Mill Road path markers now in

Pictures on the Allotment Society flickr pages

Starting from scratch

Mandy has drawn up a list of potentially useful books and magazines in response to requests from a few of the Mill Road contingent. Here they are:

Allotment Month by Month, Alan Buckingham

The Complete Gardener, Monty Don

Gardening from Berryfields, Monty Don

A Garden of Herbs, Agnes Walker

Vegetables, Herbs and Fruit, Matthewy Biggs, Jekka MacVicar and Bob Flowerdew

The Garden Expert series by Dr D.G. Hessayon

Also Magazines:

Garden Weekly

Grow your own

Kitchen Garden

Amatuer Gardening

Minutes for the Mill Road Meeting 16th February 2011

Minutes for the Mill Road Meeting held on the 16th Feb 2011 in The Waverley Hotel, Nairn.

The chairman Dick welcomes everyone to the meeting and sends apologises from Jason, Bill and Dawn, Maureen, Janice, Samantha and Des.

Work has started at Mill Road at the site looks great already. Henry will be ploughing the site once it is more level and will use a cultivator on the site also. After that we will call on volunteers from the waiting list to help us all mark out the plots and paths so that Henry can then start with the paths. The shed will be erected in the next couple of weeks also. Dennis Smith has ordered all the fencing materials and we hope to have all this work completed by the middle of March. Dick had mentioned to the council that the graveyard wall is crumbling and really needs repointing.

Scott Macrae offered a really good deal on sheds that he has negotiated with a contact he has with homebase. We have emailed all tenants to see if they wish to take up the offer as the more sheds we order the better the price for everyone. We might be able to get tools at a good rate also so will maybe discuss everyone’s needs at the next meeting so we can look into this.

We also asked plot holders to consider toilet arrangements and if need be we can either fundraise or apply for funding for a composting toilet. Please can Mill Road tenants think about this and get back to us.

We are trying to organise a trip to the Black Isle on the 6th March for Tattie day. Full details on the website.

We are going to contact Gordons sawmill with regards to wood for our raised beds. The committee will speak to Ali Isles with regards to ordering the poly tunnel for the site.

Can all plot holders please have a think about what training needs they would require and come up with some ideas for us to pursue please.

Dick has ordered the noticeboards for the site and the logos are ready too.

The press release has already appeared in the Nairnshire.

The committee will contact everyone in due course for the marking of paths and plots.

The meeting closed at 9pm.

The date of the next meeting is Wednesday the 16th March in Waverley Hotel at 7.30.

Sheds and Tools - a great offer

Scott Macrae has a contact with Homebase in Elgin who are offering us a great discount on sheds that are 6’ x 4’ in size. Mandy has emailed everyone she has email addresses for to contact her by Monday 21st February if they are interested.

We could also get a great deal on tools so if anyone wishes tools can they let us know at the next meeting what they require and we will get prices for them.

John's Allotment pictures taken 13/02/11

Thanks John



See slightly larger individual pictures here on the Nairn Allotments flickr pages
Also a new recipe posted today on the recipe page.

TBI Potato Day - Sunday 6th of March

TBI (Transition Black Isle)

It will be held on Sunday 6th March from 1pm to 4pm at:
Findon Hall
Culbokie
Inverness-shire
IV7 8JJ

They say:

"We're planning to have 50+ varieties of seed potatoes, jerusalem artichokes, seed and plant swaps, a TBI stand... and anything else we or you can think of that is related. If you want a stand you can have it free. We plan to have teas / refreshments etc. Will be providing info on potato varieties, growing potatoes, might even manage a talk or two but no promise on that."

Contact here for further information

Compost offer - MacLeod organics

50 litre bags of organic compost

£6 each or 2 for £10.

Contact their Office number: 01667 46255
or e-mail: macleod.organics@virgin.net for further details

Millroad allotment site, Viewfield allotment site

Has anyone got photos of these two sites when they were in use? I would be very interesting to see them, anyone had a plot on these sites it would be good to hear from them, as to what was grown on them and also soil conditions on both sites. If you can help please get in touch with us.

Mill Road - the Press Release

Press Release

The Mill Road Allotments – A new site for Nairn
Funding of £39,000 has been secured to provide a new community allotment site in the centre of Nairn at Mill Road beside the River Nairn

Matched funding has been provided by the Highland Leadear 2007-2013 Programme which is part of the wider Scottish Rural Development Programme, The Highland Council’s Nairn Discretionary Fund and the Nairn Allotment Society.

The site has good soil type and was formally the original Nairn allotment site and plant nursery for the Royal Burgh of Nairn. It lies to the south of the old Nairn Parish Church and graveyard.

The New allotment area will provide 30 plots, a shared poly tunnel and a shared meeting room/equipment store. There will be a number of raised beds for disabled gardeners and the entire site will be wheelchair accessible. An access road off Mill Road will allow disabled drivers to park in a small car park central to the site.

Work will commence on the site as soon as possible to clear scrub, rough tussock grassland and root systems. Soil will be cultivated to create a manageable and plantable medium. A network of paths will be formed to give access to plots and all facilities. These will include a wetland area and other environmental areas planted with attractive shrubs and bulbs.

The site will be managed by the Nairn Allotment Society on a 21 year lease from the Highland Council. The Society maintains the Statutory Tenants’ List and Waiting List for plots. Work to form the site will be completed by the end of March, and plots have already been allocated to those on the Waiting List for planting at the beginning of the 2011 growing season.

The Society is grateful for the support given to this valuable Community Project by the four Nairn Ward Councillors, by officials of the the Highland Council and Leader Programme, by Nairn Community Councils, by the Nairn Business Community and by the Nairn public.

Johan A Mackie, Chairman of Nairn LAP has added the following comments: -

“We were happy to support the Mill Road Allotments project as it provides people with an opportunity to grow fresh produce for themselves and their families, to get fresh air and exercise and to socialise with like minded people. Many of those taking up the allotments have been on a waiting list for years.”.

“It also makes good use of this ground which would otherwise lie derelict or would be built upon, taking away more open space.”

“We wish them and the new allotment holders many years of successful digging and growth in the future.”

For further information please refer to:

www.nairnallotments.org

Mill road allotment site

Well it was good to see a start has been made on the site today, and the site looks big now it has been cleared, I will get a better look after work the new plotholders will be eager to start planing their plots, and what tools they will need this will be the start of exciting times for them, and of course we will give advice if they need it. Lots of work for them to do in the first year. as the plots will just be marked out then they can put up their own fence.

Update: A couple of pictures available now here on this flickr page