Site updated October 2019
Chairman : Chris Harwood. Secretary : Pam Weston. Treasurer: Phillip Higginson. Show Secretary Lesley Powell
A Potted History: At a meeting in the School Room, The Talaton Produce Association was formed in November 1949 for Talaton residents and holders of allotments. The annual membership was 2 shillings. Mrs Glover was elected secretary and Mr Eric Bambury Chairman and Treasurer. The Association's Golden Anniversary was celebrated in 1999 with a party and commemorated by the planting of a Golden Hornet Crab Apple Tree in the Church grounds by Mr Bert Maher, a founder member.
Membership
Membership Enquiries: Telephone Pam Weston 01404 822864
The Association is Affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society and enjoys a number of benefits from that Affiliation including group free entry to any of the RHS gardens.
Annual Family Membership is £2 and entitles members to enter the Annual Produce Show, held the first Saturday in August, and to order seeds etc. from Dobies Catalogue in any quantity at a discount if ordered before Christmas.
Other attractions include a Garden Visit in the Summer, the committee runs stalls at the Village Day and Christmas How d'ye Do, a pumpkin competition and helps with refreshments at the village pantomime when there is one.
The Annual General Meeting is in November
New Committee elected at the A.G.M. 2018
Chairman Mr Chris Harwood,
Secretary Mrs Pam Weston
Treasurer Mr Phillip Higginson,
Show Secretary Mrs Lesley Powell
Committee Members Mrs Nickie Bitschi, , Mrs Kathy Gray, Mrs Peppi Shaw, Mr Terry Wright. Sarah Woods, Steve Spratt
IMPORTANT NOTICE
At the last meeting of Talaton Produce Association, the majority of committee members agreed to change our name to Talaton Garden and Produce Association. Our reason was to encourage the gardeners of the village who do not grow many, or any vegetables to feel welcome to join us. All those of you who have paid your subs this year to Talaton Produce Association are paid up members of Talaton Garden and Produce Association. We welcome newcomers and will continue to run our stalls at village events, organise the Annual Show on the first Saturday in August and the Pumpkin Competition in October. We will also organise a trip or two and put on an evening talk.
.............
Trip to RHS Rosemoor
Saturday 12th October
Well, not a huge turn out but the two who went had a great day, not a drop of rain and even some sunshine. Ideal for photographs and here are a few. It was a particularly good day to go as there were numerous craft displays, working horses demonstrating their skills in forestry work,even an opportunity to learn how to light fires, build dens and climb trees - well, maybe not for the two who went but it was tempting. All in all and , using the benefit of being in the Garden and Produce Association, it didn't cost a penny! Thanks to Pam Weston for organising it.
Craft building from Nature's Own store
Elephants at Rosemore
Three Heads better than One
Many thanks to all those who gave plants and garden related goods to the stall we ran during the Open Gardens weekend at the end of May. You helped us raise a magnificent £238, which was be used to fund our recent annual show in August, the pumpkin competition last October and our AGM in November.
Tips for October
from
Jim Buttress
1. Apply barrier glue or grease bands to apple and pear trees, to prevent wingless Winter moth females crawling into the trees to lay eggs.
2. Apply Autumn lawn feed as soon as possible.
3. Plant out Spring cabbages 6ins apart. Net plants against pigeons.
4. Allow some ivy to mature and flower. It is a great late season source of nectar and berries.
5. Cut dowm stems of asparagus and Jerusalem artichoke to just above ground level as their foliage yellows.
6. Prune tall growing shrubs that are hard pruned in Spring, such as Lavatera and Buddleia, by half now to reduce wind rock.
7. Plant garlic cloves 6ins apart, with tips pointing upwards 1inch below the surface of free draining soil. Leave 12ins (30cms) between rows.
8. You can plant hardy Spring bedding plants such as wall flowers, polyanthus, violas and forget- me- nots now into prepared beds or pots.
9. For early flowers, so sweet peas indoors this month or next. So seed in root trainers or 3ins pots and keep young plants in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse over winter, to help prevent leggy growth.
10. Prune back hybrid tea and floribunda roses by a third after flowering, to reduce wind rock.
October Jobs
Hopefully you are still enjoying this seasons
crops and flowers in some mellow autumn sunshine. It is now time to start
clearing up your veg plot, planting green manure such as field beans, to help
enrich your soil and crowd out weed seedlings.
Earth up leeks and celery, to keep them blanched. Finish pruning your blackberries and summer
raspberries.
Remove yellow leaves from
Brussel sprouts and cabbages because leaving them to rot on the ground
encourages the spread of grey mould. Dig
over your potato patch thoroughly. Even
Monty Don admits to missing the odd potato in the ground. Those left will sprout again and may carry
over viruses and other diseases.
