WAGS NEWS

January 2008

Chairman's Piece

Although WAGS show was only two months ago, our Show Secretary is already making plans for the 2008 show.

It would be nice to think that our members are also making plans. With the winter nights upon us , it is time for the craftsmen and women to start on exhibits for the art and craft section of the show.

This section was not very well supported in 2007 and our judges had very little to do on the day.

It takes quite a while to knit an article; even longer to work embroidery, so please start now and give our judges more work to do at the 2008 show.

I have seen some lovely cross-stitch work done by a man. He is a member of WAGS, so come on, enter some of your work and try to beat the women at next Septembers show.

Joyce Stickley

Trips & Catering

Catering

The AGM is looming large in February, and I would appreciate help with the catering for this event.

Help will be needed in the kitchen with preparation and, washing up etc. Even if you can only spare an hour that will be much appreciated.

Barbara Caister

Shop Talk

The seed sales are going well and the first order has been sent off. I am expecting that the second order will be sent off in early December. Any orders after this date will be sent off early in the new year. Our seed potatoes will be arriving in January and will be on sale from Saturday 2nd February.

There are still some bulbs for sale, those remaining will be potted up and will be on sale after Christmas.

Please note that I am still looking for a Deputy Store Manager so that I can get some Saturdays off.

We are looking for people to help at the shop on Saturdays between 10.00 and 12.00. If we do not get help we may not be able to keep the shop open every Saturday. Please give your name to me at the shop or ring on 01491 837648.

We are also looking for people to help unload our delivery lorries. All deliveries are during the week and take about an hour. If you could help with this, please contact me.

Please note that the store is now only open at 10 o’clock unless there are special circumstances.

The store will re-open on 9th January.

Colin Timmins
Store Manager

The Last Word

I am always looking for articles to publish, so I am grateful to Peter Atkins for furnishing me with “gardening” based articles on a regular basis. As you will see, this edition’s article is to be continued in subsequent newsletters. Much has been written about the Incas and how advanced was their civilisation. One can but marvel at the human resources needed to create the terracing that afforded them such a variety of crops when they had no money, iron, wheels or work animals.

Although now much modified, the humble domesticated potato originated from the Andes being inadvertently transported to Spain where it proved to be a convenient food for slaves in the Spanish silver mines and for sailors aboard the Spanish galleons.

The potato did not originate in Ireland then!

Other Andean crops that reached the outside world and enjoyed spectacular success were lima beans, peppers, and the tomato.

Now; if you have visited Peru and more especially any Inca settlement I would guarantee space for an article. Let me know.

Tim King

Northmoor Trust

Growing Local Food in a Changing Climate

I am delighted to write with details of a special event taking place next year at the Northmoor Trust, Little Wittenham. On Thursday 24th January a 'Gardeners Question Time' on the subject of "Growing Local Food in a Changing Climate; impacts and adaptations on allotments" will seek to inform and discuss issues close to the heart of the Northmoor Trust and of relevance to your allotment association.

The issues being discussed include such questions as:

I would be delighted if you could circulate details of the meeting and if possible provide someone who would be able to join us as part of the speakers’ panel at the evening which starts at 7.30pm

Your sincerely

Ben Earl
Director of Fundraising, Events & Communications

Northmoor Trust
Hill Farm
Little Wittenham
Oxfordshire
OX14 4QZ
Tel: 01865 407792
Fax: 01865 407131
www.northmoortrust.co.uk

This is an open invitation to all WAGS members, and you don’t have to be a panellist to take part. Whether you agree or not with Climate Change, it would be an opportunity to hear about coping with extreme and unpredictable weather.

Incan Agriculture

Andean civilizations were predominantly agricultural societies; the Incas took advantage of the soil, overcoming the adversities of the Andean terrain and the inclement weather. The adaptation of agricultural technologies that had been used previously allowed the Incas to organize production of a diverse range of crops from the coast, mountains and jungle regions, which they were then able to redistribute to villages that did not have access to the other regions. These technological achievements in agriculture would not have been possible without the workforce that was at the disposal of the Sapa Inca, as well as the road system that allowed them to efficiently store the harvested crops and to distribute them throughout their territory. These practices were so effective that many experts believe that if they were readopted today, they would solve the nutritional problems of Andean people for many decades.

Farming tools

Inca farmers did not have domesticated animals suitable for agricultural work so they relied on manual tools. These were well adapted to the hilly terrain of the

Inca farmers did not have domesticated animals suitable for agricultural work so they relied on manual tools. These were well adapted to the hilly terrain of the Andes and to the limited-area platforms on which they farmed. Main manual tools used include:

Chakitaqlla, a human-powered plow that consisted of a wooden pole with a curved sharp point, often made of stone or metal. Across the end of this pole ran another wooden crossbar, on which the farmer could put his foot to sink it into the earth and produce a furrow [3]. This tool is still used in the Andes for plowing, sowing and building. [4]

Raucana, a hoe with a thin sheet of wood of chachacomo, no higher than 40 cm. It was used to harvest tubers, to remove weeds and to sow small seeds.

Fertilizers

Several types of fertilizers were used across the Inca Empire. In coastal regions, small fishes such as Peruvian anchoveta and sardines were buried with maize kernels to spur their growth. This practice was represented in the walls of the Pachacamac temple, where maize plants were shown germinating out of small fishes. Coastal farmers also used guano produced by the thousands of marine birds that nested on offshore islands and isolated parts of the littoral. In the rest of the empires, farmers had to resort to other types of fertilizers, including manure from domesticated camelids and fallen leaves from trees such as guarango.

Land use

Inca farmers had to deal with the difficult terrain of the Andes as usable land was mainly limited to the narrow valleys carved by rivers between the mountains. More flat terrain was afforded by plateaux, but their high altitude and cold weather severely limited their usefulness for farming. To expexpand the available land, Incas used several Andean techniques which allowed farming on hillsides and at high altitudes; these included the following:

Andenes
The andenes are agricultural artificial terraces that serve to obtain useful land for the sowing in the steep Andean hillsides. These enabled them to take better advantage of the water, both in rain and in irrigation, making it circulate across the channels that were communicating their diverse levels, with this measure they were avoiding at the same time the hydraulic erosion of the soil. The andenes not only were serving for the corn crops, also for the crops of different agricultural products, and also for different uses: for sown fields, to avoid the erosion, for the wash of the mineral salt. Though they were demanding to mobilize big quantities of workforce, which the Inca state could realize with relative facility.

Camellones
They were artificial areas constructed in the banks of the lake Titicaca. They were treating of mounds of land that they were allowing to store and to take advantage better of the water in places of frequent floods to cusa of the rains. They used a series of agricultural technologies in the ridges, among them, the tracing of artificial ruts to give protection to the plants, to facilitate the drainage during the rains, floods, irrigation, as sources of credit and, specially, to diminish the cold night in the heights, avoiding thus the frosts.

Camellon or Waru waru.
In pre-Hispanic times the "cochas" or artificial lagoons were created in the punas used to cultivate and to give something to drink to the cattle. These lagoons can be round elongated or rectangular, and are composed by a great number of symmetrical ruts that gather the water of the rains and lead it among the ruts.

To be continued….