Trading Hut
The Trading Hut is operated by volunteers and is open on a Saturday morning from 10.00 am to 12.00 am. It is located at the Highfield road end of the allotments, with parking available in the Elm Grove recreation ground car park at the end of Highfield Road. A map is available by clicking here.
The hut stocks a wide range of organic manures and composts, commercial fertilizers, bamboo canes as well as watering cans, pots and other gardening sundries. Seed potatoes orders are sought by October and then placed with our Scottish supplier; members will be advised on when to collect in late January.
Refurbishment of The Hut is nearing completion and I hope that members are finding it easier to track down what they may want. Since the last letter we have put in a “tool bar” with everything you would expect to see i.e. spades, forks, long handled pruners, lawn rakes, hoes, secateurs etc. so if you need to buy any garden tools come and have a look. We have also invested in an “A” frame for weedblock, netting, fleece, bubble wrap etc so no more standing outside in the wind measuring against the wall of The Hut.
I have been checking our prices against those of the garden centres and the differences are staggering. £5.99 is their price for 3.4kg of Growmore whereas ours is £4 for 6kg. Our price for 2 meter wide weedblock is £1.20 per mtr, theirs is £2.99 and yes it’s the same. The Ultimate Bug Killer concentrate is £6.50 if you buy from us, £8.49 if you buy from garden centres. I could go on but do not wish to bore you. The main reason for these huge differences is because all the committee members and helpers work for nothing. Their contribution is often overlooked. This Society is run for the benefit of its members and all proceeds are returned to improve facilities. So a big thank you to all who give their time and knowledge free, we could not do without you.
Tony Hardacre