A sprinkle of gardeners gathered in the Parish Hall in Lydford on Tuesday 8th October. No speaker had been booked, no horticultural mega-star had been engaged to give the benefit of their talent, learning and experience and no garden centre representative had been invited to plug their latest plant plugs or preview their Christmas decorations. This was a meeting very much in the tradition of the famous Abraham Lincoln quote. It was a meeting of the people, organised by the people and for the benefit of the people. This members’ session gave everyone the opportunity to share highlights, tips, successes and failures of the past growing season.
‘Maestro’ was heralded as a carrot variety which defied the ravages of the rapacious root fly. Yeast traps had proved successful by collecting slugs with the added bonus of not wasting good beer. Seed sowing in modules was reckoned to be a good plan, especially if those modules were the individual sections of egg boxes or trays – a pleasingly non-plastic resource! Lots of people had good ideas and it was a pleasure to hear tips and suggestions being shared across generations and genders.
Benefits of club membership were also distributed. Free daffodil bulbs for everyone with a vague challenge to plant in an interesting container, photograph and then upload to the website – lydfordanddistrictgardeningclub.co.uk ; vouchers to be used to obtain discount off all bulbs at Brimsmore; seed catalogues introducing the scheme from DT Brown where seeds are available at half price and the menu for the club Christmas dinner on Monday 9th December. What a busy time! Fortified only by coffee or tea and a regular supply of homemade and rather wonderful biscuits.