FEDAGA and the City of Edinburgh Council have agreed to run an allotment competition in 2010. The Council intends to stage the Edinburgh In Bloom competition again and FEDAGA will sponsor the allotments section. Judges are even now readying themselves for the task ahead. Publicity and details of how to enter will appear in due course.

Here is a link to an article in the Evening News that gives details of plans to expand Edinburgh's allotment provision:
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/A-lot-more-allotments-on.6037690....

Don't forget to visit Inch House for Bridgend Organic Allotments' Potato Day: Sunday 21st February, 11am to 2pm. Check the Events listings for further details.

FEDAGA has been encouraging moves to convert unused publicly held land into growing spaces. Ideally, we would like to see the greater provision of traditional allotments on a permanent basis. However, it must be recognised that a lot of land that could be used is retained for future development. The large area at the back of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital abutting Myreside Road is one such area.
This is now to be developed into community gardens by NHS Lothian, who own the land, and the charity Cyrenians.

The Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society has pushed for Parliamentary time to be devoted to debating allotment provision. At last they have met with success and on December 17th, Jim Tolson MSP will move the motion detailed below.
It would be good if other MSPs were encouraged to support the motion and participate in the debate to build pressure on Scottish Local Authorities and other public bodies to increase and improve land used for allotments. To this end, why not write to your MSP to encourage them to help us? You could base your text on this brief example...
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Dear [MSP],

The Government acknowledges the difficulties that the use of manure containing traces of aminopyralid has caused some gardeners and allotment holders. In issuing approvals for two new products, it carefully considered the advice of the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP).

The restrictions on the new approvals are intended to ensure that manure containing aminopyralid does not leave the farm:

The new products may only be used on grassland for grazing (not for forage) or amenity grassland.

There are currently 2152 people on the City of Edinburgh Council allotments waiting list: two individuals for each plot in the city. FEDAGA is working with Council officials to encourage the development of new sites as a matter of urgency. We are also trying to get the Council to introduce a new evictions procedure in a bid to minimise the number of "dirty" plots that are not being cultivated adequately. These initiatives will help to cut the waiting list.

The winners of the City of Edinburgh Council/FEDAGA sponsored Allotments sections of the Edinburgh In Bloom contest have been announced. Congratulations to the winners who demonstrated an incredibly high standard and also to everyone else who participated. The judges used a strict scoring system which enabled them to come to an objective and fair result. Having said that, the differences between those at the top were very tight. However, the top three in each category were fully deserving of their prizes.

Introduction

September has been a quiet month on the plot. After all the activity of the annual FEDAGA show we usually take a break. This is a convenient time to go away; the main holiday rush is over and there is not so much needing done down on the allotment. So, after missing a few visits, on our return the plot was still in reasonable condition. As always, the weeds don't take a holiday and some of them needed urgent action to prevent them from seeding and causing even more weeds. The best way to keep on top of weeds is, simply, to keep on top of them to prevent them from seeding.