Leeds & District Allotment Gardeners Federation (LDAGF) volunteers were overjoyed at the Great Yorkshire Show on Tuesday 10th July. They were so proud when awarded a large gold medal certificate for the demonstration allotment garden they had created.
The demonstration allotment garden had been created as part of a larger publicity and advisory stand under the Allotment Regeneration Initiative (ARI) banner and the whole stand itself was awarded an additional gold award for being the best educational stand. (The NSALG is a partner in the ARI project)
The allotment garden was created in true allotment fashion, on a shoestring, with lots of good will, ingenuity and time and effort donated by the volunteers (without whom this would not have been possible), not only in setting up the garden but also with the months of preparation, acquiring materials and growing the plants. Special thanks to volunteer Mary Dwight and her husband John.
The only outside assistance came from Gro-well who kindly donated the compost. Our thanks go to them.
The items, which created most interest in the garden, was a cloche created with old water pipe, canes and scaffold netting and garden cane rack made from old copper water pipe. Gardening needn’t cost a lot.
Well at least we had one day to revel in our glory but disappointingly the remainder of the show had to be cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions with lorries and cars up to their axles in mud. Such a shame as it is a wonderful show and it is heartbreaking when you have seen all the time and effort that goes into its creation.
Phil Gomersall, ARI Allotment Mentor and LDAGF Publicity Officer