VPA News

Weren’t we lucky! The rain we all needed, particularly for our gardens and fields, decided to start last Sunday morning just as we were preparing the plant tables. However, our very own weather man, George Godar, advised from his app that by 10am it should be sunshine, and that is exactly what happened. We got a bit wet setting up and struggled to get signs on the tables but all came good. We had a variety of donations for which we thank you very much, along with thanks to the merry band of helpers, (setting up, serving, and clearing away again). We raised around four hundred and fifty pounds. Janet Stupples kindly took all the leftovers and she is brilliant at nurturing, repotting etc and finding good homes for everything. A fine example of sharing and working together around village life. Look out for the pop up plant sales in the courtyard at Ashridge.

Last week we had a successful Wisley day trip in conjunction with and mainly organised by the LG WI, using our Affiliated Membership. (Entitling 55 people to visit once per year for free). Perhaps another trip could be organised to visit an alternative garden next year? One of our VPA members recently used the RHS discount ticket and visited Rosemoor in Devon which was very much enjoyed. If you are planning an RHS garden visit do ask to borrow the RHS card to take advantage of the entry discounts.

Whilst mentioning the WI, do make a date to have an afternoon cream tea in the VH on Saturday 21 June, from 2pm. Lots of sandwiches, cakes and scones to eat, plus a raffle, tombola, plants with Wendy for sale, along with the opportunity to buy a cake to take home for Sunday tea.

With our limited “person power” we now need to plan ahead for the summer show (23 August) followed by the Harvest Supper and Quiz (27 September). If there is anything you would particularly like to see included in the show schedule please get in touch.

Finally, another plea for Secretarial assistance (to help us up until next April) and help in managing the gardens around the Store and the planters in the village, just giving an hour would make a big difference please.

Do call into the Store for garden requirements, open every Sunday from 10am to 12am (next to the Village Hall).

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday morning. If you have plants that you would like to donate on the day please bring them between 8am and 9am so that the team have a chance to price them up ahead of the opening time of 10am. If you can identify the plants with a label that will help us too.

If you need to drop them off prior to Sunday then Kate at Christmas House (on the left on the road out towards Ringshall) has offered to take them. Please ring Kate on 07973 830081.

Other news
Rennie Grove Peace Hospice is having an Open Garden at Grove House, Waverley Road, St Albans, AL3 5QX on Saturday 7 June, 2pm – 5pm.
Regularly used by patients attending clinics or therapeutic gardening groups for those living with life-limiting illnesses, the garden serves as both a sanctuary and a source of healing. Each summer, it is opened to the wider public, offering everyone a chance to enjoy the results of the volunteers’ hard work. Visitors can expect to see a vibrant display of roses, peonies, alliums, and other early summer blooms.
As well as enjoying the gardens, visitors will be able to buy plants that have been grown by our volunteer gardeners, to take a little of the garden home with them.

Some of the volunteer gardeners will be on hand to answer any questions, and tea and cakes will be available to purchase throughout the afternoon. All proceeds raised by the event will be used to fund vital care for local people with a life-limiting illness.

Spring really is getting under way, this last week we have crossed over into having more daylight hours than dark hours, and the clocks go forward next weekend gradually giving us longer evenings to be organising our gardens.  The Spring colours are very welcome as we have seen the snowdrops, crocuses, and then the lovely daffodils and tulips pop up in many places.

In case word hasn’t reached you, the Ashridge House Gardens are now an RHS Partner Garden which is great to know and enables visits to be made at a very local venue (and to enjoy a cuppa in the Bakehouse).  Our Affiliated RHS member card is available in the Store to be used.   The Wisley trip on 20 May 2025 is almost fully booked but if you wish to try and reserve the last remaining seats, please get in touch wisley-trip@lgvpa.org / 07760 144057 immediately.

We would really appreciate help in maintaining the garden areas referred to in our end of year newsletter and now is the time to be clearing up and pruning after the long Winter days so if you can spare an hour or so to help we would be pleased to hear from you. 

The AGM will be starting 6.30pm on Wednesday 30 April 2025 in the Church’s TFH where a welcome glass of fizz and nibbles will be available.  Our end of year financial/membership/store summary will be distributed during April for your information.  We are pleased to be welcoming Liz Hamilton to speak to us (a busy volunteer supporter with the CPRE to help protect our beautiful countryside) about Chalk Streams which should be very interesting.

The customary Plant Sale is on Sunday 25 May 2025 at 10:30am on the VH car park; we are hopeful that you can sow some extra seed trays for the VPA in the run up to the sale to help fill the tables.  If you can spare an hour to help set up we would be pleased to hear from you. Please see below an extract from the Grow your own guide, full document on the web site.

The remaining two scheduled events are the Summer Show on Saturday 23 August 2025 followed by the Harvest Supper and Quiz on Saturday 27 September 2025.

Let’s hope we can all have a successful planning, sowing and growing season during the coming months, and we are looking forward to seeing you at the AGM.

Hi Everyone

Many apologies to those already thinking about the Winter Show, unfortunately the Committee have had to make the difficult decision not to proceed. We are a very small team and with a few of us away we simply cannot pull it all together this time.

The good news though is everything else planned this year, including the Summer Show, remains in the diary and is fully supported. Next up the AGM in April then in May the Plant Sale, so don’t forget when you are raising your seedlings to plant a tray for the VPA.

As we reach the shortest day of the year we are looking ahead to 2025 and putting the finishing touches around the Winter Show Schedule (Saturday 8 February 2025) which will be available in early January, so look out for printed copies in the Village Shop and details which will be announced on our web site. 

With the year end approaching we undertook a review of our activities and were able to make some donations to our local charities: Gaddesden Place Riding for the Disabled (RDA), Westcroft House (ROAR), Horatio’s Garden and St Frances Hospice.  Each of these charities received £400 and we have received some lovely letters of thanks which will be displayed in the Store.  There was a ‘Big Give’ week in early December where, for participating charities, donations were doubled so we made sure St Frances Hospice received our donation during that period giving them double the benefit. 

Our Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Affiliated membership will automatically renew early in 2025 so do remember the benefits this provides to all VPA members. We love it when members use the ticket to get the discount.

Once a year Affiliated RHS members like the VPA can organise a group visit to one of the RHS gardens.  In conjunction with the Little Gaddesden Women’s Institute (WI, Ashridge Group) there are plans in place to go to Wisley on Tuesday 20 May 2025.  A coach has been booked for the journey, consequently seats need to be filled to enable the travel cost to be divided equally.   To reserve your seat(s), do bring a friend, send an email to wisley-trip@lgvpa.org or telephone 07760 144057 advising your contact details (it will be helpful to know if you are also a personal RHS member).

Some years ago, the VPA undertook to manage the garden at the front of the Store along with the planters throughout the village (They are at Cromer Close, Ringshall junction, in front of the School entrance and the VPA Store) together with the two planted gardens at the front of the village shop.  If you can spare any time to help cut back, plant up and generally manage the growth at any time during the year, your help would be very much appreciated, as there are very few of us to manage all the tasks.

As another year comes to an end we wish all our members an enjoyable festive time with their family and friends. Remember, the Store generally remains open every Sunday, bird food being a hotly contested purchase.  Do call by and say hello, we would like to see you.