This year the Julian site open day is on 22 June and is to be part of WestFest, the Glasgow West End summer festival. The organisers are lead by the Julian Site Manager, Maggie McLellan, who is looking for all the helpers she can get. So if you have any time to spare on that day, please sign up as a helper on the list in the green cabin in Julian. You do not have to be there all the time. We need as many helpers as possible – people to help set up, people to man stalls for a period during the event, people to meet and greet and guide visitors, people to clear away at the end. We are also looking for ‘stuff’. Prizes for the tombola, produce from the plot, including seedlings and plug plants and flowers, to be sold, baked goods for sale and to accompany teas and coffees, jam for sale ……. The open day is our main opportunity to make enough money to cover the site maintenance and improvement tasks that are not covered by our Council landlords. if you can contribute anything it can be brought on the day or left earlier in the green cabin (preferably close to the actual date if it is perishable!)

Firstly a reminder that the monthly Clear Up (or Maintenance Day) will be on Saturday June 1 at both sites. Kirklee from 10.00am to 12.00pm and Julian from 11.00am to 12.00am. Do come, meet your fellow plotholders and contribute to making the allotments a natural and beautiful environment. Tea/coffee and biscuits will be on offer at 12.00pm. Julian is particularly looking for people to help with painting. If you are willing to take part in this please come in suitable clothing. There will not be any overalls available to borrow.

The second plot inspection of the year will take place the following weekend on Sunday June 9. Please check that your plot number is clearly displayed by this date. Remember that plotholders are responsible for keeping the paths between plots clear and accessible. On the Julian site a plot holder is responsible for the shared path on the side closer to Julian Avenue. On the Kirklee site a plotholder is responsible for the path closer to the toilet hut.

The next maintenance day/clear up is Saturday May 4th on both sites. On the Kirklee site the clear up runs from 10.00am – 12.00pm, on the Julian site it is 11.00am – 12.00pm. At both sites participants can relax with tea or coffee at 12.00. As usual it is recognised that Saturday mornings are not convenient for everyone and so a list of tasks that can be undertaken in a member’s own time will be posted.

Our next book is The Island of the Sea Women by Lisa See

Set on the island of Jeju to the south of South Korea, the novel starts with the local culture of female diving collectives, and covers the period from Japanese colonialism of the 30s and 40s, through the second world war and up to the Korean war. A gripping read, a human story, based on historical events.
We have a few library copies of the book, so let us know if it appeals to you and you’d like a copy. The book group continues to thrive, welcoming new readers from Kirklee and Julian Avenue, whether for a one off visit, or regularly. Always a good blether, nice cake and hot drinks. The date for the next meeting is Sunday 7th April, 5 – 6 pm, in or outside the communal shed near the big gate in the Kirklee plot. 

The Glasgow Allotment Forum(GAF) AGM is to be held on Monday March 18th from 7pm to 8.45pm, at the Garnethill Multi-Cultural Centre , 21 Rose Street. Click here to download the poster as a pdf file.

The AGM is open to all Glasgow’s current plot holders and also to those on waiting lists. At the moment GAF is working very hard on behalf of plot holders to influence the new Glasgow Allotment Rules and Regulations which are still under development, particularly with regard to the role of Allotment Association Committees, so a good attendance would be much appreciated.

Storm Isha meant that we had a cosy meeting in a warm house for our last book group. Although we prefer to meet on the allotment, it was nice to be safe and warm on a wild night. We loved ‘O Caledonia’ by Elspeth Barker, and had a good chat about it – interesting for those among us who hadn’t read it, without giving away who dunnit. They left with copies of the book, intending to read it after hearing what others thought.

Our next meeting will be on Sunday 3rd March, from 5 – 6 pm, hopefully back on the allotment, if the storm season is over. The book will be ‘Surfacing’ by Kathleen Jamie. We have some library copies, so if you’d like one, just email the allotment address and we can arrange for you to pick one up.

Glasgow City Council (GCC) is obliged by the Community Empowerment Act passed in 2015 to develop Rules and Regulations (R&R) for the management of the allotments that it lets out to Glasgow residents. They have recently published a proposed new set of R&R and these are now out for consultation. The consultation ends on October 30th.

You can read about the consultation on the GCC information page by clicking here. You can download the complete set of proposed R&R as a pdf document from the link on the information page or by clicking here and you can then take part in the consultation by clicking the Take Part button on the information page or by clicking here.

If the proposed R&R are put in place it could make a huge difference to the way GCC allotments and waiting lists for allotments are managed. Many people who have read the proposed R&R think that this difference could be very negative. It is therefore important that as many people as possible who are interested in allotments take part in this consultation.

The final plot inspection of the year is on Sunday October 22nd

Glasgow Allotments Forum is holding a meeting on Sunday October 22nd to discuss the proposed new Rules and Regulations for allotments. The meeting will be held at the Garnethill Multicultural Centre in Rose Street, 11.45 – 12.45. Your opportunity to respond to the on line consultation will end on October 31st and this is a chance to learn how other plot holders feel about the proposals.

The next book group meeting is also on October 22nd at 5.00pm. Meet at the Wyndham St. gate at Kirklee. The book for discussion is St Agnes Stand by Thomas Eidson

There will be a final clear up event for the year on Saturday 4th November. 11-12 at Julian and 10-12 at Kirklee. There will be tea and coffee at both sites at 12.00.

The AGM will be held on Thursday November 23. A formal notice with full details will be circulated shortly.

We hope to hold the AGM in person this year. Returning to pre Pandemic habits it is expected to be in the Puppet Theatre and will also be an opportunity to hand in your missive to a committee member. As advance warning of a provisional date (provisional because we are dependent on the Puppet Theatre) we hope to hold it on November 23, so pencil this date in in your diary. A final date will be circulated in plenty of time for you to think about joining the committee (we need keen volunteers, this could be your opportunity to help shape the future of the allotments) and send in ideas and resolutions.

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There will be maintenance days on the first Saturday of September and October. So September 2 and October 7. There will be coffee and and opportunity to socialise at the end. However if you cannot manage to come on these days please volunteer to complete a maintenance task on some other day. Tell the committee what you are able to do – and when.

The Julian Site open day will be held on September 16, please tell your friends and relations all about it and watch the notice boards and your emails for information and volunteering opportunities. We need people to help set up, to man stores, to offer home baking, jams, pickles, chutneys, cut flowers and potted plants. Also to help clear up at the end. Visitors are also really pleased to purchase potted plants.

Next book group meeting is Sunday September 10 from 5 to 6 pm. The chosen book is Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. Full details will be emailed to all KAA members.