From the Chairman:
"Here we are at the start of October and the weather is getting wetter and colder – but there is still plenty of colour in our gardens, and still crops to be enjoyed, so do make the most of the opportunities to get outside in the fresh air. Since our last newsletter, the virus situation has not improved, so we must reckon without any live talks or meetings for several months to come – even the full Committee cannot meet, under the 'rule of six'. Nevertheless, we continue to look forward and to do what we can.
The Virtual Autumn Show is almost upon us, so please send in your entries in good time. We will not be having an AGM until we can – more details later in this newsletter – but we will keep you informed as to how the Society is going. We’re currently checking if the last coach trip, to RHS Rosemoor, in November is viable then we have to see how the Spring programme will develop. We have already booked two dates for next year – the Spring Plant Sale on Saturday May 15th and the Summer Show on July 10th – and hope these will be possible in some 'live' form. The membership for paid-up members will carry over to 2021, and when we have a better idea of how the year may go, we will publish a programme.
2020 may seem to have been a write-off, but our gardens are still there and flourishing, and will be there next year. Planting spring bulbs, making compost, collecting leaves for leaf mould and sorting out those garden tasks we have not had time for in the summer should keep us busy whenever the weather is kind. Stay safe and healthy until we are able to meet again!" - Robin Britton
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In this issue:
- Our AGM and appointment of officers
- What’s coming up?
Will you pledge one photo for our Virtual Autumn Show?
- Seed exchange schemes 2020-21
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- Coach trip to The Newt
- Cynthia Studden
- Recipe from Pam Corbin – Pumpkin Pickle
- Lessons from great gardeners
- Flower allotment wanted
- Your contributions welcome!
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Our AGM and appointment of officers
Each year we hold our Annual General Meeting (AGM) at our November meeting. The purpose of the AGM is to receive reports from the Society’s President, Chairman and Treasurer and appoint the Officers of the Society – President, Secretary and Treasurer.
The Covid restrictions mean that we are unable to meet together in sufficient numbers (21) to form a quorum, a situation our Constitution does not cover. In the interests of being able to engage our members with how our Society runs and to conform to legislation regarding Covid, the AGM will be postponed until such time as we can hold a meeting in public and resume our talks and other activities. We would expect to hold a short AGM at the start of our first talk on resumption.
In the meantime, the reports from the President, Chairman and Treasurer will be placed on the website to ensure members are properly informed about the Society’s running and governance.
Several of our current officers are retiring. Pam Corbin is stepping down as President and the post will remain temporarily vacant until we are up and running again. Rose Mock is leaving her duties as Secretary and is being replaced by Monica Mellor. John Routley will be retiring as Treasurer and we are keen to appoint a replacement.
We are also keen to welcome new members to the Committee. Fresh blood to bring ideas and energy to what we do as a Society is always welcome. It would be helpful if people could serve at least one year and we welcome those who are willing to help for several years but please don’t feel you would have to be involved indefinitely.
If you, or anyone you know would like to help out with our vibrant society please contact Robin Britton or any other committee member.
And if anyone has any questions or comments regarding the AGM please likewise contact Robin at britton424@btinternet.com; or call 01297 631850.
What’s coming up?
Despite challenging times, we’re determined to find events and trips that our members can participate in. We’re adapting our existing programme so that we can still find opportunities to get together in a limited way, either in person or virtually. We need to remain flexible, so the programme over the coming months is likely to change from the published schedule. Please keep an eye on emails, the monthly newsletter and our website to keep up to date.
October
Our first event in October is a Zoom quiz on Wednesday 21st. Jim Moseley will be our quizmaster and has a range of devious categories to test your little grey cells. The quiz is general so you don’t need to know the name of a single plant! Why not join with other members of your household, or even pit your wits against them for a bit of fun. Please join at 7pm using the following link https://zoom.us/j/95077138728?pwd=ajBPUlhsTkFmWUJkTDcyTUhMaVVnQT09.
so that we can start promptly at 7.15pm. The quiz will last for 1.5 hours. Bring paper and pen for your answers.
