2013-Mar

Page 1

Front cover by Morgan - Balmullo Primary School


Drawn by Holly Adamson - P2

Drawn by Evan Muir - Balmullo Nursery

Drawn by Sasha

Drawn by Jessica


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BALMULLO COMMUNITY COUNCIL Members Chairman: Zoë Sanders 1zoesanders@gmail.com Vice-Chairman: Alison Jeffrey alison@balmullo.net Treasurer: Andrew Falconer anfalconer@tiscali.co.uk Secretary: Sue Smith secretary@balmullo.net Minute-Secretary: Ann Falconer anfalconer@tiscali.co.uk Newsletter: Ina Cameron twaauldgoats@btinternet.com

Tim Brett cllr.tim.brett@fife.gov.uk Bill Connor cllr.bill.connor@fife.gov.uk 870674 870496 870221 870496 870253

Councillors John Normand janormand1@gmail.com Gwenyth Mitchell gwenyth@balmullo.net Raymond Crush

870010

Fife Councillors Maggie Taylor 01382 552718 cllr.margaret.taylor@fife.gov.uk

01382 330905 077 1866 8792

Useful Contacts Burnside Hall Keeper: Lynn Murphy

870466

The Minister Rev. Caroline Taylor caro234@btinternet.com

870038

Dog Warden

0845 155 0022

Non Emergency Police Contact

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Community Police Officer: P.C. Gavin Rae

0845 600 5702

RAF Aircraft Noise:

01334 839471

GALA Committee: http://balmullogala.weebly.com Member of Parliament Sir Menzies Campbell

656361

Member of Scottish Parliament Rod Campbell

844971

Statements made or opinions expressed in this Newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the Balmullo Community Council or any of its officers.

Advert Prices   

Small Half Page Full Page

£5 £10 £20

You can rent advertising space on a month by month basis or on a longer term basis. The Balmullo Newsletter has a circulation of 700 and is hand delivered FREE of charge. TO ALL ADVERTISERS – Please check your advert. If you would like to remove it or change it in any way, please let me know. Either by phone or email. My details are on page 3 of this newsletter - Ina Cameron.

Balmullo Bowling Club Play outdoors in summer Indoors in winter Variety of competitions and friendly matches every week No experience required. All welcome to join. Call John on 01334 870196


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DazLyn Motorshine Mobile Valeting We come to you whether it’s the Home Workplace or even the Golf Course, All water and electrics are on board our vehicle.

Cars Vans Caravans Conservatories From a Mini Valet to a Full Showroom Finish including Sanitisation, Bacteria, and Virus Elimination system. (Certificate can be provided to confirm this treatment).

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ANNOUNCEMENTS Our meeting started with a talk by Kirsty Hastie and Hamish Tait from Heart Start who attended to give us an overview of their plans to install defibrillators in local communities. Hamish explained that the latest machines are simple enough to be used by an untrained person. We were shown a machine and demonstrated that it talks the operator through the procedure. It will not function unless the patient’s heart has stopped. Heart Start will meet all costs in supplying and installing one machine in Balmullo, with appropriate signage and publicity. The preference is for installation at the Primary School but otherwise the Hall. John Normand will check with the headmistress if siting at the school will be allowed. We will discuss and confirm details at out next meeting. Since flooding on the path at the west end of Burnside Hall grounds is still on-going Scottish Water has now accepted that there is a mains leak which they will repair in due course. A new program is underway to extend rural collection services to 3-bin recycling. All residents affected will receive letters of explanation and a chance to respond before the service begins in June. The condition of Park Cottage at 13 School Road is being monitored by Fife Council. Transfer of ownership is being sought.

EDITORIAL

COMMUNITY COUNCIL A further 19 drivers have been targeted within the St Michaels speed limit area. The Pharmacy decision has been delayed by holiday of the Council Chairman but will be made within about 2 weeks. Some bus timetables have changed but it would appear the only one that affects this area is the 99. The small bridle path between Pitcairn Drive and the Cuplahills track is now very muddy. It is the responsibility of the Greenbelt and they have advised that it will be improved in the near future. The problem of dog fouling has been raised again with increased mess around the school and some culprits are throwing their poo bags into the surrounding gardens. Lynn Murphy who does a wonderful job keeping the area around the Hall in order found 67 deposits on the grassy area. Unfortunately the bad owners are also tarnishing the good owners as people lump dog owners into one category. Our next meeting will be held in Burnside Hall on 8th April at 7.30pm. A copy of the Minutes will be available on the shelves at the Post Office .

