New for 2019 is The Slopefield Sunflower - the first e-newsletter from Slopefield Allotment Association. The newsletter contains lots of information about Slopefield Allotments and partnerships, awards we are working towards and achievements as well as local info for plotholders.

MARCH

· Slopefield Allotment Association Annual General Meeting on Thursday 7 March at Airyhall Primary School

· Circular paving patio laid in the Community Plot.

· Its Your Neighbourhood Theme launched: Intergenerational working.

· First Community Day of the season at Slopefield Allotments on Sunday 31 March. Flower bed at top of site weeded, pond tidied and Spring clean of community tool shed.

· Airyhall Primary School Visits – Children taking part in the following tasks: Planting Onions, sowing Sweetcorn, Lettuce and Sunflowers harvesting Leeks/Turnips and tidying Strawberry Beds including replanting in tubs and the Polytunnel. Participated in a Potato experiment, planting potatoes in tubs using compost, soil, subsoil and leaves, straw and paper.

APRIL

· Water supply to Slopefield turned on.

· Second Community Day of the season at Slopefield Allotments on Sunday April 28. Maintenance of the wooden and metal structures around the site. Site entrance gate undercoated and Norman Edwards and Community Tool Shed painted.

· Airyhall Primary School Visits – Children taking part in the following tasks: Planting Strawberries, Potatoes, Blackcurrant cuttings and picking Rhubarb. Sowing Runner Beans, Broad Beans, Peas and Nasturtiums.

MAY

· Site entrance gate painted.

· Green Flag Award Judges inspected the Slopefield site.

· Third Community Day of the season at Slopefield Allotments on Saturday May 25. Communal verges and bottom flower beds weeded.

· Attendance at Allotments Representative Network Meeting – Wednesday 29 May.

· Airyhall Primary School Visits – Children taking part in the following tasks: Sowing Oats, Barley, Wheat, Broad Beans, Peas, Runner Beans, Beetroot and Swede. Planting Sweetcorn and Lettuce in Bottle Greenhouse. Planted Potatoes, Tomatoes and Courgettes in Polytunnel. Planted out Peas and Broad Beans. Produce uplifted for School Fair – Rhubarb, Sweetcorn Plants, Strawberry Plants, Blackcurrant Plants and Tomato Plants. Aberdeen City Council filming school children at work for awards ceremony.

JUNE

· Service users from Craigton Road Daycare Centre visited site as part of It’s Your Neighbourhood theme of intergenerational working. Visitors were shown the site and school plot by pupils of Airyhall Primary School. Vistors were given Rhubarb and Lettuce to take home with them.

· First Community Evening of the season at Slopefield Allotments on Tuesday June 25. Annuals planted in top and bottom borders and planters around site with pond garden also tidied.

· Airyhall Primary School Visits – Children taking part in the following tasks:  Planted out tubs with Summer flowers, Sunflowers, Cabbages, Cauliflowers and Runner Beans.

JULY

· Slopefield Allotments awarded a Green Flag Award. The first allotment site in Scotland to be awarded such an accolade.

· Drains in bottom car park cleared by Aberdeen City Council.

· Fourth Community Day of the Season at Slopefield Allotments on Sunday 28 July. General tidy up around the site including weeding of flower borders, school and community plots.

AUGUST

· Keep Scotland Beautiful “It’s Your Neighbourhood” Assessor visited the site.

· Second Community Evening of the season at Slopefield Allotments on Wednesday 21 August. Polytunnel tidied and automatic watering system reconfigured. The pond area on the community Plot was cleared of all overgrown plants ready for the leaking pond to be replaced and the surrounding area replanted in the Spring.

SEPTEMBER

· Flagpole erected on site by Aberdeen City Council for flying Slopefield’s Green Flag Award.

· Fifth Community Day of the Season at Slopefield Allotments on Sunday 29 September. Top and bottom borders tidied and weeded and pot holes patched on the tracks.

· Open day held at Slopefield Allotments on 19 September for Parents/Carers of pupils of Airyhall Primary School.

· Airyhall Primary School Visits – Children taking part in the following tasks: Dug up early Potatoes, weeded Strawberries and potted up the runners for the Polytunnel. Harvested Rhubarb, Shallots, Beetroot, Marrows and Cabbages.

OCTOBER

· Delivery of tree leaves from Aberdeen City Council for plotters to use on their allotment.

· Slopefield Allotments awarded a level 5 – outstanding in Keep Scotland Beautiful “It’s Your Neighbourhood” awards.

· Sixth Community Day of the Season at Slopefield Allotments of Sunday 27 October. The perennial flowering plants in the beds adjacent to the bottom car park were cut down and all the cuttings gathered and piled up ready for the annual site bonfire.

· Airyhall Primary School Visits – Children taking part in the following tasks: Weeding the Strawberry Beds, Potting Strawberry Runners, planting Daffodil and Tulip Bulbs and harvesting Potatoes, Onions, Beetroot, Marrows, Green Beans, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Tomatoes and Peppers.

NOVEMBER

· Annual Slopefield Bonfire held on Sunday 10 November. Scrap wood and prunings burnt on the bonfire.

· Six Water Butts received from Aberdeen City Council with three to be fitted beside the taps at the bottom of each row.

· Large delivery of composted leafmould from Aberdeen City Council for plotters to use on their allotment.

· Delivery of woodchip from local tree surgeon to be used on the community plot.

· Airyhall Primary School Visits – Children taking part in the following tasks: Weeding and clearing of all plant material, planting Strawberry Runners and Daffodil and Tulip Bulbs, pruned, potted up and took cuttings of Blackcurrants and harvesting of Grapes, Tomatoes and Swedes.

DECEMBER

· Delivery of tree leaves from Aberdeen City Council for plotters to use on their allotment.

JANUARY

· Second delivery of compost from Aberdeen City Council for plotters to use on their allotment.

· Roof of Hutton Hut re-felted following water leaks.

· Bob McGregor interviewed by Rhae, SRUC student for her University project on Allotments.

· New donated metal Bollards installed in bottom car parking area to protect herbaceous borders

FEBRUARY

· Delivery of Woodchip from Aberdeen City Council.