The Forsythia and Daphne have finally decided to flower at last; I was beginning to think they had forgotten! Now we have had a few days of (relatively) warmer weather, things are speeding into leaf and flower at last! My rhubarb has also been very slow in getting going, but all the seedlings that have had the protection of the conservatory windowsill, are coming along nicely! I have pulled up some stunning patches of nettles, and lots of that funny little plant called “Herb Robert”, that sadly have not been killed off by the cold.!

Our May meeting has the charming Timothy Walker (of Oxford Botanical Garden fame) coming to ask “What Have Plants Ever Done For Us?” I am sure we can think of a few suggestions, images of old witches stirring bubbling cauldrons come to mind! Anyway, May 8^th, Blewbury Vale Room, 7.30pm, ring if you need a lift, (850219).

Show schedules’ available for the show on 14^th September, will be available soon!

Happy gardening

Karen Brooks.

As I write this, the snow is falling again, it is bitterly cold, the snowdrops are in full flow, but I saw daffodils up on the London Rd this week, spring is on its way, my garden has had a minor haircut, on the days that it hasn’t rained, I have popped out and de cluttered a couple of borders! Needless to say, I haven’t done a lot; I have plans for my summer vegetable plot, and am busy looking at seed packets!

Our spring social evening is on Saturday 23^rd March; buy your tickets early to avoid disappointment when they have all gone! We will be serving a spring supper of quiches & salad, with Hot Cross buns for afters! Wine, fruit juice & possibly tea & coffee too! Eileen is organising a decorated egg competition, bring your egg to be judged and maybe win a prize, I am sure she also has some devious quiz/puzzle or other entertainment up her sleeve too! Car share and lifts are available, just ask at the Post Office when you buy your ticket, or ask Maggie & Austin in Upton.

Our Speaker in March is Peter Adams, in Blewbury Vale room, 7.30pm, on Wednesday 6^th, who is giving a talk about he and a group of other enthusiasts, started up their own community orchard in Wolvercote almost 20 years ago, and is now helping other groups set up their own! He also talks about the increasing popularity of “Apple Days”, again, for a lift, ring me 850219 or see me in the Post Office. I am on the tea rota that evening, I may well make an apple cake!

Happy gardening

Karen Brooks.

Village Produce Association news

The winter garden is just as beautiful as the summer garden; it’s just that I have to look a bit closer! The winter aconites are out, the early snowdrops, the pink viburnum thingy, winter jasmine & honeysuckle, green hellebores, blue green daffodils shoots and the untidy leaves of the Muscari are all popping up, with their backdrop of last year’s grasses and hardy evergreen shrubs, just in time for the snow & ice that are about to arrive too!

Our February talk is by one of our favourite gardeners and photographers, Richard Roslyn, with a talk and slides on “Trees from a camera’s perspective”, 7.30pm in the Vale Room, lifts can be provided, just call me, 850219 or pop into the Post Office!

Happy gardening

Karen Brooks.

At our AGM in November, we welcomed Vic to the committee, Eileen read her report for the year, Chris presented the Presidents Cup back to me, (what a surprise) and we tried delicious cakes made with surprising ingredients’, who would have thought that chocolate and spinach tasted so great?? (It did actually!!)

The tickets for our Christmas social event, at Upton Village hall, on Saturday 8^th December are on sale for £5, at Blewbury Post Office, supper, mulled wine, fruit juice & entertainment, with lifts provided for those who require them, please ring me (850219) email me on karencbrooks@gmail.com or see me in the Post Office!

Just a reminder that we have tools to hire, a shredder that is great for small trees, a leaf blower/sucker, the mantis tiller, a garden roller, fertilizer spreader, aerator, pruners, etc, just give me a call, and will pass your details on! I have to say I am not doing much out there at the moment, it is so wet and soggy, and yes, I still have roses in flower!

Happy Gardening

Karen Brooks

We are off to Waterperry Gardens on July 30^th, for a day of gardens and lunch will be available too, ring Eileen if you want to come! 510095

The summer show is on Sat 6^th August, always a lovely day, please try to enter something, the new Show Schedule and entry forms are in Blewbury Post Office , please come and collect your copy, or download from www.uptonvillagenews/vpa If you don’t have anything to put in, then come along at 2.30pm, to see the great exhibits, (if the weather allows anything to be in flower!) there will be teas and an auction of prize-winning entries! Happy Gardening

Karen Brooks

The gardeners and “allotmenteers” are all praying for a decent drop of rain, I am fed up of watering my seedlings already, the water butt is empty, and the ground is dry and dusty! However, in the rest of my garden, there are trees, roses, shrubs or perennials’; I don’t have to water them at all, and they all look great!