If you would like an introduction to Zoom or need a refresher, there will be a half hour introductory session on Tuesday 20th from 5.30-6pm. Please contact tricia@thegardenersblacksmith.co.uk if you would like to join this session.
The following day, October 22nd, entries open for our virtual autumn show. We have eight classes:
- Autumn flowers – displayed or growing
- Autumn table decoration – floral or craft
- Home grown fruit, displayed or growing
- Home grown autumn vegetables, displayed or growing
- Hedgerow harvest
- Apple cake – whole cake and with a slice from the centre
- Carved pumpkin
- Photography – images of autumn.
Please email landscape (horizontal) photographs to tricia@thegardenerblacksmith.co.uk, with your name, class of entry and, if you wish, a title. Submissions should be made between Thursday 22nd and Sunday 25th October. The show galleries will go live on the Society website on Wednesday 28th October.
November
Our AGM is on hold at the moment (see story above) but we are assessing the viability of running a trip this month to RHS Rosemoor.
The trip is planned for Sunday 15th November at a cost of £16 for members; £19 for guests. However, the Rosemoor restaurant is not open and take away food only is available to purchase. You may also take your own picnic. If you would be interested in this trip please contact Jo Benke-Smith as soon as possible, 07504 442219 or joanna.ulrhs@yahoo.com.
Will you pledge one photo for our Virtual Autumn Show?
We’ll be holding a virtual rather than a live autumn show this October (see above) to make sure everyone keeps safe. That still gives us great opportunities to celebrate and share what we have in our gardens this autumn even if we can’t bring real-life exhibits together.
We would like our autumn show to be as successful as our virtual summer show, which saw nearly 80 entries, so we are asking as many members as possible to contribute one photo (and hopefully more) for the show.
The classes are broad in nature and we’ve made it as easy as possible to enter. All you have to do is take one snapshot before the closing date to send to us. You don’t even have to arrange your flowers or produce as you can send photographs of entries that are growing or displayed. And there’s plenty of opportunity to be creative with classes such as ‘Hedgerow harvest’ and ‘Images of autumn’.
Seed exchange schemes 2020-21
For anyone inspired by the article last month to take advantage of free seeds for RHS members, please note that the RHS has been unable to collect and prepare seeds from their gardens and therefore will not be offering the Seed Scheme for despatch in 2021.
All is not lost, however, and the following organisations are still offering seeds at the time of writing:
- Plant Heritage is offering both flower and vegetable seeds for purchase (available to members and non-members). https://seed.plantheritage.org.uk/
- Garden Organic has a Heritage Seed Library Seed List available to members https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/hsl
- The Cottage Garden Society offers free seed to members only, with a small admin and packing charge. http://thecottagegardensociety.org.uk/Seeds/Seeds
- The Alpine Garden Society offers free seed to members only, with a small admin and packing charge https://www.alpinegardensociety.net/seed-exchange/
- The Hardy Plant Society offers free seed to members only, with a small admin and packing charge https://www.hardy-plant.org.uk/about-plants/seed
Coach trip to 'The Newt'
At the end of September, 27 members travelled in a Covid-secure coach to 'The Newt' at Bruton, formerly Hadspen House. No expense has been spared in the restoration of this spectacular garden, which reopened in 2019.
There is a series of garden rooms and the egg-shaped original walled garden is now filled with many different apple trees, grouped by their county of origin. A kitchen garden, fragrance garden, greenhouse, colour gardens, cascades, ponds and lakes, apple tree maze, woodland and orchards are all available to explore. Takeaway picnics could be eaten under cover or in the grounds, while the garden café set on the hillside afforded a glorious view across the garden.
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Everyone enjoyed the trip – our first coach trip since lockdown started back in March. Here are some of the comments:
“It felt as if we were on holiday, after all the confinement.'”
“It really was such a spirit lifter after all these months of Covid.”
“The Newt was just spectacular.”
“We have been recommending The Newt and telling people how much we enjoyed our visit.”
“Thank you for organising it and going to all the trouble to keep us Covid free.”