INA CAMERON

Since I was away enjoying a holiday in Le Touquet, France, I was not at the meeting and therefore cannot make any comments. I do apologise most sincerely to the lateness of the Newsletter which could not be avoided since all information for it comes into my computer.

Articles for the next newsletter should be sent to me by 8th April. EASTER TIME – COME AND CELEBRATE IN YOUR CHURCH REV. CAROLINE TAYLOR Easter Sunday 31st March. At 8am in the churchyard they will be holding a Family celebration picnic-

style – Easter eggs & hot cross buns, also at 9.30am in Burnside Hall. Dress in bright colours – Easter bonnets welcome also at 11am in the Church – dress in bright colours – Easter bonnets welcome.

LITTER IN CLAY ROAD

PETER AND PENNY WILES

We would like to bring to the village's notice the litter in Clay road. We informed the council regarding the litter and it was removed very quickly. But within a few days more litter has begun to appear, including a "microwave oven" and plastic bags and bottles. Please could we try and keep this road clear of rubbish to save the council having to come and clear it up thus wasting valuable tax payer's money.

GALA DAY 8TH JUNE 2013


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D McQueen Gas Oil & Heating Services Milton Lea, By Balmullo, St Andrews Tel: 01334 839144 Mob: 07801 731 531

Repairs & Servicing New Installations Landlord Inspections Gas Safe Reg: 23581

SNIPEF Member

Email: dd.mcqueen@btinternet.com

BALMULLO COMMUNITY COUNCIL NEEDS YOU!!! 8th April - 7.30pm

Colin Finlay Qualified Electrician

Pains Of Labour No Time? Too Busy? Help Is At Hand. Gardens, Garages, Maintenance Clearing, Removal Anything Considered. Reasonable Rates Call Jake On 079 6978 0956

DEREK B CAMPBELL Motor Engineer

Any jobs large or small Discounts for OAPs Balmullo 870578 Mobile 07828 547395

SERVICING & M.O.T. REPAIRS Tel 870328 ‘Loanhead’ Balmullo St. Andrews KY16 0BQ

Appointments not always necessary Mon Closed Tues 9-3 Wed 9-5 Thur 9-8 Fri 9-6 Sat 8-3 Sun Closed

15 Main Street Leuchars 01334 848625


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YOUR M.P.

SIR MENZIES CAMPBELL "RAF Leuchars was first revealed to be under threat of closure in November 2010. That announcement saw the local community join together to mount a professional and dedicated campaign to keep the military in Fife. Politicians of all parties and none spoke of the exemplary record of RAF personnel based at the station and called on the base to be retained. It is clear that at the highest level of the Royal Air Force arguments were made in favour of keeping the base in its current role.

After two and a half years the Ministry of Defence has finally confirmed the Typhoon Force stationed at RAF Leuchars will be transferred to RAF Lossiemouth and Army units will instead occupy the base. I have consistently argued the strategic case for keeping the Typhoons at Leuchars and remain of the view that the decision to transfer them has been made on economic and political grounds rather than on operational or strategic considerations but I have no doubt the people of Fife will welcome the new units and successfully adjust to the different requirements of the Army. After so many months of uncertainty, during which time the Ministry of Defence has reversed and revised much of its original plans for the military estate in Scotland, a firm timetable for the drawdown of the Typhoon Force and the phased arrival of the Army units is of paramount importance. It has been suggested the first of the Typhoons will be transferred to Lossiemouth at the end of this year. The army is likely to take possession of Leuchars no earlier than 2015. A gap of any significant length during which the base is undermanned would be the most challenging scenario for the local authority to cope with. The Ministry of Defence needs to be clear on how it intends to work with the local authority to ensure the impact on services resulting from the transfer of the base from the Royal Air Force to the Army is kept to a minimum. The requirements of the average soldier is different to most of the RAF personnel currently stationed at Leuchars. They are less likely to be married, less likely to have children and less likely to make the area their long term home. There will be a knock-on effect on housing, local schools and other services. It is also likely that the Army will make more use of the road network near the base and that it will need additional land for training, both of which will require careful planning to minimise disruption. The RAF have been in Leuchars for nearly a century and the base and local community have come to enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship founded on a genuine regard for each other. There is no reason why that should not continue with the new inhabitants of the base for a long time to come."

