Disaster strikes :  During the high winds of 28th - 29th Feb. The shed set up to hold items for trading to members was wrecked. It appears to have been ripped from its base, lifted into the air, carried 150 yards up the field and dropped at the end of allotment 34. when first found it was opened out flat and held vertical against the front of the wooden shed on 34 by the continued strength of the wind. The picture shows it after being folded and wheighted down. 01/03/2008	Shattered remains of the 'trading' shed on allotment 34.
BLIGHT! :  Blight is a fungus that thrives in warm wet conditions. It attacks potatoes and tomatoes and the current wet weather is heaven to it. There are blight warnings out in the county and instances on the allotments. Get rid of infected leaves and burn. Spray with organic Copper fungicide. Dig up badly infected plants and burn. The picture shows what it looks like. Note the whiteish halo around  the lesion on the underside. 21/07/2007	Potato leaves with blight (top and underside).
Threatened Allotment Site:  100 year old Manor Garden Allotments lies in the middle of the Olympic Park site. These beautiful, productive vegetable gardens are due to be demolished to make way for a four-week footpath during the 2012 Games despite the land being given in perpetuity. A campaign is underway to protect the allotments and encourage a more imaginative Olympic development which includes this special place with its healthy, green lifestyles and vibrant community. There is a petition running to try and stop this here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/manorgardens/ 19/03/2007	Protesting allotment holders.
January Gales!: There has been some dammage on the allotments caused by the gales this January. Most of this was to sheds and greenhouses. Several greenhouses had glass blown out and some sheds had felt ripped off their roofs. One shed had its whole roof torn off and tossed like a leaf into the next allotment. (See picture). However the concencus seemed to be that it could have been a lot worse given the exposed nature of the site and the way the wind whips across the field . 20/01/2007	Shed minus roof after gales.
Blaby Tomato Project:  The project to grow the Blaby Tomato and provide enough seeds for the society to use in 2007 is complete and was a success. The tomato proved easy to grow and as tasty as promised. Seeds for next year are available free in packets of ten from Chris Heaton. 29/10/2006	A Blaby Tomato in a bowl of other produce.
CGAS Harvest Supper 2006:  This year it was decided to repeat the Harvest Supper event which first took place in 2004. The meal for members took place on Oct 26th. in the Axe and Square. Bob made a short speech thanking Roz, who is sadly leaving us, for her work on the committee. A very congenial evening was enjoyed by all. Thanks to Dave for organising it. 29/10/2006	Some of the participants at the Harvest Supper.
Produce Show 2006: The second Annual CGAS Produce Show. The show this year took place on 19th August. Despite forecasts of inclemency the weather stayed warm and sunny for the whole of the event. All who attended had a wonderful time. The auction of entry items and the raffle made a welcome contribution to society funds and we look forward to a similar event next year. 21/08/2006	A happy allotmenter at the show.
Produce Show 2006: The date has been set for the second annual CGAS Produce show. In a similar format as last year's highly successful even the show this year is set to take place on 19th August. Full details are in the CGAS news letter and will be reproduced on this site shortly. All who attended last year's splendid event has a wonderful time and we look forward to the same again. 06/07/2006	The Show is anounced.
Blaby Tomatoes: Some may have seen an article, a few weeks ago, in the Leicester Mercury, about a researcher at Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University who had discovered seeds of the 'Blaby Tomato' in a seed bank in Holland. The tomato was grown at Shoult's Tomato Farm in Blaby in the 1940s and was famous all over England. Large queues would build up in around the farm of local people wanting to buy them. Chris Heaton has aquired some seeds from Dr Sharp. There has apparently been a large amount of interest so he was anly able to send a few (eleven). These have been set and have germinated. Chris will keep two plants for a trial Blaby Tom project to try to produce more seed for next year and to keep Dr. Sharp informed of their progress. The others are available to the earliest bidders. 08/04/2006	Blaby Tomato seedlings.
Special Offer & Glebe Loyalty Bonus: Bags of Westland Multi-purpose + John Innes in 60 Litre size are now available from the Container on site. It is the same high quality compost that we offered last year but with the addition this year of 'West Plus', a component derived from wood, a renewable source, reducing the peat content. West Plus has shown excellent result in commercial trials. The compost is available at Glebe Gardens at £5.99 per bag or three for the price of two (appr. £3.99) CGAS are charging members only £3.50 per bag at the Container.	Bag of Compost

Potatobase: Hopefully in time for the new season a new application has been added to the site. Called the Potatobase it is a database of currently about 160 different potatoes most of which should be available in the UK (somewhere). The database can be queried by name or by type e.g. First Early. It holds general data on the origin, appearance and expected yield of the varieties, a guide to their disease resistance and some indication of their cooking and storing properties. Access the Potatobase here. 2/02/2006

The Potatobase.

