Just to remind you of the forthcoming events for the society and to say Happy New Year.

Jan 23rd (Wed) 7.30pm Talk ‘Development of Burrow Farm Gardens’ by Mary Benger – from working farm & old Roman clay pit to ten acre garden.

Members free Non Members £2 Details 01297 444034

Jan 26th (Sat) 7.30-11pm Barn Dance with Long Odds and Short Straws Band.

Tickets £8.00 (under 12s £4.00) incl. supper, available from Uplyme Stores, Serendip Bookshop, Lyme Regis or ring 01297 444034. BYO alcohol, soft drinks on sale. Almost always a sell-out, so get your tickets now and brighten up the dull days of January with a foot-stomping evening of fun!

Feb 5th (Tue) 10am -12 Visit and tour Axe Valley Wetlands- Seaton Marshes – only 15 places available. Cost £2.00 Depart in shared cars from Uplyme Village Hall 9.40am. Please ring 01297 444034 by Feb 1st to confirm. Bring binoculars if possible

Feb 27th (Wed) 7.30pm Talk ‘Plants for shade’ by Chris Birchall from Tale Valley Nursery. RHS GOLD Medallist. For more details contact 01297 444034

Members will be receiving their 2013 show schedule for our Summer Show and Country Fayre which is being held on Sat July 20th from 12 noon to 5pm – the earlier start time is the inspiration of our new show secretary, Sue Stones, to allow everyone to bring along their family and friends to enjoy the wide variety of Countryside attractions and help raise money for our chosen charity – the Axe Valley and West Dorset Ring and Ride.

With the traditional marquee on the field, full of your entries of flowers, veg, cookery and craft there will also be morris dancing, steam train rides, a falconry display, rural craft stalls and displays as well as the famous cream teas in the hall. A day to remember!

Don’t forget to read the schedule to see what classes you can enter so that you can get your seeds growing or your knitting started – after the rain of 2012 we would love to see an overflowing marquee to reward the committee for all their hard work in putting on the show.

Jenny Harding

Our final event for this year takes place next week on Wednesday 28^th November at 7:30 pm at Uplyme Village Hall. Once again this annual popular pre Christmas Quiz and Social evening has been prepared by question master Tony Cook with supplementary table question/picture identification sheets by members of the committee. So please come along  either as a team 4 or 6 or help to create a team on the night for some fun and prizes and enjoy the buffet snacks.

Members  free Non-Members £2  Details 01297 444034

If anyone would like to contribute to the buffet please let me know – thank you

Look forward to seeing you there

We will be collecting Membership subscriptions for 2013 at this meeting (£5 single £8 family) – cash or cheque (payable to Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society)

Tickets for the Barn Dance on Saturday 26th January will also be on sale – this has been a sell-out in the past so make sure you get tickets while you can!

Best wishes

Jenny Harding (Chairman)

tel 01297 444034

SUPPER & CONVERSATIONS: GROWING AND USING HERBS

The next in Trill Farm’s series of Supper & Conversations: Growing and using Herbs, with Anne McIntyre is coming up on Friday 23rd November. £17.50p

Anne, a renowned Herbalist, will share with us her immense knowledge of how healing herbs can be easily grown in the garden. Through touch, smell and taste she will introduce to us some of nature’s herbal bounty that can be used to bring balance and harmony to you and your family.

6.00pm Trill Winter herb tea & thyme shortbread

6.30pm Talk and conversations with Anne

7.30pm Mulled wine with aromatic canapés followed by supper created by Daphne Lambert.

To book, call Zoe on 01297 631113, or for directions and more details.

Following on from a very well-attended and lively talk about hedgehogs, we are proud to present Celebrate the Pumpkin with Lori Reichs of Shute Fruits www.shutefruit.co.uk

Wednesday October 24th, 7.30pm at Uplyme Village Hall

This is a family evening so bring your children/grandchildren or just yourselves! Halloween costume may be worn!

Bring a carved pumpkin/squash for a competition to be judged in 2 categories  – Traditional (ie halloween mask type) or Artistic/Decorative. 3 prizes in each class.

There will be a quiz and Lori will give a cookery demo, talk about pumpkins and there will be a display of different pumpkins from by Ashley from Trill Farm Garden which will be available to buy. Lori will also have some of her Shute fruit preserves for sale.