WHAT’S ON? MARCH 31st 8am in Churchyard. Details in Newsletter APRIL 1st University Saxophone Quartet - 1400 MUSA The Scores St Andrews Tel 616660 6th Out of the Flames Guided Walking Tour of St Andrews - 1400-1530 Gateway Galleries, North Haugh 8th Balmullo Community Council meeting at Burnside Hall - 7.30 17th Burns Club music night with Billy Anderson (article in newsletter) 18th Gardening Club in Burnside Hall at

25th

7.30pm. Talk by Sarah Mellersh Extraordinary General Meeting of Burns Club 8pm in Balmullo Inn

MAY 13th Balmullo Community Council meeting at Burnside Hall - 7.30 18th THE FIFE SHOW 9am to 5pm at Cupar. JUNE 8th THE BALMULLO GALA 12pm til late

Running an event? Email twaauldgoats@btinternet.com


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YOUR M.S.P.

ROD CAMPBELL

March has arrived and with it, spring. And yet, with the recent deluge of snow, summer seems some way away. As daffodils begin to bloom, and snowdrops fade, however, our thoughts turn to new beginnings. RAF Leuchars will see a new beginning, with details of its future coming after 20 months of uncertainty. The typhoon squadrons will relocate to RAF Lossiemouth in stages throughout 2014 and will be replaced by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in 2014, with members of 2 Close Support Batallion REME, the Royal Engineers arriving not before 2015, as well as military police. The RAF will continue to have a small presence of 50 personnel at Leuchars, as a back up to Lossiemouth, and the runway will be retained – a particular plus given the expenditure of more than £20 million in recent years. But far from the 1300 personnel promised, approximately 800 personnel will remain - whether they will contain the number of families with children that the local community currently has seems most unlikely and, at time of writing, how far the local economy will benefit from £60 million proposed investment remains unknown. Like Kinloss, however, the local community is likely to accept that an Army presence is better than no presence at all, even if the RAF in Scotland is but a shadow of its former self. Unfortunately the timing of the bases announcement comes at a time when school closures are very much to the fore in Fife - uncertainty surrounds the future of many schools in North East Fife and a significant loss of pupils as a result of this review will be unhelpful to say the least. Last month I had the opportunity of visiting Leuchars primary as part of Scottish Parliament inquiry into language teaching in primary schools and I was struck by the diverse backgrounds of many of the pupils, coupled with their enthusiasm for learning Mandarin; a language which, by common consent, is not easy to learn. It would be a great loss if some of that enthusiasm were to be lost. I also visited the Guardbrige paper mill last month and I am pleased that the University is actively planning to give this site a new lease of life. At a time of job losses at Leuchars, new jobs at Guardbrige would be very positive news indeed to help lift the gloom of the last couple of years. We must all continue to wait, however, for a news regarding Balmullo’s pharmacy. In what has been an interminably long wait for many, the decision on whether or not to grant permission for the pharmacy to open now rests with the National Appeals Panel. It is unfortunate that a further wait must be endured before the future is made clear, however I hope for positive news in the very near future. The resilient, hard-fought, local campaign deserves to be duly rewarded and we must hope a positive decision is reached to allow the life of the pharmacy to begin anew.

GALA DAY 8TH JUNE 2013 NEWS FROM THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MAIL 101 the new non-emergency police number is now running. There are some bus timetable changes from March 25th. None affect the village services but the 99 routes are seeing some changes. The WRVS are looking for volunteers for help with a range of important community services which they provide. Do read their leaflet in this newsletter.


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THE 200 CLUB DRAW - MARCH’S WINNERS £50

Mrs Allardyce, Lucklaw Road

£20 £20 £20 £20 £20

Mr Bayne, The Mount Mr Caulfield, Pitcairn Drive Mr Duncan, The Mount Mrs Milligan, Park View Mrs Hirst, Mansfield Road

£10 £10 £10 £10 £10

Mrs Allen, School Road Mrs Dall, Anderson Drive Mrs Dunstan, Hayston Park Mrs McQueen, School Road Mrs Black, Inchlaw

How to Join Our 200 Club? - It's easy to join the 2 0 0 Club . Ca ll o r ema il I n a a t twaauldgoats@btinternet.com or call 870253. It only costs £1 per entry per month, and you can enter as many times as you like. We are currently trying to raise money for various Balmullo community activities and projects.

GOOD LUCK!

