On March 2nd members old and new gathered to hear a talk on vegetable gardening in containers.

Vice-Chairman, Ros Gant welcomed everyone and, after reminding us of the Spring Show on 18th and the A.G.M. in April, introduced our speaker, Mark Read.

Mark is a very knowledgeable horticulturist and National exhibitor. He gave us an excellent talk covering suitable containers, vegetables that thrive in containers, the best compost to use, combatting pests and diseases and which feeds to use. He grows a lot of his own vegetables in containers so had first-hand experiences to share.

Members enjoyed his easy, friendly style and the amusing anecdotes included. Mark answered a variety of questions from the floor before the meeting closed.

Our A.G.M. is on 6th April which includes the Member’s Only Mini-Show. Entries can be staged from 7 pm.

Please click on the Shows link for details of our Annual Spring Show on 18th March to be held in The Memorial Hall.

The Dorset County Show committee are holding their Spring Show on April 2nd and 3rd at Sunninghill School in Dorchester. More classes have been added this year so it should be well worth a visit, open to the public between 2 and 4 pm.

For further details go to www.dorset-county-show-competitors.co.uk/page/schedules

Our February meeting attracted a large audience with several potential new members. Sally Fielding gave a fascinating talk on Dry-stone Walling illustrated with slides. She explained how the walls are constructed and that different parts of the country have different styles of building. It was a very enjoyable evening.

On March 2nd, Mark Read will be talking about vegetable growing.  This is sure to be very informative as Mark is a renowned grower and exhibitor.

The talk will include growing veg. in containers so that everyone can have a go regardless of garden size.

Don’t forget our Spring Show  on 18th March, details on the ‘Shows’ link.

We hope you have had a good festive season and are now looking forward to another gardening year.  No doubt the seed catalogues have been browsed over and plans made.

Our first talk of 2017 will be on February 2nd when Sally Fielding will be speaking about Dry-stone Walling. This promises to be very interesting.

We look forward to seeing friends old and new from 7-15 pm when coffee and tea will be available prior to the talk.

We returned to the Hix Academy restaurant on Thursday 8th December for Christmas Lunch.

We all enjoyed a superb meal with excellent service in very pleasant surroundings.   Highly recommended!

The school hall looked very festive for our last talk of 2016 with the Christmas tree twinkling and mince pies available with tea and coffee.

Tom Amery of The Watercress Company gave us a very interesting insight into the history of his company and watercress growing in general.

He answered a variety of questions during his illustrated talk and finished by giving us all a bag of delicious watercress to take home.  A very good evening.

25 members will be having a Christmas lunch at the Hix Academy on the 8th December.

There is no meeting in January so we meet again on February 2nd when Sally Fielding will be speaking about Dry-stone walling.

Happy Christmas to all our members.

The November meeting was very well attended when Nigel Hewish of Kingston Maurward College spoke to us about penstemons. He brought a good selection of varieties for us to see and spoke very knowledgeably about the subject, all without notes! His very informative talk was backed up with slides. He ended the evening by answering members’ questions.

On December 1st we welcome Mr. Tom Amery whose talk will be ‘My Life in Watercress’ We have decided to try changing the format of the evening this month, so refreshments will be available from 7.15 pm prior to the talk. If this is successful we will adopt this arrangement permanently.

Dorset Federation Show  On 18th September the Society staged 35 exhibits at the show in Tarrant Keyneston village hall near Blandford.

Seven societies entered and we were delighted to win 13 firsts, 10 seconds and 9 thirds against strong opposition.

Apple classes

Sixteen members provided various items to make up the exhibits.

We were awarded three trophies for Best Exhibits in the pot plants, cactus and mixed garden flowers.

The trophies and full results will be displayed at the November meeting

Cactus collection

Harvest Supper   This proved to be a very successful event. Forty members enjoyed a delicious Ploughman’s Supper followed by home-made Dorset apple cake with clotted cream.  Mark Read then gave a talk on Autumn Colour while potting up two containers. He also created a beautiful floral decoration in a basket which was later raffled.

Ready to enjoy

November Meeting  On 3rd November, Nigel Hewish, Head Gardener at Kingston Maurward, will give a talk on the National Collection of Penstemons.

Christmas Meal  Due to the success of last year’s meal, we are again going for lunch at the Hix Academy, Weymouth College. The cost will be £18 per person. Menus will be available at the November meeting when places must be reserved.

On 3rd September several members successfully exhibited at the Dorset County Show.  Congratulations to them all.

The 8th September was the first meeting of the Autumn. Ros Gant welcomed members old and new who enjoyed an entertaining talk on Gardening Folklore given by Mike Burks of The Gardens Group Gold Club. Some interesting and amusing examples were given.   The Gold Club had supplied fuchsia and petunia plugs in the Spring for growing on and these were judged by Mike.

Eve Morris’s fucshia took first place and was presented with a voucher to spend at Poundbury garden centre.

Gill Wilkinson also won a voucher for her petunia.

Ros Gant announced the winner of the Flower and Plant of the Month competition for the previous year and this was won jointly by Gill Wilkinson and Dorothy Emblen.

They received the Mary Middlemas award , which is a plate beautifully hand painted by Mary, sadly no longer with us.

On 18th September the Society is entering the Dorset Federation Show at Tarrant Keyneston. We have entered most classes and hope for good results. A good number of members are contributing items from vegetables and flowers to cookery and preserves.

More details can be found on the Federation web-site  dfhs.btck.co.uk

It is also time to book your place at the Harvest Supper on October 6th. The cost is £4 for a ploughman’s supper followed by Dorset apple cake and cream.  Please ring 01305 814887 as soon as possible so that we know numbers to be catered for.

During the evening there will be a talk by Mark Read on Autumn Colour.

We welcome members back on September 8th for our first talk of the season. The speaker will be a member of the Gardens Group team.

The subject will be  ‘Gardening Folklore’. The meeting starts at 7.30pm at St. Nicholas and St. Laurence School on the Wey Valley Campus, Dorchester Road.

We hold a competition for ‘Flower of the Month’ and ‘Plant of the month’. Points are awarded each month and a prize is awarded to the winning member.

There will be the usual refreshments and raffle.

New members always welcome, why not come along ?

New Discount Scheme

We have recently joined the Little Groves discount scheme.  If you are visiting this nursery in Beaminster, just show your current Society membership card before presenting your purchases at the till and you will receive a 10% discount.

Summer Show

Preparations are under way for our show on 20th August. Please go to the ‘shows’ link for full details

We are hoping for another successful show this year so please try to place some entries.