WAGS NEWS

April 2008

Chairman's Piece

G’day gardeners all!

Well, here I am in the Chair again after several years on the back bench and as Show Secretary, and already I find that there are several challenges ahead.

But before I get into that I would like to thank Joyce Stickley for her stint in the Chair, and for nominating me this time around. I Also want to thank Iris & Les Novell, who have both decided to step down from the WAGS Committee having between them served in many roles as Chair, Trips & Talks, Membership, Catering and of course Les’s long reign as Store Manager. Les has also decided to step down as Vice President. I am sure you will all want me to wish them both well in their second retirement!

The new 2008 WAGS Committee is detailed on page 2 of the printed version of this newsletter. You will notice that we now have two people with more than one ‘office’ and two vacancy’s. Our monthly meetings are regular and short. Just long enough to make our reports, discuss the issues for the next few months and try and ensure that what you, our members, want to buy is always available at the right time, and at a competitive price.

This is where you come in. They say that if you want something done, ask a busy person. So I appeal to you, as busy gardeners I know, to come and join us at the next Committee Meeting on Monday 21st April. You don’t need to commit to filling one of the available ‘positions’, but to come and learn about what we do to keep the Society running smoothly and help to make the decisions that affect you all. If you find you’d like to help a bit more, we can co-opt you as an additional Committee Member and gradually introduce you to whatever area you find most appealing. On the other hand, you might like to take on the challenge of Trips and Talks or Assistant Store Manager straight away. Come on, give it a try! Next February (2009) we will also be looking for a new Newsletter Editor as Tim has given me advance notice that he plans to move on to other pastures. It would be a great advantage to find someone with a few spare hours every three months to meet up with Tim and get in some basic training during this coming year with a view to them carrying on the tradition and stamping their mark on the layout and content that Tim has built over the last few years. There must be some of you (or maybe a friend who does not garden but has organisational skills) who would like to help us and the community in and around Wallingford. In addition to a stronger committee, there are several things that need addressing. Firstly, I want to try and raise the public awareness of WAGS both locally and further a-field. I am delighted that Lynda Atkins has volunteered to publicise the Society by badgering all the local magazines, newspapers and radio stations that she can. Thanks Lynda. Secondly, I feel we should make more use of the web site, which is generously provided free of charge by Myron Edwards. (A great example of how a non committee member can do their bit. Thanks Myron) We will make a bigger effort to ensure that the information on the site is accurate and up to date. Recently the Shop price list has been updated, and you will find the latest edition and archive of Newsletters, reports on our activities. Details of the Show – past and present - discounts and links to other useful web sites are also included. If you haven’t already done so, and have a computer, visit us at www.cranfordcomputers.co.uk/wags.

Thirdly, I really want to see the previously hugely popular Trips to interesting gardens resurrected. If anyone out there feels the same and would like to give it a go, please get in touch with me. Maybe this could start with just one trip this year to see how it goes. What do you think? Any ideas of where and when to go? Please call or e-mail me. Now to current affairs.

Assistant Store Manager Vacancy
We need a dedicated Assistant Store Manager. Colin has a band of regular helpers, but no single person who he can hand over to when he is away or needs a day off. We have reluctantly already found it necessary to reduce the trading hours, which could have a downward affect on trade. Possibly the beginning of a vicious circle. If you are recently retired, and have a few hours to spare on Saturdays and in the week, please have a chat with Colin, or give me a call. Remember, there is a small honorarium paid annually as a percentage of the year’s takings.

Plant Sale – Saturday 17th May
The Plant Sale is not that far away, and I know many of you have already started planting seeds, so why not do an extra tray (or two), or plant some extra cuttings and donate them for a good cause. This year we have decided to support Style Acre Vehicle Fund by donating the majority of our charity funds from various sources.

Suggestions
If you have any ideas, suggestions or even complaints, I am always happy to receive a call or e-mail. Unfortunately, due to another Saturday commitment I cannot attend the Store regularly, but when I do, please feel free to stop and talk to me about your WAGS issues.

Have a great two thousand and eight!

Bernard Novell

01491 873092 (leave a message)
wags@bernyn.plus.com

Catering

Thank you so much to all of you who so willingly gave a hand on the evening of the Cheese and Wine. There was an excellent band of helpers which were much appreciated. I do hope everyone enjoyed the evening.