LEUCHARS & DISTRICT GARDENING & CRAFTS CLUB Colin McBeath, who established Quercus Nursery within the walled garden at Rankeilour Estate near Springfield, gave our first winter talk for 2013. Colin is primarily a garden designer and landscape artist so based his talk on redesigning an existing Fife garden for a new homeowner. He showed a series of photographs, picking out the difficult aspects such as different levels, shaded areas and a neighbouring school building. His new design incorporated a wide variety of shrubs and perennials for year-round interest and also a wildflower meadow area, which required time to establish. A good audience thoroughly enjoyed the talk and were able to buy plants that Colin brought along.

ANDREW FALCONER

era. He explained the responsibilities of gardening staff in a country house and illustrated the varieties of fruit and vegetables grown in a typical walled garden. The range of garden buildings and innovations in gardening equipment over the years were very interesting and Bob entertained us with many witty anecdotes and personal experiences of his early working life.

Our next speaker is Sarah Mellersh, who will be giving a cookery demonstration entitled A Taste of Summer. Sarah, who trained as a private cook and worked for a number of prestigious catering companies, now owns and runs the Let’s Cook Scotland cookery school in Perthshire. She will prepare a number of dishes perfect for Our second winter talk was a complete contrast entertaining during the summer months. The talk is with Bob Bremner from Dundee showing us the on Thursday 18th April at 7:30 in Burnside Hall. styles and methods of gardening in the Victorian

BALMULLO BURNS CLUB At our Burns Club AGM we had just enough members present to allow the meeting to continue. Unfortunately with some members needing to leave the Committee we did not get the response required for a new committee to be appointed. In particular we need both Secretary and Treasurer for the club to function. Since we already have the 17th April booked for our annual Billy Anderson fun and dancing night we will carry on with this event. UNFORTUNATELY this is likely to be the last event we will be having unless we get some enthusiasm from the village. Our Club has been running since 1980 but it now seems that out of around 1400 adults in the village, no-one is willing to come along and help us

ANN FALCONER to keep this link with Scottish Heritage from ending. Perhaps there are some young adults, interested in the legacy of Robert Burns, who would like to try out their ability to take on secretarial or accounting work - age and gender are not an issue. If you can help please get in touch with Chairman Mary Campbell, my number is 870328 We will be holding an Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday 25th April at 8pm in the Balmullo Inn Lounge in order to finalise the situation. Everyone is welcome.

SUPPORT OUR BURNS CLUB.


MONTEATHS Accountants and Tax Consultants APPOINTMENTS: MORNING, AFTERNOON or EVENING OUR OFFICE, YOUR HOME or PREMISES Training Courses - as an employee Sometimes you might pay for a training course out of your own pocket for work purposes but happen to benefit too by career development. UP to now the cost was not allowable because it failed the “exclusivity “ test because there was personal benefit ie personal improvement. However if you can show the course was necessary for work purposes then the secondary benefit of “Improvement” is incidental and is to be ignored. -Court case CRC v BanjereeIf your employer won’t pay the whole training course bill then perhaps you could “salary sacrifice”. Your month’s wage/salary is reduced by the amount of the training course bill and the employer then pays the bill. Effectively you save on Tax and NIC. It’s still better if the employer pays it all. GIFT AID If you are a taxpayer and gift to a registered charity then complete a gift aid form showing your name and address. The charity will get 20p from HMRC for every 80p donated

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BABY MUSA TIME Held on the first Friday of every month, Baby MUSA Time allows your little one to discover some of the fantastic things found in museums through stories, songs and activities. This dropin activity is for pre-school children and whoever looks after them. The MUSA Learning Loft provides a place to relax, park your buggy and have a tea or coffee. Next Baby MUSA Time will be help on Friday, 05 April 2013 from 10:00 to 11:00.

GALA DAY 8TH JUNE 2013 BALMULLO S.W.R.I. President Ann Falconer welcomed everyone, including 2 new members, to the meeting on Thursday 7th March. Our speaker for the evening was local Balmullo resident Alec Lorimer who brought along a very varied and unusual selection of bottles. All of these were dug up in the surrounding area during Alec’s working life in agriculture. The earliest bottles dated back to the late 1800’s and were very different to modern bottles, with much thicker glass and unusual shapes and colours. As well as glass there were earthenware jars and bottles. A variety of old milk bottles included some from the Buttercup Dairy and Alec gave a brief history of the company founded by Andrew Ewing and the charitable work done by him throughout Scotland. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening and Ann Falconer gave a vote of thanks.

