pictures, of course, had to be of the famous castles, especially the ‘so called’ Dracula’s castle in the south of the area. These were all typical of the style associated with Transylvania.
What a beautiful place. He was asked why he came to Britain and it was to enjoy and be able to work in a country with the best horticulture. He is certainly making his mark in that. He is leading a tour to his homeland for the Alpine Garden Society later this summer.
*see our own members scything at Berrington Hall on the website.
Sue Bosson
From Frank: The Story of the Left Over Spuds
As I’m sure many of you know the surplus potatoes at the close of play on Potato Day go back to Peter and Maggie’s (after Matthew has bought back those that he can sell at his other Potato Days). A few are then sold but we are left with quite a lot. Over the years we have gifted these to various worthy recipients and for three years this has included Oak Farm at Ditton Priors.
SOGS did visit a couple of years ago and if you went on that trip you will understand what a great place it is. For 25 years it has been a day centre for people with learning difficulties who help look after the animals and grow stuff. Shropshire Council have run it all that time but when the Government cut the funding to local government Oak Farm was under threat of closure. A long period of uncertainty finally ended in December 2016 when the Council transferred responsibility to a local charitable organisation – Bethphage (pronounced Beth – fa – g) who will run it for 7 years initially. The villagers really support the farm and the land had already been transferred to a Community Land Trust.
So - when Maralyn and I took the spuds to them this year and chatted for a while to some staff and clients everyone was feeling positive. They are really grateful to SOGS for giving them seed potatoes because they would have to buy them otherwise. They knew the date of Potato Day and as we were later than in previous years taking them down they were wondering whether we were going to remember them this year. They sell the resulting crop, including at Burwarton Show, and the fact there are lots of varieties goes down really well.
To SOGS these spuds are surplus but we came away from Oak Farm feeling a little humble and in future years it would be good to decide earlier if we are donating potatoes to them and let them know. They didn’t want to ask if we were but they were close to going out and buying some so really there is no better home for our left overs.
Just near the farm there is a café which if you are in Ditton Priors you should visit. The coffee and cake was top notch!!
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1st
March. Jonathon Groom, British Trust for
Ornithology, was unable to give a talk as
advertised. Instead Jim Almond stepped in to give a talk. Jim represented the
Shropshire Ornithological Society, so his talk was locally based, about birds
anyone can find in our gardens and out in the countryside. Using his own
excellent photos with Powerpoint, he talked briefly about how important gardens
are for birds, then he challenged us to identify dozens of birds, presented
according to their Shropshire habitats. I am pleased to report that between us
Sogs identified them all, even the rarest, although we were almost stumped by
dunlin because they are associated with the sea shore.
Some places to birdwatch in Shropshire:
The meres, Ellesmere.
Wood Lane, south of Ellesmere on the Colemere Road.
Venus Pool, Cross Houses.
Whixall Moss.
The Longmynd.
Chelmarsh reservoir, B4555 road Bridgnorth
to Highley. (Access
is restricted to public rights of way and the path to the scrape requires a
permit from the Shropshire Ornithological Society).
Jim mentioned rare species which may just visit, or be blown in on a gale, for as short a time as an hour or a day or so before moving on. The fraternity of birdwatchers tweet (appropriately) or email about such rarities, and they must drop everything and go there and then if they wish to catch a glimpse. One instance was a bee-eater, the only appearance ever in the county. There have been some other surprising visitors, such as gannet and spoonbill. We should now be able to distinguish between mute, Whooper and Bewick’s swans by looking at the amount of yellow on the bills. (See next page). One of Jim’s photos showed all three species of swan together.
Jim’s online blog:
shropshirebirder.blogspot.co.uk
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From Nature Notes, Daily Telegraph 3.3.17
Help to track the Bewick’s swan
Guides to help people identify swan species
are being issued across Northern Europe ahead of the migration of
the rare Bewick’s swan.
Designed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), it is hoped the guides will increase awareness of the bird’s plight and enable birdwatchers to help monitor its progress. The idea came after a journey by Sacha Dench, a WWT conservationist, in which she flew with the Bewick’s swans on their migration from the Russian arctic to the UK. The identification guides are available online and can be shared, printed or kept on a smartphone to be used in the field. Ms Dench said: “There are fewer than 18,000 Bewick’s swans left in Europe. We can’t track every individual, but hundreds are fitted with coded plastic rings on their legs, which can be read through binoculars”.