Our next event on the catering calendar is the Band Concert in August.

Would all those willing helpers please come forward again along with those delicious cakes that draw the crowds.

Barbara Caister

Shop Talk

The seed sales have gone very well and I have sent off four orders in total. Our seed potatoes are still on sale in the store although we have sold out of some varieties.

There are still a few Onion sets for sale. The bulbs have been potted up and are on sale in the store at £1.50/ pot.

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. Please note that we will be having the Plant sale in May and can I ask all of you to pot on extra plants so that we can have bumper sale.

Colin Timmins
Store Manager

The Last Word

I am hoping that there is someone out there, member or non-member, who would like to take on the role of Editor. Anyone who has a flair for words and media would find this an exciting publication to launch their talents.

Naturally, training will be available and you would need to allow two or three hours once every three months. You will not be involved in the distribution of the newsletter, that is handled by the membership secretary.

If you feel you can make a positive contribution please contact me or Bernard Novell.

Do you have a problem keeping the squirrels off the bird feeders? Looking out of window today, through the rain lashing down, there are many birds on the feeders and on the ground. In order to save our feeders from the ravages of the squirrels, we invested in a separate feeder for them. We soon know when the box is empty - the squirrels are back on the bird feeders!

Unfortunately we cannot choose which of our wildlife to support. Encourage one species and get their predator. Encourage another and you give others less welcome, the chance of a free meal.

Should we be feeding the squirrels in the first place? I am sure there will be those that are horrified that food is so readily available for them.

The re-introduction of species that have been absent from areas in the UK has proved beneficial in reestablishing a habitat that the socalled “experts” have singularly failed to accomplish. We should learn to live with nature and not against it however unpalatable it might be.

Tim King

Plant Sale

Saturday 17th May

Centre 70

Starting 9am

Please will you all think of WAGS when you are sowing, dividing or taking cuttings and put a few aside for 17th May.

The store will be open on the evening of Friday 16th May 2006 between 6pm and 8pm when we will be delighted to accept contributions. See you there!

Incan Agriculture (part 2)

HALF a millennium ago in the Andes, on the eve of the Spanish conquest, the Incas created an agricultural wonderland. On irrigated mountainside terraces along the spine of South America, they cultivated an estimated 70 species of crops, almost as many as the farmers of Europe and Asia combined.

And what crops: White, yellow and purple roots that taste like a blend of celery, cabbage and roast chestnuts. Beans that pop like popcorn. Cereal grains containing twice the protein of wheat, rice or corn. Yellow, pink, red and candy-striped tubers. Potatoes with a naturally buttery taste. Potatolike roots with the tartness of sour cream built in. And a whole array of exotic fruits, including one that tastes like papaya, pineapple and banana. Incan storehouses overflowed with three to seven years' supply of such bounty.

Now these ''lost crops of the Incas,'' are being rediscovered and reintroduced around the globe as an exciting and nutritious addition to standard urban diets and a valuable source of agricultural income for the third world.

''This is a fantastic wealth of food crops that has been overlooked by the world for almost five centuries,'' said Noel D. Vietmeyer, the staff director of the study by the council, ''Some of them can come quickly into widescale production, become foods on our dinner table.''

A few of the crops, particularly roots, grains and legumes, are thought to have the nutritional content, adaptability and capacity for mass production that could turn them into staple foods like the potato.

A handful of Incan crops are already becoming familiar to urban shoppers in a number of countries. Produce sections of supermarkets and specialty stores in several American cities carry Incan delicacies like the cherimoya, the sweet, juicy fruit with a creamy texture like custard and the papaya-pineapple-banana taste; the tamarillo, or tree tomato; several varieties of multi-coloured Andean potatoes; the cape gooseberry, renamed goldenberry by the research council's panel of scientists; the protein-packed grain called quinoa (pronounced keen-WAH), the sacred ''mother grain'' of the Incas, and a small yellow-and-purple fruit, called the pepino, or pepino dulce, that tastes something like a honeydew melon. A number of these items are now being grown in the Western United States, New Zealand and other countries, and are starting to find a market.