ANN FALCONER Competition winners: 2 slices Fruit Loaf 1st Wilma Mackie 2nd Marjorie Pasley 3rd Pauline Smith Unusual Bottle 1st Pauline Smith 2nd Jacqueline Stockton 3rd Betty Gough Flower of the month Vera Finlayson The next meeting will be on Thursday 4th April at 7.15 pm in Burnside Hall. The speaker will be Steve Penrice who will bring along and talk about photos of Cupar. Anyone who has old photos of our area are invited to bring them along. Competitions will be a Landscape Photograph, 2 Muffins and Flower of the month. An extra competition is being held to select our entrant for the Fife Federation Ann Wallace Sugar Sifter competition for 3 Gypsy Creams (recipe in February Newsletter).

A WEE NOTE

CATHY MITCHELL

Just a little note from Cathy Mitchell who has been coming round all your doors for the past few weeks with the Kleeneze catalogues. I would like to say a big thank you to all for your help and support. I have met some nice people and I enjoy the extra work. On opening my brochures on a return from collecting I found a little note from two people asking for a catalogue next month but unfortunately they didn’t write down their street name and number so I have no idea from which house they came from. If this was you please phone me on 970470 or put a note through my door at 35 Hillview Road and I will deliver a brochure to you. Also can I just ask that even if you do not wish to order I need the catalogue back to put through other doors as we initially have to buy them.

Thank you once again .


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CLARK CERAMIC TILING Contact Ewan Clark on 01334 870811 or 07810 106896 All aspects of wall and floor tiling and skim coat plastering Kitchens, bathrooms, domestic, commercial and exterior jobs undertaken Topps Tiles approved fitter Discount given on tiles and materials Free estimates


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WRVS EAST FIFE COMMUNITY TRANSPORT & GOOD NEIGHBOURS SERVICE DO YOU HAVE A FEW HOURS TO SPARE? WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY? If you can answer yes to these questions, the WRVS would like to hear from you. What you will do as a volunteer Volunteers only give up the time they want to give. The commitment you make is entirely up to you, when and if you are available on the time/day we need to provide the service. You can offer as little as 1 to 2 hours a week, fortnight or month, and your gift of time will always be valued and appreciated. Services Community Transport WRVS volunteers provide transport across Fife, using their own cars, to those individuals who find that other transport systems don’t meet their needs. Good Neighbours As a good neighbours volunteer, you could be asked to help with a number of tasks such as practical tasks at home, befriending and confidence building You would only carry out the tasks that you feel completely happy about. For more information, Contact 01592 269654 WRVS East Fife Community Transport and Good Neighbours is funded by Fife Council, Transportation Services

DOG FOULING PROBLEMS

BALMULLO COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Firstly, many thanks to the majority of dog-owners in Balmullo who are responsible and clean up after their dogs. Their efforts are being undone by the irresponsible and uncaring minority who continue to allow dogs to foul our pavements and play areas. At the last Community Council meeting, several residents attending reported an increase in this problem, particularly on the streets around the Primary School and on the access path to the shop via Murray Row. Also, when the grassy areas around Burnside Hall were thoroughly checked recently, no less than 67 deposits were found and had to be cleaned up. If you let your dog off the leash here or at the Park, please watch it carefully and “pick up” to keep these areas safe for children who play there. Be aware that e.g. a child who unwittingly gets dog poo on their fingers and then rubs their eyes could, in the worst-case scenario, lose their sight. A related issue is that bags of dog excrement are being thrown away into gardens, hedgerows and the burn near the Hall. If you are good enough to “pick up”, please dispose of the bag in either a red dog bin or any of the black litter bins at the bus stops, play areas etc. We are encouraging random visits by the Dog Warden who can issue a £40 fine to culprits. Also, any responsible resident who has details of a culprit, either the person or their dog, can contact the Dog Warden and make a confidential report – contact details are inside front cover of this newsletter.






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M B C T

MARK BAYNE

M B C T

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Mob: 07821 086189


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RECIPE OF THE MONTH - PINEAPPLE, FRUIT AND CHERRY CAKE

ANN DUFF

Ingredients 175g self-raising flour 75g unsalted butter 100g light brown sugar 2 medium eggs, beaten

Method

227g tin pineapple chunks (drained) 100g glace cherries, halved 225g dried mixed fruit 50g desiccated coconut

Soak dried fruit in boiling water for 10-15 minutes Preheat oven to 200C / 180C fan-assisted / Gas Mark 6 Grease and line a 1kg (2lb) loaf tin Heat butter and sugar gently in a large pan until melted, drain fruit and add Cook over low heat, stirring, for 3-4 minutes Transfer to mixing bowl, add pineapple and cherries, allow to cool Sift flour into fruit and stir well Add eggs and coconut and mix well together Bake in tin for 40-50 minutes, until cake is golden Turn out and allow to cool.