Don’t forget to visit our
website to check on Jim Buttress’s tips for the month.
If it rains, well sit back and design
something wonderful for our Pumpkin Competition, which will take place on
Friday 25th at the Talaton Inn.
The past few years have seen some amazing pumpkins which transformed the
pub’s skittle alley for a night. You
don’t have to have grown your own pumpkin, there will be plenty on sale. It is free to enter and details are elsewhere
in this Calendar. Do have a go and help
to make this year’s competition the best yet. Too shy to carve your own
pumpkin, then come along to the Talaton Inn at 7pm to enjoy the display, some
good company, food and maybe a drink or two.
Make a note in your diary
to attend our AGM next month. Wednesday
20th November
Dr Mick Street will be
giving a short talk on ‘The Disappearance of Pollinating Insects’.
This will also be the
time to pay your annual subscription, receive the latest Dobies catalogue and
our calendar of events for 2020. More
details in next month’s Calendar.
Don’t forget to feed the
birds as the days shorten and nights get chilly, and leave some water for
them. And…..
Don’t forget to check
that no hedgehogs have taken up residence in your bonfire heap, before you
light it.
Happy gardening.
Notes for November
At the time of writing
yesterday’s lovely mellow October sunshine has given way to grey skies and
rain. Forceful winds threaten. May be this is not such great weather to do
all those tidying up jobs in the garden, but it is good to stand and admire the
glorious yellow leaves of the hedge maple and paper birch and enjoy the rich
colours of the hedgerows.
I know I am repeating myself but, if you are
having bonfires, don’t forget to check that no hedgehogs have taken shelter
underneath before you set light. There
is still time to plant green manure if you have some bare ground. It will compete with weeds and add nutrients
and humus to your soil when you dig it in in the Spring. Broad beans can be planted now to give an
earlier crop next year. Beans planted
now will not be as readily infested with aphids as those planted in Spring. It
is not too late to plant sweet pea seeds and garlic bulbs, if you have not
already done so.
I hope you enjoyed our
pumpkin competition, whether as a competitor or a viewer and have been inspired
to have a go next year.
Next on the agenda is our
AGM. Do join us in the Parish
Hall on
Wednesday 20th November,
7 pm for refreshments before the 7.30pm meeting.
Dr Mick Street will open the meeting with a short talk on
The Disappearance of Pollinating Insects.
Do come along to hear
about this worrying trend. All
welcome. It is the time to renew your
membership, which is still the princely sum of £2 per family and to pick up
your Dobies catalogue. If you fancy taking a more active role do come along and
chat to members of the committee. We do
not bite!
In the meantime, don’t
forget to leave a few windfalls for the birds.
Blackbirds and other thrushes love apples and might eat a few slugs and
snails while they are at it.
Finally a plea to all our
members to donate produce, plants, gardenalia to our stall at the How D’ye
Do. Nickie Bitschi will be happy to
accept donations nearer the time, as will
Pam Weston. All proceeds go to
the Parish Hall and we like to do our bit!
Finally, don’t forget to
look on our website. This years Pumpkin
entries will be there for you to admire and Jim Buttress continues to send us
his monthly tips.
Happy gardening.
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Annual Show 2019
Kitchen staff - backbone of any show !
Prizewinners
High Sheriff of Devon - Champion Cup- Pam Weston. Overall winner, most points.
J W Wise Cup for Gentlemen only - Terry Wright.Highest points in all classes.
Mrs E R Glover Cup for Ladies only- Pam Weston . Highest points in all Classes.
The Young Trophy - Sarah wood and Robin Carter. Runner up lady or gentleman.
WI Cup- Pam Weston, Highest Points section 5
Palfrey Memorial Cup - Pam Weston. Best flower arrangement.
Sir Jack Boles Memorial trophy - Jonathon Boles, Gentleman's Baking.
Keith West Memorial Cup - John Harris. Highest points in Childrens' section
Runner up in 0 - 7 age group Abigail Wheeler
Runner up in 8 - 16 age group Benjamin Gray
Winner of Public Vote re the Flower arrangement in a wine glass - Pam Weston.
Congratulations to All !
Special thanks to Lesley Powell for being Show Secretary for some years and doing such a fine job. Alas, she is now standing down and will be missed but the Show will go on !
Stalwarts of the Association - Nikki and Pam
Annual Summer Outing Saturday June 22nd
Saltram House
What a day - blue skies and sunshine. Wonderful outing and certainly a wonderful National Trust House and Grounds. Many thanks due to Pam Weston for organising it. And many thanks to the very convivial group of nineteen who supported the event.
and last but not least........ not entirely sure how he got on our coach !
Annual Produce Show 2018
A big thank you to everyone involved .
Nikki's Figs !