I gave prior warning about our trip to Lime Kiln Gardens in Drayton on June 1^st, this garden has a wonderful Iris display, if you haven’t booked yet, ring Eileen on 510095, asap, as we have sorted the car rota, £5 each. (But we can organise another car I am sure!)

The new Show Schedule is now ready and in Blewbury Post Office , please come and collect your copy, or download from www.uptonvillagenews/vpa The organisation is well under way, The show is on August 6^th, so plenty of time to plan your entries!

Do try to pop in to our Presidents garden on “yellow book gardens day”, Abners will be open, and we hope to have a marvellous plant stall, selling cuttings and plants from our own gardens, which are bound to be “good do’ers” in our soil! Remember to take your camera, as one of the photography classes in the annual show is “yellow book gardens”!

Happy Gardening Karen Brooks

After a few dark mutterings, I have removed the shrub that bit the dust during the winter, but just what shall I plant there instead? There is now a huge space just waiting to be filled with new planties, woo hoo! I am now greenhouse-less, but I now have a “sun deck”, with loungers, parasol, planters and the barbeque, and a little mini greenhouse that is filling up nicely with seedlings!

Our next talk is on 4^th May, 7.30pm, when we have Eunice Cooper coming to talk and give a demonstration about Shetland Sheepdogs, and this is at the Vale room, Blewbury Village Hall, I wont be taking Monty along, although technically he is a sheepdog, he is not from Shetland! Refreshments served too! Ring if you need a lift, 850219.

I give prior warning about our trip to Lime Kiln Gardens in Drayton on June 1^st, this garden has a wonderful Iris display, if you haven’t booked yet, ring Eileen on 510095, £5 each. We will sort out lifts for those who need them beforehand!

The new Show Schedule will be ready for the May meeting and in Blewbury Post Office from then too, come and collect your copy, or download from www.uptonvillagenews/vpa The show is on August 6^th, so plenty of time to plan your entries!

Happy Gardening

Karen Brooks

The Produce stall will open again for the summer on Saturday 7^th May, at 10am at the Blewbury Garage on London Rd, so come along and buy plants, seedlings, fresh rhubarb and maybe even some cakes or eggs! Producers (the people who have things to sell) can pick up a form from the post office, or ring Sara (851441), and then can bring along their items for sale from 9.30 am, and then come along at 12 noon to collect any unsold items. We will have spare forms on the day too! Please label your sale items with their name/variety etc, and a price!

We would also love to have some extra pairs of hands on the stall throughout the summer; we have a rota which means we all only do a few mornings throughout the summer. Please ring Sara on 851441.

Thank you, Sara, Karen, Brenda, Dave, Kathy, Ange & Eric

It must be spring as I am to be found out in the garden without a coat and hat! My propagator has tomato & chilli sproutlings, and the runner bean seeds are beckoning me! I had a paper potter gadget for my birthday, so I will be making eco pots out of newspapers soon! Some of my plants seem to have been hit hard by the winter weather, but I will wait a bit before I dig them up, in case they decide to revive a bit!

Our next talk is a change from the advertised one, we have a lady coming to talk to us about “History through the Landscape”, and this is at the Vale room, Blewbury Village Hall, on Wednesday April 6th at 7.30pm. Refreshments served too! Ring if you need a lift, 850219.

Dawn next door has been out and bought lots of snowdrops, we compared her “Blewbury Tarts” with mine, (which looked like all the others) and discovered that the plant label had moved, I blame the kids! Anyway, I have located the real “Tarts”, which have spread nicely since I planted them, Dawn also discovered why they are so named, it’s because they show their “underskirts” quite blatantly, don’t think I can write “knickers” can I?

Happy Gardening

Karen Brooks

I apologise for not providing any input for January, bugs in my computer! Happily there are only a few bugs in my garden, the birds are seen hopping along the fence and picking out insects stupid enough to have hidden in between the slats! I have been slowly clearing the borders of scrappy died back foliage from the autumn, and am delighted to report the new shoots of my perennials’ are popping up! My bulbs are either flowering or coming into bud, my Daphne (Aureomarginata; get me!) is flowering in the places it which it is sheltered and I await more spring flowers very soon!

Our talk from Brian Davies was well attended and as usual, very informative, yet fun at the same time! Our next talk is also at Upton Methodist hall on Weds March 2^nd, when Dudley Iles will talk on “Seasons in the Vale of the White Horse”. Ring if you need a lift (850219)

The new programme is available in Blewbury or Hagbourne Post Office, or from Maggie in Upton. Dates to keep free are 1^st June, an evening trip to Drayton to visit an Iris Garden, 19^th June; Blewbury yellow book open gardens, 30^th July, day trip to Waterperry, August 6^th; Summer Show in the village hall, ( I am busily typing up the schedule and arranging judges!)

Happy Gardening

Karen Brooks