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CONTAINER GROWN VEGETABLES As I sit writing this all the gardens round about are looking neat and tidy with a blanket of snow but this won't last long so now's the time to start preparations for growing summer veg. I'm occasionally asked about growing veg. in containers and basically that's what I do. The barrels for the carrots and parsnips are just big containers and the tatties in bags are the same. Many other veg. can be grown in containers of one sort or another depending on room available or style desired, e.g. few people may wish to have a big blue barrel in the middle of their decking, but small containers around the edge could be quite pleasant to look at. So, what to grow? Not many people cultivate an area the size of mine but I'm retired and it's one of my main hobbies. I would suggest that the following are not considered as most containers would only accommodate one or two plants, cauliflowers, cabbage, swede turnips, for example. Containers come in various shapes and sizes, round, square, and troughs. Space and style preference will determine what you use. The straighter the sides the better and you would probably need to increase the drainage holes, and if set on a hard surface like slabs or paviors they should be set up to assist drainage. Drainage is assisted by putting about an inch of chips or small pebbles in the bottom covered with a permeable barrier sheet before adding the growing medium, this also helps with stability. Remember, these containers hopefully will be used for many years so its worth buying a good quality compost for filling. I would recommend looking around for peat based compost, yes its still available, and it is not destroying the environment as growing good quality plants can be looked on as carbon neutral as they take in CO2 and give out oxygen. Also only approx. 10% of the peat harvested in used in horticulture and approx. 80% is burnt, mostly in power stations. Also like me you could make your own. I mix equal parts peat, soil, and sand to which I add 4ozs lime, 8ozs. superphosphate, and 4ozs. potassium sulphate to each cu. foot. I would recommend staying away from composts with added recycled materials as I've read and heard some horror stories about foreign bodies and disease in them. So container grown vegetables: Lettuce can give you more than one crop and you

BILL DUFF can use the thinning. Other salad crops are radish and spring onions. All of these need no protection although slugs enjoy lettuce and you can get environmentally friendly slug pellets ( that is friendly to all except slugs ). Root vegetables Carrots, there are two varieties of carrot which have some resistance to carrot fly, these are Resistafly and Flyaway, garlic granules sprinkled around can mask the carrot smell otherwise it would be necessary to construct framework to cover with fleece. Parsnips, beetroot, and purple top and snowball turnips need no protection. Runner beans and peas can be grown either in troughs in lines up trestles or in tubs up canes formed in a tepee (not wigwam, that's an upturned pot style structure ) type framework. All varieties of herbs are good to grow in tubs with the added sensory bonus when the leaves are rubbed. Potatoes are best grown in bags as this allows flexibility to let the tubers swell up and in most Garden Centres you can buy a full kit of bag, compost, and seed potato or take a bag of compost cut it in two and put in holes in what is the bottom of the two resultant bags. These will be able to take two or three seed potatoes. Always buy good quality seed potatoes, don't use the odd tattie or two out of the pack you've bought from the shop as they will probably been sprayed with a sprouting retardant. First earlies give these small “new potatoes� which are best eaten in their skins. Second earlies and main crop varieties are harvested later and can give large baking type potatoes. These are a few suggestions to start out with and in future years you can try others. I hope there is a lot of success in the village and perhaps there may be some additional entries at the Flower Shows this year. The two shows this year will be held in the Balmullo Hall on Saturday 3 August and Saturday 26 October and anyone who would like to enter vegetables or anything else can get a Schedule from me Bill Duff 1B Smithy Road tel. 870787 or any other Gardening Club committee member. There's also a gardens competition on Saturday 20 July. Gardening can be very therapeutic so I wish you all happy gardening.


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Over 35 years experience Prompt reliable service NEWPORT-ON-TAY TEL 01382 541702 MOBILE 07802 538284

Pitcairn Plumbing Services Plumbing, Installations. Maintenance and Repairs Bathrooms and Kitchens etc. No job too small Competitive prices and Free Estimates

Tel: 01334 870619 Mob: 07917 701411 E-mail: pitcairnplumbing@tiscali.co.uk


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Drawn by Zoe Mitchell - P7

Drawn by David Millar Goron

Drawn by Jay

Drawn by Zoe Stewart


Back cover drawn by Erin Reid


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