Hillingdon Allotment News 16: General information

United Nations International Year of the Potato

It may seem strange to us as allotment holders in this country to find that the United Nations have declared this year as the International Year of the Potato, one would have thought that they had more important things to bother themselves with. However that is not the case, the potato is an essential in some countries where other sources of protein are in short supply, and the potato produces more nutritious food, more quickly, on less land and in harsher climates than any other crop and has more protein than any other root or tuber. Britain grows six million tonnes of potatoes a year and world wide the potato industry is worth £2.95 billion. The main objective of the UN initiative is to promote sustainable potato in the developing world, where annual consumption has doubled in the last 45 years. www.potato2008.org has lots more information on this wonder veg.

Life saving allotments

GardenAfrica is a UK based charity that works in sub–Saharan Africa to establish home gardens growing fruit, vegetables and medicinal plants to promote health and self sufficiency free of debt and dependence. Swaziland is severely affected by changes in the environment and where more than seventy percent of the population live in rural areas and where extreme poverty prevails. The creation of a veg garden may seem a small gesture in the face of overwhelming need but the idea is working, a typical family plot of 100 square metres can feed a family of five all year round and costs £35. Find out more on www.gardenafrica.org.uk or write to GardenAfrica, 1 Gresley Road, London N19 3LA

More garden chemicals to go

Two well known and widely used garden chemicals are to be withdrawn shortly in a further blow to both organic and inorganic gardeners according to reports by the Royal Horticultural Society. Neither of these chemicals are being withdrawn for safety reasons but because the Pesticides Safety Directorate has not been provided with a complete dossier of their effects. Rotenone, better known as derris, has been used as an insecticide for almost a century and was one of the few insecticides acceptable to organic gardeners being plant based.
The weed and stump killer ammonium sulphamate, marketed as Root Out, Deep Root and Amcide, is also to go, and gardeners have until 22 May 2008 to use up stocks of this material.

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