Marina Allotments Grand Autumn Fete 2024 Members, associated and friends of Marina Allotments are invited to join us for our Grand Autumn Fete on Saturday 14th September 2024 from 2pm Wood fired pizzas // activities and workshops // allotment tours // entertainment More details soon. Please put the date in your diary. Timings for the…

Thursday 19th September, 6pm Members are invited to the 2024 Annual General Meeting at the communal area of the allotment, 6pm start, then social from 7.30pm with food and drinks provided. If you would like to be nominated for the committee please email committee@marinaallotments.org.uk Open to any plot holder or associate member As you all…

There is a new addition to the library (did you know we have a library at the allotment?) in the shop: a guide to using locally sourced materials to make mineral and biological extracts and ferments – rather than buying them in plastic bottles in the shops. After a disappointing summer, my allotment neighbour, professional…

Maintenance of footpaths between plots on the allotment are the responsibility of the adjacent plot holders. It’s really important that paths are kept clear and safe. Slips and trips are one of the biggest risks to members on the allotment and overgrown, uneven or obstructed paths can be really dangerous to other members who need…

Thursday 14th September, 6pm Members are invited to the 2023 Annual General Meeting at the communal area of the allotment, 6pm start, then social from 7.3pm with pizza, beers and entertainment! Feel free to bring drinks and snacks to share. If you would like to be nominated for the committee please email committee@marinaallotments.org.uk Open to…

What Actually Is the Committee?… A post about what the committee does, why we have one and why we need YOU to help out too… Why is there even a management committee anyway? Marina Allotments is a self managed allotment. This means that the land is owned by Hastings Borough Council, but the allocation of…

At our first summer social (every 4th Friday of the month), we had a really interesting talk from member Matt Kellet all about aquaponics. This is a system of growing plants and fish a recycling water/nutrient system, often with the plants growing in a media bed. Matt showed us the system he’s set up on…

Plot Inspections… A brief explanation of what they are and why we do them We thought it might be helpful to try to demystify the plot inspection process. So this blog post is intended to explain why plot inspections are necessary and what actually takes place. Firstly, the why… Most simply, because it is a…

Ingredients  1 pound of Rhubarb  200 mil of water  1 pound of sugar. (jam sugar if preferred but not necessary).  1 Microwave oven.  1 jam jar and lid.  1 conventional oven.  Method  Set your microwave to ¾ power.  With a sharp knife finely slice your rhubarb into ½ cm slices.  Place into a microwave dish with lid.…

Apple Day 2022 Saturday 24th September saw the inaugural Marina Allotments Apple Day – an effort to help use and celebrate more of the many apples grown on the allotment. Members were invited to contribute apples from their plots or just come along to help out as we pressed over 100kg of apples into about…

Thursday 15 September – 6pm You are invited to the 2022 Annual General Meeting at the communal area of the allotment, 6pm start, then social from 8pm with pizza, beers and entertainment! Feel free to bring drinks and snacks to share. If you would like to be nominated for the committee please email committee@marinaallotments.org.uk Open…

(from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s book: ‘Three Good Things on a Plate’)  Serves 4   Ingredients:  600-700g new potatoes, scrubbed or scraped  4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed  3 tbsp olive oil  One bunch of asparagus  One pack of halloumi cheese  Juice of half a lemon  2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley  Method  Pre-heat the oven to 190C (175C for fan)  Cut the potatoes into…

You can make this with any mixture of spinach, perpetual spinach or Swiss chard –  there’s plenty around on the allotments at the moment. I’ve loosely adapted it from a recipe in ‘A Baker’s Life’ by Paul Hollywood  Ingredients  1 tsp olive oil  2 cloves of garlic  500g swiss chard leaves or spinach (if using…

Encouraged by my no-dig experiment last year, I decided to start well ahead of the growing season this time and to be more methodical and thorough. I was inspired by ‘Gaia’s Garden’ by Toby Hemenway, which explains the benefits of building up soil fertility from the top down, as Nature does, by creating a ‘sheet-mulch’,…

