Welcome to the website of Topsham Allotments and Gardens Society (TAGS).
We celebrated our 50th anniversary as society in 2017 and today we are a thriving group of more than 150 members who live mostly in Topsham or the surrounding area.
Our common interest is in gardens and gardening. While most members have gardens of all sizes or allotments or, indeed, both, membership is open to all with this interest. So, if you share this love of growing things, have a look at the benefits of TAGS Membership by clicking on the button below.
JOBS TO DO IN THE GARDEN IN AUGUST
1 Bring any surplus crops to our stall at the Flower and Veg Show to sell. This raises money to help cover the cost of the Show and gives the buyer the fresh taste of home grown food.....you can't beat it!!!
2 Take cuttings of fuschias, pelargoniums, pinks, penstemon, salvia.
3 Keep deadheading roses to keep them blooming and remove leaves with blackspot and burn or bin them. Also keep dead heading border plants and those in pots.
4 Lift and pot up rooted strawberry runners for future harvests. Cut down summer fruited raspberry stems.
5 Prune Rambling Roses and Wisteria. Summer prune trained apples and pears, e.g. those in cordons, espaliers, fans and pyramids.
6 As you remove spent crops like potatoes, use green manures especially red clover to cover bare patches. You can still plant Chicory, Radish, Lettuce, Cabbage, Turnip seeds and Onion sets.
7 Harvest all fruit and veg as they become ready, especially french and runner beans, the more you pick the more come. You can turn any surplus to delicious bean chutney or simply give some to friends, family or neighbours. It'll brighten their day!
8 Pinch out side shoots on tomato plants and feed weekly, once flowers set into small tomatoes. Again any surplus makes good chutney.
9 Collect seeds for your use and the TAGS seed and plant swap in May next year. Keep them in a dry cool place in paper rather than plastic.
10 Keep plants hydrated, preferably with stored rainwater or grey water. Keep ponds and water features topped up, good for wildlife.
The 10% discount on full price goods from St Bridget Nurseries has been a generous concession. Sadly they are going to have to withdraw this discount for the 24/25 membership. They are in the process of setting up a new loyalty card scheme. They hope to have this up and running soon. Therefore wef 1st April 2024 the 10% discount will cease and the new scheme will replace all external discount arrangements they have. It will operate in a similar way to say the Boots Loyalty card.
St Bridget's thank all TAGS members who have shopped with them over the years and hope that you will continue under the new scheme.
TAGS has agreed to join the Devon Wildlife Trust’s project of “Spring Sow for Exeter Communities”. The Wildlife Trust will provide packets of wildflower seeds, and each packet will contain enough seeds to cover 1 square metre of ground. The packets will be free for members of TAGS and will be available from the trading hut at Butts Park during their normal trading hours of 10.30 to11.30am on Saturdays and Sundays. If you wish to become a member of TAGS, please visit the website topshamags.co.uk”
On 14 January 2024 the team, which has been laying the Butts Park hedge alongside Elm Grove Road in short spells each winter since 2017, finally completed the task of laying around 140 metres of dying elm hedge. This 7 year project spearheaded by hedge layer and chainsaw wizard, Derek Hazelden, has been supported by a small but tight knit team of TAGS members/allotment tenants and interested others in varying numbers for each season of work. (Note, no laying done during COVID). Financial assistance and some practical help has come from the council, TAGS and the Woodland Trust for which we are very grateful. Also note, the council has promised to take down the remaining 3 medium/large dead elm trees next to the entrance.
On 18 February 2024, a number of the volunteers and allotment tenants joined a short meeting at Butts Park with coffee and pastries to celebrate reaching the ‘finishing line’ and also to plant some 150 tree whips in the hedge. These small trees were grown from seed collected by Sarah Piercy, who has the wheelchair adapted plot at Butts Park. She collects seeds from local trees, as she keeps fit while wheeling round the local area, and then plants them in her raised beds and nurtures them for a year or two. A massive thank-you to Sarah and all those who participated in this project. It has been quite demanding work but the fruits of all their labour shows in the revitalised hedge in all its different stages along the hedgerow.
We felt this project was important because hedgerows have an important place in our landscape, particularly in such a prominent location in Topsham. It acts as a screen, protection and barrier. Moreover, the environmental benefits such as more varied habitats for plants and animals, ecosystem diversity, wildlife corridor function etc. are well known. The logical conclusion of no action is shown in the car park inside Butts Park Allotments where there is just a grassy hedge bank.
The council has told us that the allotment fees from September 2023 to September 2024 are £8.35 per rod. Please mention it to your allotment neighbours just in case they don't see our various communications.
Ralph Hare, on behalf of the Site Managers
Details of what is involved are available and getting more involved with TAGS is a great way to widen your circle of friends and get involved in the community.
HELP WITH OUR MEMBERS OPEN GARDEN SCHEME
Also, as our activities continue to grow and improve, we are looking for a 3rd Garden Rep whose sole Job would be to organise 3-4 open gardens for each Spring and Summer for TAGS members only. You would liaise with our Social Sec's Stella and David and garden owners to help organise visits to their gardens, help provide and drink tea on the day and ensure things go smoothly!! For more info give Stella and David a call on 01392 877318. This may also involve biscuits!!