Cynthia Studden
Long-standing Horticultural Society member Cynthia Studden passed away at her Cooks Mead home in July aged 90. Jenny Harding recalls: “Cynthia popped over the road for most meetings, joining Mary Matthews and my Mum and Dad in the front row! Cynthia enjoyed visiting a variety of gardens on our coach trips and was a quiet supporter of all we did - a very gentle lady.”
Recipe from Pam Corbin - Pumpkin Pickle
This spicy, sweet pickle is a resourceful and scrumptious way to use up the flesh from a carved-out Halloween pumpkin. It lends itself particularly well to all types of curries and rice dishes and its lustrous, intricate spicing also complements stuffed vegetables, couscous or cold chicken. Or you could serve it with sausages and pitta bread for a warming bonfire supper.
Makes 3 x 400-500ml jars
1.5kg pumpkin or firm-textured squash, such as Crown Prince or butternut (1kg prepared weight)
2tbsp fine sea salt
200g fennel, cut into chunks
35g fresh root ginger (25g peeled weight)
2 red chillies, halved and deseeded
2-3 fat cloves garlic, peeled
150ml sunflower or rapeseed oil
1 tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp English mustard powder
Finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed limes
90ml lime juice (3-4 limes)
250ml cider vinegar
200g golden granulated sugar
Sea salt, to taste
Peel, deseed and chop the pumpkin or squash into 1-1.5cm cubes. Place in a bowl and sprinkle over the salt, then toss to combine. Cover with a piece of baking parchment and a plate and leave for 12-24 hours.
Sterilise your jars and twist-on lids. Tip the pumpkin into a large sieve and rinse under cold water, then drain and dry thoroughly with kitchen paper. In a food processor or with a stick blender, blitz the fennel, ginger, chilli and garlic with 100ml of the oil.
Heat the rest of the oil in a heavy-based pan and add the fennel puree. Cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, before adding the peppercorns, fennel seeds, turmeric and mustard. Cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent the spices catching.
Add the lime zest and juice, the vinegar and sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to simmering point. Add the pumpkin and return to simmering point for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and season to taste.
Pack the pumpkin pieces in their sauce into the warm jars, filling to the brim. Tap the jars on the work surface and push down gently with a teaspoon to prevent air pockets. Seal immediately. Invert the jars for a minute or so, to ensure the lids are sterilised, then turn the right way up and leave to cool.
The pickle can be eaten straight away. Otherwise, store in a cool, dark, dry place for up to a year. Keep in the fridge once opened and use within 10 weeks.
Lessons from great gardeners
Anyone who is a member of Plant Heritage may wish to take advantage of a virtual talk by gardening celebrity Matthew Biggs on ‘Lessons from Great Gardeners’. Matt trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and is a well-known presenter of television programmes and a regular panellist on Gardeners' Question Time on Radio 4.
Matt writes regularly for several gardening magazines, and has written several books including RHS Lessons from Great Gardeners: forty gardening icons and what they teach us.
The talk is on Saturday 17th October at 2.30pm and costs £5. Anyone wishing to join should contact madelaineward@aol.com.
Flower allotment wanted
Amy Ralph is a member of the Lyme Garden Growers, and says "Does anyone know of an allotment sized piece of ground I could use, please? It’s for growing shrubs and flowers for cutting, so wouldn’t be unsightly. Happy to pay rent in flowers or gardening time! All I need is space to plant some shrubs and perennials. I’d also need to visit to pick, once or twice a week in summer. Thank you!" If you have a spare corner of your garden that Amy could plant up, please contact her on amyralph@btinternet.com.
Your contributions welcome!
We’re always looking for gardening news and photos of interest to our members. If you have anything to share please contact Tricia Boyd tricia@thegardenersblacksmith.co.uk or call on 07767 261444
A big thank you to this month’s contributors: Jenny Harding, Pam Corbin, Robin Britton and Tony Cook. A special thank you to Jools Woodhouse for designing our wonderful autumn show poster.
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Above left: Tony Cook photographed this lovely orchid at Burnham Nursery.
Above right: A splendid pumpkin patch photographed by Pam Corbin at Forde Abbey (just right for all those carved pumpkin entries for the autumn show ...)
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