Samantha Herbert
(Swan identification from the amount of yellow on the beak:
Mute swans have the most yellow.
Whooper swans have a middling amount.
Bewick’s
swans have the smallest amount.)
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From Carol E:
The Albrighton Trust, Moat & Gardens Plant sale is Sunday 7th May this year.
Your donations of plants will be gratefully received, collection of these will be arranged nearer the time. I propose to sell plants at a £1.50 a pot this year, when you are planning your sowing, think about the presentation and content of your donations and ask yourself "Would I pay £1.50 for this?"
The Albrighton Trust Moat & Gardens offers educational and recreational activities for people disadvantaged by disability, special needs or illness, who are welcomed and supported whatever their capability. They have a proven track record of supporting the most hard to reach in society, providing positive outdoor activities and offering opportunities to enhance or change lives.
All activities are either inspired by or involve the outdoor environment. Their first class facilities are specifically designed to ensure everyone regardless of disability or capability can experience the joy and satisfaction of engaging in positive, outdoor activities which includes:
The finest angling facility for people with disabilities, which is within the capability of everyone.
Horticulture provides opportunities for recovery, therapy, recreation and education, gardening is a wonderfully flexible medium that can make a big difference and enjoyed by all of us.
Woodcraft is another activity that is embraced and enjoyed by the participants.
I was fortunate to be asked to help The Moat at our local village Christmas Extravaganza, and the pride and pleasure that exuded from the students who had made the various wooden articles for sale, was a joy to see when the people paid for their efforts.
If you can spare a few plants etc. and come along and enjoy the surroundings on the day, you can sit around and drink coffee, eat cake and chill if that's what takes your fancy.
Thanking you in anticipation, Carol
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COMPANION PLANT CHART
Cabbage, Kale, Cauliflower, French & Runner beans:
Plant Nasturtium as a sacrificial crop. Cabbage White butterflies will lay their eggs on this instead of the brassicas and aphids love them, so will lure them from the beans. Mint will help deter the flea beetle
Courgette:
Calendula (English Marigold) to attract pollinating insects.
Broad Beans:
Summer Savory helps to repel blackfly.
Carrot:
Spring onions, leeks, sown amongst the carrots deters carrot root fly. Mint can help confuse the carrot fly.
Chrysanthemum, Sunflower:
Chives, the onion scent deters aphids.
Onion:
Mint, the aromatic leaves help to confuse and deter the onion fly
Radish:
Mint, helps to deter flea beetle which chew irregular holes in the leaves.
Roses:
Garlic, the smell of garlic helps to deter aphids. Mint, Chives and Thyme help to deter blackfly.
Runner Beans:
Sweet Peas to attract pollinating insects
Tomato:
Mint & chives to deter aphids; French Marigold deters whitefly. Basil _ reportedly improves the flavour, and the strong scent of the leaves helps deter aphids.
These are a few ideas, if anyone has any other useful info. about companion planting, perhaps it can be shared with members at our various meetings.
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Recipe from Maggie:
We have been hosting
volunteers of Wwoof ( World Wide Workers on Organic Farms) for the last couple
of years. They do any work we need doing in return for bed and
board. We have met some really interesting people from all over the world
although the majority come from France. They usually cook a meal or two
for us and several of the French volunteers have cooked Tartiflette. This
is a
delicious dish consisting
mainly of potatoes. They use
a traditional French cheese
called Reblochon. The only
place I have seen it is in
Appleyards
(thanks to Maggie Ling). We did make it with Cheddar once when we had no
Reblochon and that worked as well.
Here is the recipe:-
300g bacon (smoked or unsmoked)
3 cloves garlic
1 large onion
1 kg potatoes (more or less, depending how many people are eating. Or as the
French said "Use your feeling")
50 cl creme fraiche (or cream)
1 Reblochon
Cut the bacon in dices. Chop the onion and the garlic. Cook the
potatoes in water until they are done. Cook the onion and garlic in a pan
with butter, add the bacon and creme fraiche. Remove from the stove when
they are done. Peel the potatoes and cut them up. In a large dish put a
layer of potatoes, then a layer of creme/bacon/onion. Cut the Reblochon
in slices. Put one layer of Reblochon in the dish. Repeat with the
potatoes, repeat with the creme/onion/bacon, repeat with the Reblochon.
Put it in the oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees C. You can serve it with
green salad.
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