Annual Produce Show
2017
Talaton Produce Association Show 2017
Thank you to all who came along to the Parish Hall on Saturday 5 August to see the fruits of our members labour. There were also lots of vegetables and flowers to admire along with jams, interesting tipples and of course the baking. Thank you to all those who exhibited – congratulations to those that triumphed on the day and try again next year to those that did not fare quite as well.
We were particularly pleased that we had 9 children enter exhibits this year. Over all the classes and both sections (0 – 7 years and 8 – 16 years) we had 32 exhibits! Well done, the best we have had for a long time. The Judge was very impressed by the hard work that had gone into producing the fairy cakes, insects out of a wooden spoon, photograph frames, posies and vegetables. The potato heads were a great talking point. Our youngest entrant was 2 years and 11 months and we hope that he and the rest of our young gardeners continue to produce such entertaining exhibits over the next few years.
It has been a difficult year in the garden and we know that the weather we have had over the last few months did affect some of the classes with numbers down in the clematis, rose and tomato classes, to name a few. However this village knows it onions and there were plenty of other classes that were well subscribed.
The big surprise this year was that we had three men who all achieved the same high score. Our Chairman can not remember this happening before (and we did double check the scores). This means that Graham, Laurence and Terry will have to share the J W Wise Cup and have it grace their respective mantelpieces for 4 months each!
Thanks must be given to all those who work hard to put on the show and help on the day. There are too many to name but mention does need to be made of the members of The Village Shop for accepting the entry forms and handing out the bench cards, our Judges who turn out every year and of course to Rosie and her team who produce mouthwatering delicious cakes and refreshments for all who visit the show.
The winners this year were:
High Sheriff of Devon Champion Cup – Rosie James
J.W.Wise Cup – Gentlemen – Graham Spry/Laurence Wood/Terry Wright
Mrs E.R.Glover Cup – Ladies – Rosie James
Cyril Young Trophy for the Runner Up – Pam Weston
W.I Cup for highest points in section 5 – Rosie James
Palfrey Memorial Cup for best flower arrangement – Nickie Bitschi
Sir Jack Boles Memorial Trophy for the gentleman’s baking – Laurence Wood
Children’s Section:
Keith West Memorial Cup for highest points – Benjamin Gray
Acorn Cup – runner up ‘up to 7 years’ – Wilbur Shaw
Oak Cup – runner up ‘8- 16 years’ – Jonathan Gray
The public vote for the best arrangement of flowers in a wine glass was won by Ann Ellis, with Lucy Channon 2nd and runner up Nickie Bitschi.
We hope that all who entered or visited the Show enjoyed it and those that couldn’t make it will enter next year. Any adult resident in the village can join the Association and be eligible to enter all the classes in the show. Membership is per family and only £2 a year. Come and talk to us at our AGM on 15 November to find out more.
Finally, the Produce Stall made £144 at the Show !
Lesley Powell
Show Secretary
Photos of the Produce Show 2017 followed by photos of the Pumpkin Competition 2017
The Nerve Centre !
Pumpkin Competition 2017
There were 29 entries in our Pumpkin Competition last month. They made a brilliant display, the best ever. If you missed this lovely evening do look at the photos on our website. The carving gets more intricate and inventive every year and the entries harder to judge. Well done to everyone who entered and thank you for making this such a pleasant evening. Many thanks also to Maria for welcoming us again, for setting up the skittle alley so beautifully and for all the delicious cakes; and thank you to Lucy and Harry Channon for the judging.
1st Elizabeth Dinnis
2nd John Buxton
3rd Toby Kingdon
7 to 11yrs
1st Matilda Niven
2nd Samia
3rd ( gent with no name!)
12 to 16yrs
1st Amy, Rosabell & Xian
2nd Ollie Hunter
3rd Donald Trumpkin (We know who)
Adults
1st Becky Springall, 2nd Emma & Jordan Niven 3rd Lizzie Buxton
Nicole Dinnis’s wonderful owl pumpkin - highly commended, but like all owls was best in the dark.
Back to the garden, now winter has arrived there is still work to done, harvesting and tidying, dividing perennials to give them more space, pruning apple and pear trees …… and when its too wet, too cold or frozen why not sit down in a comfy chair in front of the fire and beginning planning for next year. Hopefully you came along to our AGM to pay your family subscription - still only £2 and collected your Dobies seed catalogue. If not you still have time to pay and collect a catalogue from Pam (822864) in time to get your 50% off seeds on orders before Christmas.
Don’t forget to feed the birds and leave water accessible for them. Hedgehogs are still active (2nd wk of Nov at time of writing) so would definitely appreciate the odd pile of leaves left in a sheltered part of your garden.
Happy gardening ……… and Happy New Year.
Entries for the Pumpkin Competition 2017
Annual Outing 2016 - Cotehele