Skip: In a drive to rid the allotments of rubish junk and possibly hazardous waste i.e. broken or unwanted glass, a skip was palced on the site for the weekend 21-22 Jan. The skip was delivered on Friday 20th January and placed on the corner of the main path and the path to the lower allotments near where the farmer has his large trailer parked. It was was a huge success. By 11:00am on Saturday it was already full. Quick observation showed that there was much unpleasant material of various forms that had been thrown away. Thanks to all members who took advantage of this to help clear up the site and continue with our programme to remove any hazardous items. 22/01/2006

The skip.

Mulled wine and Mince Pies: Once again we had a gathering on the Ag on 27th. December to enjoy Mulled wine, mince pies and good company for an hour or so. When we looked out first thing it looked a bit doubtful as it had snowed over night - just a light sprinkling but at 08:30 it began a 'white out'. Luckily it didn't last long and the weather held off for the event which was enjoyed by all. Thanks to Fiona and Wayne and all who helped. 27/12/2005

Participants at the 'Mulled Wine and Mince Pies'.

Disappointing News:After what many members would agree has been a pretty good year for the society allotment holders have been dismayed to find themselves victims of a series of mindless acts of vandalism during November. Although not on the scale which we understand some less fortunate allotment sites suffer it is nonetheless a matter of serious concern particularly as the acts seem to be escalating in their destructiveness. So far weve had plants ripped up, shed windows, cloches and coldframe tops smashed, water and compost bins overturned, sheds broken into and tools thrown about.
Members of the commitee are investigating and considering what steps should be taken. A letter has been drafted to send to the Police in order to draw their attention to what is believed to be a part of general widspread yobbish behaviour plaguing the village at this time.
Although the field is by no means secure it is important that all allotment holders are vigilant in keeping a look out for suspicious persons on the site and challenging (from a safe distance) any such 'visitors'. More important, it must be emphasised that the gate should be kept shut at all times, shut and locked when there is no one on site. In addition it is advised that the gate be locked when there are only a few members on site.
11/12/2005

We've gone interactive: The CGAS web site has introduced a pilot interactive forum service providing the first CGAS Learning forums. Through these pages you can add content to the web site and interact with other gardeners and allotmenters or interested folk. The preliminary forum categories are General Gardening, General Allotmenting and Wildlife & Nature. Within each of these categories there is, currently, only one 'Welcome' forum. It is hoped that usage and users will indicate what actual forums are needed. It is a pilot scheme. The application is not perfect there are still some problems and bugs. It will change as it develops. A link to forums can be found in the left hand navigation coulumn. The picture on the right shows the first page of the forums. 01/10/2005

The forum categories page.

CGAS Produce Show: The first CGAS Produce Show took place on Saturday 20th August. The event was intended to be a 'fun' event free of RHS rules. Depite worries about the weather the day turned out to be a great success. There were many attendees and entrants some good food to see and eat and all seemed to have a good time. For more detail see the Show Page 20/05/2005

Members and friends at the show.

CGAS Members' Questionnaire: The response to the Members Questionnaire was dissapointing to say the least with only nine returns. However, the results, miniscule sample notwithstanding, are interesting and are published in the Questionnaire Results page. (09/07/2005)

SURPLUS EXCHANGE: It is fairly common when setting seed to produce more seedlings than needed or conversly to find that accidents pests and other misfortunes have left us with a shortfall. To attempt to combat these situations a Surplus Exchange "Bring and Take" has been set up on the green cart in front of the container. Please leave any donated surplus on the cart (suitably labelled) and feel free to help your selves to anything useful (except the cart!). Items are not limited to seedlings. Excess produce or hardware is also welcome. 24/05/2005

Surplus Exchange with container behind.

PLOT AVAILABILITY: No plots are available at present. Potential plotholders will be added to a waiting list and when plots become available they will be allocated on a first come first allocated basis. (29-2-04)

GRANT APPLICATIONS: The Committee has made new grant applications this year, to develop additional facilities for the Society and the local community. I am pleased to report that we have been awarded a grant from Blaby District Council Community Development Scheme, to provide marquees for produce shows and other events. In addition we are pleased to report the award of a grant from the Better Communities Scheme to improve our training and educational facilities.
We greatfully acknowledge the award of the grants. (26-4-05)