But ''we're just scratching the surface,'' Ms. Caplan said, and indeed, the research council's panel has identified 31 Incan crops that it believes can be successfully introduced around the world. If all were to catch on, scientists say, they would vastly increase the variety of human foods.

Although there are at least 20,000 edible plants in the world, and at least 3,000 have been used as food at some time or other, ''only about 100 have been brought up to anything like their potential,'' said Dr. Vietmeyer, ''and only about 20 basically feed the planet.''

Developing Incan crops as staple foods would not only introduce variety, proponents say, but would also reduce the risk of crop failure among other staples. ''When a farmer is able to diversify, it makes life safer.'' Unlike other fruits and vegetables from tropical latitudes, the Incan crops, since they flourish at high altitudes, can be grown in cool temperate zones. They are especially promising as potential export crops in mountainous regions not only of South America but also of Asia and Africa, said Dr. Vietmeyer. They can also be grown in industrialized countries ''where the horticultural establishment of the world is concentrated,'' he said.

The greatest Andean agricultural success up to now has been the colonization of the planet by the potato. Today it is the world's fourth largest crop after wheat, rice and corn. The conquistadors exempted it from their prohibition because they found it useful fodder for slaves in the silver mines and for sailors on galleons. The galleons took it to Europe, where it suffered all manner of calumny and indignity before becoming established.

Europeans, the study said, considered the potato ''dark, dirty and highly sinister.'' It was said to cause leprosy, syphilis and scrofula, the swelling of lymphatic glands, and peasants would starve rather than submit to the orders of kings to cultivate it. But late in the 1700's, it took hold and revolutionized eating habits across Europe.

Lima beans date back at least 7,500 years in Peru. Exactly how they left the Americas is unknown, but they, too, have become distributed around the world. An Exotic Shopping List

Show Time

This Year's Show - Saturday 13th September

After last year’s forced move to The Regal Centre, the committee thought long and hard about whether to continue at that venue, or return to Centre 70. Tradition, and logistics won over change and so we return to grace the magnificent new oak boards of Centre 70. We have temporarily overcome some issues over RHS judges, so it’s business as usual.

Please do try and make a special effort to enter as many classes as possible. I really like to hear that the judges had a hard time deciding a class winner instead of awarding to the only entrant. I would particularly like to see some more children’s entries, so we will be writing to the local schools to ask them to encourage individuals or clubs to enter.

The following changes have been made to the Schedule:

Specialties

Class 47. Victoria Sandwich Cake. Two egg mixture cooked in a 7” tin.
Sandwiched with jam and sprinkled with castor sugar.
Class 49. Jam or Lemon Curd Tarts made using own recipe. Copy of recipe to be included with the exhibit.
Class 50. 6 Savoury Scones made using own recipe. Copy of recipe to be included with the exhibit.

Photography titles

Class 73 - 'A Day Out'
Class 74 - 'Architecture'

Art Title

Class71 - ‘Gardening in the rain’

Childrens Photography titles

Class 82 - 7 to 11 year olds – ‘My Garden Friend’
Class 83 - 12 to 16 year olds - 'Circles'

The full Schedule including Floral Art titles will be issued as usual with your July Newsletter. If anyone would like a large print version, or an early copy, please let me know.

Good luck in September.

Bernard Novell

U3A Garden Group
invite you to
Longstock Park Water Gardens & Nursery
Wednesday 28th May 2008

Cost: £17. Includes Coach, Garden Entry, Tea & Cakes at Longstock Park Nursery, driver’s tip.

Coach will leave the Wallingford area by 10:45am. Pick ups at Benson, Crowmarsh, Wallingford and Brightwell.

Arrival back in Wallingford by 6:00 pm at the latest We must fill a 41 seat coach to hold this price.

Please book as soon as possible.

Please book by sending your cheque for £17:00 per person made out to: Iris Novell at the address given in the printed edition of this newsletter For further information call the number given in the printed edition

Bring your own packed lunch to be eaten on arrival, either in the coach or, weather permitting, in the adjacent orchard. Food is not allowed in the gardens.

For those that don’t know ….
The seven-acre garden includes around two and a half acres of lake, which is fed by the River Test so that the water remains very clear. It has earned a universal reputation amongst horticulturists - the International Water Lily Society has voted it "the finest water garden in the world."