ALLOTMENT OPEN DAY IDEAS PLEASE

[betula]

Over the last year our almost derelict allotment site has filled up with plot holders and beginning to look great.

Have decided with a few others to hold an open day this year.

I have attended events like these on my old allotment but never organised one.

I thought it would be good to have displays of produce and flowers.

Veg for sale.

Refreshments.

Maybe face painting for the children??

What I really would like to do is have produce that could be judged.
Has anybody got any ideas how to go about this please.Ideally the judge should not be a local person for obvious reasons.
A few have said they are a bit shy about having produce judged as they are not sure their veg is good enough.How would you encourage people to join in to this sort of thing?


Help...............

[betula]

[1066]

How about having some fun categories as well as standard ones such as odd shapes, largest, smallest plus best scarecrow etc these might not seem to be so scary?!

[saddad]

Sound advice, and good luck..  :)

[Borlotti]

When we had a party at the allotment, mainly due to Joe Swift being there, I think, someone got Waitrose involved and they gave prizes, not sure who judged the veggie competition, but I didn't win, sob, sob, but only entered to get into the spirit of the thing.  I thought Waitrose were very good, and I like their shop, not sure if you have one near you, or another shop you could ask for sponsorship, just an idea.

[tonybloke]

involve the local school if possible? also, ask the publicity officer at your local council office, oh and don't forget to consult http://www.nsalg.org.uk/
;) ;)

[mummybunny]

What about having the funniest looking veg comp too for the people that are a bit worried. Brings a bit of fun into it and I'm sure everyone has a funny veg to be proud of  ;D

[lavenderlux]

At one of our allotment open days we had a competition for 'an interesting load in a wheelbarrow' and had lots of interesting entries from our plot holders: 
one was entitled 'hose' - and was of various hoes and socks = hose
another was of a scarecrow laying in a barrow and mostly covered with manure and the caption 'o s**t'
another person had sown grass seed on soil in a barrow and had various toy sheep on this grass 'sheep may safely graze'
another had 'treasures from my allotment' - with an arrangement of various bits of 'rubbish!' which we all seem to find on our plots
We also had a  children's section with entries in with 'toy' wheelbarrows

Sometimes local organisations will be willing to come along, eg 'local safer neighbourhood team' and 'fire safety team'

[saddad]

But did anybody take photos ?????

[betula]

Oh thank you everybody for some great suggestions :)

The main probs we have is the site is not that large,only about twenty plots.

One small triangular plot has not been taken,so overgrown,the probation lads helped us sort it out and we have decided to keep that as a communal area.The other problem is lack of car parking space,I am hoping this will not be an issue as we are in a village so most people could easily walk.

I like the idea of novelty veg,some people are very modest,they produced great veg last year and would look fine in a show.

All other ideas and comments welcome. ;D

[THE MASTER]

dont forget the BBQ 8)

and be cheacky who can dig a 1mx1m bed the fastest or who can colect the most amount of weeds in ten mins   ;D

my son would chalenge you to a rotorvating comp . but trust me you would loos  :-* he has dun my complete plot this evening in just 3/4 hour (30mx10m)

anyways . the best advice i could give is just enjoy the allotment and the comunity spirit
;D

[PurpleHeather]

We were fortunate to have a particularly eminent, popular elderly member of our site whom we nominated as 'President'.

We then invited the Mayor to inspect the site an award a Mayors award.

No matter how much of a socialist a person claims to be, an event with a mayor and a president officiating always draws a crowd.

Over the years we have extended the range and our ' allotment day' is very popular now.

We fund raise with Tombolas, all items are donated. Raffles do not seem to raise as much.

We have a tasting competition for things made from site produce and get members and guests to taste. Jams, Pickles, Chutneys and Jams. Even wine .  Volunteer guests are hijacked and asked to taste and mark samples.

Last year 'Cakes made with vegetables' was included and we got, Carrot cakes, beetroot muffins, Courgette cakes.

The only rule is that at least one ingredient had to be sourced from the allotment.

Children are invited to make a scarecrow.

No real prizes, we just print off loads of certificates on the computer and present them. Take a photo of the winner being presented with it and put it on the 'allotment site'.

We have tried, over the years to do a barbecue in the evenings, but this does not seem to work out. 

An afternoon, tea party seems to work best. Most of all you need a great organiser and a good team.

[Fran]

Good luck with the day, we are planning to organise 3 mini-open days throughout the summer on our plots. I would advise checking with the council before barbecuing - in our council we have to fill in a
20-odd page application form and have $500,000 insurance to have a barbie.  We shall just stick to cakes and tea!

[saddad]

Hi Fran are you "foreign" using dollars not pounds... (?) but the £500,000 is the standard public liability through the NSALG insurance scheme you probably already have...  :-\

[betula]

Thank you for the ideas and the pictures. :)

Really looking forward to it ;D