HS Spring Supper Talk

The Spring Supper Talk
is next Wednesday 13th. April 6.30 pm for 7.00pm
‘From City Courtyard to Seaside Sanctuary’
Speaker: Geoff Stonebanks
Tickets are limited to 40 but there are still some left. Please contact Kathy Cracknell by email or phone 01825 830616 ASAP if you wish to enjoy this village evening of an excellent meal, glass of wine and an extremely interesting illustrated talk on a very special Sussex garden.
£8 each members only.

Members Turn Out for Horticultural Society AGM

There was a good turnout of members for this year’s Horticultural Society AGM held in the Village Hall this morning (29/3/22)
The chair was taken by Kathy Cracknell in the absence of Heather Mines due to illness.  Thanks were proposed to retiring members of the committee, Peter Noble, who has done an excellent job over the past few years as treasurer and Penny Eliot who has managed the Annual Show for many years.  Kathy has taken on the task of managing this year’s show. as well as continuing in her role as Membership Secretary.
An interesting programme  has been drawn up for this year including the traditional two supper talks, the first being on Wednesday13th. April.  The illustrated talk will be ‘From City Courtyard to Seaside Sanctuary’ by Geoff Stonebanks to whose wonderfully interesting garden ‘Driftwood’ a group car visit has been arranged for members on Thursday 16th. June.  The Autumn Supper talk will be ‘The Importance of Wildlife Ponds in Our Environment’ by ‘Pete the Pond’.
As well as the group car visit to ‘Driftwood’ there will be another to Merriments Garden in July.
This years annual Show will take place on Saturday 6th. August.
Full details of the show Categories, Rules and Entry Forms will be available to see and download here, on the Hort.Soc’s  village web page shortly.
Future activity programmes will be compiled by the collective committee.
More contact details can be found on the HS Village web page:
http://www.hadlowdown.com/category/village-life/clubs-and-societies/horticultural-society/
or Contact Kathy for membership details etc on 01825 830616
kathy.cracknell48 @gmail.com

Horticultural Society AGM

Due to differing lifestyle reasons social activity within communities is constantly changing. The internet and social media have had significant influence on pastimes and use of leisure time over the last twenty years with shared ideas, discussion, debate and activity taking place from a home environment rather than a hub of collective interest in an exterior venue at regular daily, weekly, monthly or other intervals. These social habit changes can affect smaller rural communities more than others and collective interests are more likely to be of subjects that are inherently part of daily life.
One common entity in most homes in a village like Hadlow Down is a garden.
Our village gardens vary enormously, some being spread over several acres others just the size of an average living room. They are used in many ways including aesthetic, functional, and recreational reasons.   Whatever the preferred usage of the garden somewhere in it will almost certainly be some flowers and perhaps shrubs and trees the beauty of which give great pleasure, also sometimes the reward of home grown vegetables. There is often a passion to share the attraction and experience of what is created in one’s own garden with others.
Hadlow Down Horticultural Society is a lively group that has been flourishing for almost thirty years. There are around 60 members who enjoy sharing knowledge and seeing other gardens.  Two evenings a year they have a supper followed by a talk from a visiting lecturer. they often have car outings to interesting gardens in easy reach of Hadlow Down.   In Spring there is usually a ‘Bring and Buy’ plant sale and the highlight of the year is the annual Flower Show in August.
Membership entitles discounts at several local nurseries.
The Horticultural Society Annual General Meeting
will take place on:

TUESDAY 29th MARCH 2022
IN HADLOW DOWN VILLAGE HALL
10 a.m. for   10.30
(Coffee will be available)

All villagers are welcome – come along, have a coffee, perhaps make new friends and find out more about the gardens of Hadlow Down.
More information can be found on the village web page:
http://www.hadlowdown.com/category/village-life/clubs-and-societies/horticultural-society/
or you may like to be part of the Hadlow Down Gardening Facebook Club::
https://www.facebook.com/groups/258004872958565

The Garden – December by Ken Mines

2021 has been a challenging year for gardeners. (Predictive text offered “rotten year – even better! ). The cold spring followed by spells of heat, drought, night-time frosts and torrential rain left us and our plants puzzled as to what on earth to do for the best. Many seeds sown in the garden failed to germinate. Sowing in modules in the greenhouse is more reliable but we still had failures during the heatwave when the compost dried out quicker than we could rewet it. The difficulties were shared by many of you as illustrated by the greatly reduced number of entries to our August Annual Horticultural Show.   Continue reading “The Garden – December by Ken Mines”

Mavis Farrer

It is with sadness that we learn of the peaceful passing of Mavis Farrer, on November 2nd.  at the age of 98 .
For many years Mavis, past resident of Hadlow Down and wife of the late John, mother of Alison and Simon, grandmother and great grandmother. was a key member of the Variety Club and the Horticultural  Society as well as being a co-editor of the Parish Magazine.
The funeral is to be held at St. Phillip’s Church, Ticehurst Road, Burwash, Burwash Weald, UK, TN19 7NA at 11 am on Friday November 26th..

 

Hadlow Down Gardening Club Facebook Group

A village Gardening Club was first suggested in our Parish Magazine some time ago but the poor response did not merit any work in taking the idea further. There would seem to have been an increase in interest in village gardens and gardening recently perhaps partially due to people spending more time at home due to Covid.
A Hadlow Down Gardening Club has now been created as a Facebook Group just for villagers and village friends who love gardening.
The Group is not officially associated with our excellent Hadlow Down Horticultural Society but can perhaps be used as a supplementary platform where anyone interested in gardening can join and exchange ideas, news, photographs, points of view, information or even plants, seeds or garden accessories at any time of the year without waiting for meetings or events to occur.
It is also hoped that enough people are interested we may be able to negotiate exclusive discounts and benefits from plant, seed & accessory providers for group members
There are of course no fees or paid membership involved just an interest in gardening!
Click on this link to go to the group’s page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/258004872958565

The Garden – Ken Mine’s Column for November

One of the few constants in an ever-changing climate is the autumn of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Well, mists anyway – often spectacular from our garden looking towards Crowborough in the early morning when it lies in a thick blanket in the valley, the tops of trees poking through here and there. Fruitfulness for us is not traditional – we don’t have room for pumpkins and although fascinatingly colourful we can’t make room for inedible gourds. Instead, we take advantage of the protection afforded by the greenhouse and polytunnel to keep us supplied throughout the coming months with salads. Cut and come again’ varieties include rocket, mizuna and several types of mixed leaves. American land cress can be sown as late as September and is very hardy: even surviving  outdoors.
Continue reading “The Garden – Ken Mine’s Column for November”