Jerusalem artichokes are a perennial vegetable that grow very easily on the allotment. I inherited mine with my plot and every year I look forward to being able to dig them up for this winter soup adapted from Delia Smith’s recipe.  Ingredients 500 g carrots 700 g Jerusalem artichokes (weight before peeling) 75 g butter…

Committee Roles For those who weren’t able to be there, we had a successful and positive – if slightly chilly – AGM on 16th September, followed by a social round the pizza oven which didn’t wind up till about 10.30 – I think everyone enjoyed the chance to meet and chat in a relaxed way…

One of our members, Amanda, who was helping with the composting work last weekend, said she suffered a very nasty bite from a spider, which was probably a False Widow. Her arm swelled up badly and there are two fang marks clearly visible. She is OK now, but this is a warning to wear gloves…

This pest can decimate the foliage of gooseberry and red and white currant bushes, sometimes reducing the bush to a skeleton. The adult emerges in mid spring and lays its eggs on the underside of leaves usually low down and in the centre of the bush where it is difficult to spot them. The eggs…

Last week we (finally!) held our AGM. Held over a week, members were invited to register participation and raise questions by email, complete an online voting form and then join us for a Zoom meeting at the end of the week. We also had alternative postal options for those who don’t use email. We were…

It’s been a while since I posted a blog on behalf of the committee; I had some tech issues which I’ve only recently resolved. I hope everyone reading this has been keeping well in these strange times. The seasons have well and truly changed, with most of the summer harvest finished and most work on…

It is August, and here is an update on my first no-dig experiment. I have now cropped all my potatoes and here are the results: I grew three varieties: Arran Pilot, Nicola and Anja, all first and second earlies. The Arran Pilots were planted in the dug section of the bed, where I had added…

This month at our formal committee meeting, we welcomed five new co-opted members to the committee. It was great to have some fresh enthusiastic members on the Zoom call this week and we’re all looking forward to working together on behalf of all members! Please take a look at the Committee page. As you will…

This week, water was a big topic of conversation at our informal meeting. Apparently, it’s been the sunniest May on record and I’m sure that’s something we’ve all been aware of as we’ve been lugging watering can after watering can around the plot trying to get our plants off to a good start. Water is…

This is my fav thing to do with rhubarb! ​Rhubarb – fruit or vegetable? Although it’s often used in sweet dishes it’s actually a vegetable, and a very versatile one too. Danny Kingston, A.K.A Food Urchin, had a glut of rhubarb growing in his allotment. As there’s only so much crumble you can eat, he decided to…

We had a cold snap this last week and the cloches and horticultural fleeces which we thought we’d packed away have been back out. Thankfully, the long-range forecast from the Met Office is looking good for the next two weeks, so it must be time to get the beans and squashes in the ground (if…

I found this quick and easy recipe on the website www.italianfoodforever.com after I’d enjoyed the dish while travelling in Puglia. It’s great for using the leafy parts of root vegetables like turnips or beetroots, or the leaves of broccoli (as in the recipe) or kale. ​ Orichiette are the little shell-shaped pasta which I’ve never…

#peatfree #greencharter #sustainability This week has seen a change in the weather and it now feels more like spring-time in England than the previous few weeks have. I for one have been grateful for the help watering the plot (although a little concerned about my seedlings being eaten by slugs and snails)! At our committee…

Having gardened for over half my life, digging the soil has always seemed an essential way of removing weeds, breaking up heavy soil and incorporating organic matter to improve it. I had until recently viewed no-dig gardening like a new age religion – something a bit waffly that I couldn’t really believe in. Then last…

Spring has sprung and times are very strange right now. Some people are finding themselves with lots of extra time to spend at the allotment, whilst others are unable to visit at all. The committee have continued to beaver away in the background and we’ve recently increased our regular meetings from monthly to weekly (on…