© Somerset Federation of Gardening Clubs 2018
Somerset Federation of Gardening Clubs
Sampford Arundel Gardening Club v the Virus
What
have
other
Somerset
Federation
clubs
been
doing
during
the
lockdown
to
keep
their
members
informed
and
engaged with the club?
We
try
to
be
a
friendly
and
relaxed
club
and
the
chat
over
tea
and
biscuits
often
lasts
longer
than
the
formal
part
of
the
meeting.
Members
are
drawn
from
Sampford
Arundel
and
the
surrounding
villages,
even
the
nearby
town
of
Wellington,
and
meetings
are
an
opportunity
to
keep
in
touch.
Being
denied
our
monthly
get-together
was
one
of
the
many
disappointments
of
lockdown
and
we
wanted
to
do
something
to
keep
the
spirit
of
the
club
going
–
hibernation is for hedgehogs!
At
the
same
time,
neighbours
who
had
previously
thought
that
the
garden
was
just
somewhere
to
park
the
car
began
to
be
worried
about
possible
food
shortages
and
to
think
seriously
about
growing
their
own.
No-one
actually
asked
how to grow cannelloni but some got close.
The
village
already
had
an
established
monthly,
printed,
magazine
in
which
we
reported
club
meetings
but
as
this
was
delivered
door
to
door
to
all
properties
it
ceased
production.
Luckily,
one
of
the
editors
resurrected
it
as
a
weekly
email
publication
and
we
quickly
jumped
on
board
to
offer
to
answer
questions
about
any
gardening
matter
–
a
sort
of
poor
man’s
Gardeners’
Question
Time.
The
questions
have
ranged
from
greenfly
on
roses
to
blight
on
potatoes
and
from
keeping
badgers
out
of
the
garden
to
keeping
chickens
in.
Weeks
when
no
question
is
received,
we write on a topic that is seasonal or seems interesting.
The
emails
go
to
everyone
in
the
villages
and
we
forward
to
members
elsewhere
but,
of
course,
we
are
missing
out
all
those
without
email.
We
hope
we
have
helped
some
novice
gardeners
as
well
as
kept
the
club
alive
in
members’
minds
and,
who
knows,
we
may
gather
some
new
members
when
we
restart
meetings.
If
nothing
else,
it
has
given
us
something
to
do
when
it
has
been
too
hot
or
too
wet to garden.
Well,
that’s
what
we
have
been
up
to,
and
below
is
what
an
edition
looks
like.
But
have
other
clubs
been
doing
things differently and had any good ideas we can copy?
Ian Stock - Chair of Sampford Arundel Gardening Club
Quiz Questions
If you are holding a Quiz Night for your Club
but are stuck for questions and answers then
we may be able to help. Just send in a request
and we can send you a booklet of Gardening
related questions and answers to help you.
Available to all member Clubs.
We
now
have
2
booklets
of
questions
with
answers.
Speakers & Judges
As you all know, we provide a list of Speakers & Judges
to help you all in making your meetings and shows a
success. To help us keep this up to date we would
appreciate nomination of speakers and judges that could
be useful for other clubs. Please ensure the speaker
and/or judge is aware of their nomination.
Newsletters
The Autumn 2020 (in stunning colour) in now on the
website. This and previous Federation Newsletters can
now be accessed by going to the Publications page -
Newsletters
Items for the Spring 2021 edition gratefully received -
email sfgcweb@gmail.com