Also a bring and share buffet – prize for the most popular pumpkin related dish.

Look forward to seeing you there!

We will start collecting Membership subscriptions for 2013 at this meeting £5 single £8 family – cash or cheque (payable to Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society)

Writer and ecologist Hugh Warwick will be talking about one of Britain’s best loved animals – the hedgehog. He has studied them, on and off, for over 25 years, has written about them, rescued them, radio tracked them and talked, incessantly, about them. He will be sharing his insights into the madness of the extreme end of the hedgehog lover’s world while arguing that a little bit of hedgehog love in all our lives could be the key to the salvation of humanity. Hugh will be asking his audience to consider whether they have been seeing fewer hedgehogs of late. Because the latest report he was involved with concluded that, conservatively, there has been a 25% decline in their number in the last ten years, and the reality is probably far worse.

His hedgehog book, A Prickly Affair, was widely praised and remains possibly the only book to be published featuring commendations from both Jeanette Winterson and Ann Widdecombe on the cover. Like his talk, it is full of fun and laughter while at the same time carrying with it a serious ecological message about the way we impact hedgehogs and the planet.

So come and join the fun at 7.30pm on Wednesday 26^th September at Uplyme Village Hall!

For more information about Hugh and his work, visit www.urchin.info

Members Free, Non Members £2

SEED BOMBING with Josie Jeffrey

An introduction to the seedbombing revolution with Josie followed by a Harvest Celebration Supper. Seedbombing is another form of seed dispersal, a human intervention into what is already happening in nature anyway. It is an efficient way of deliberately dispersing seeds whilst working in harmony with nature by being considerate of wildlife and natural habitats.

Share seeds and learn to make seedbombs to disperse or give as gifts.

Friday 5th October. 6pm for 6.30pm

Josie Jeffrey:

Josie grew up living in a bus with her family who collected and distributed seeds and rescued seed saplings from roadsides on their travels. She studied Horticulture and Garden Design in Brighton and has been seedbombing for 5 years. In 2009, her business SeedFreedom sprouted and developed into a successful livelihood with commissioned workshops and appearances at key gardening events.

FROM SEED TO FEAST – AUTUMN HARVEST MENU

Blackberry Kir
*
Corn soup
Fresh baked bread
*
Pumpkins stuffed with wild mushrooms, barley and herbs with walnut and tahini yoghurt.
Autumn salad leaves with sprouted seeds & mustard seed dressing
*
Apple cake with almonds and rosehip cream.

£17.50 Book online or call Zoe on 01297 631113

Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society are seeking a volunteer/s to work with the committee to coordinate the Annual Show. The work is interesting and certainly not dull and is an opportunity to meet many of our members.  Knowledge of gardening is not necessary but plenty of enthusiasm is essential for this stimulating and rewarding role that has the full backing and support of the Committee. If you would like to discuss this with the Chairman please phone Jenny Harding on 01297 444034

Please pass on the above request to any non members you may think are interested.  To continue with the show we do need some new volunteers so please do consider it.

Best wishes

Jenny Harding (Chairman)

PS   The next monthly talk is on Sept 26^th (Wed) at 7.30pm  ‘How hedgehogs can save the world (and help in the garden as well)‘ by Hugh Warwick. For more information about Hugh and his work, visit www.urchin.info

– members free and non members £2.

An event that may interest members, including a talk by Anna Pavord, of “Tulip” fame

Friday 22nd June – Sunday 24th June – All God’s Gifts

• Friday 22nd June 7.30pm Concert in St Peter’s Church EXULTATE
• Saturday 23rd June 10am- 5pm St Peter’s Church FLOWER FESTIVAL
  10.30am – 5pm Cream Teas, Coffee & Snacks in Rectory Garden
  3pm GUIDED WALK around Portesham
  7:30pm BULB a talk by Anna Pavord in St Peter’s Church
• Sunday 24th June 10.30am SERVICE in St Peter’s Church
  Noon: Church open for FLOWER FESTIVAL
  2pm –5.30pm OPEN GARDENS
  2pm – 5pm Cream Teas & Cakes in Rectory Garden
  4.30pm Grand Raffle Prize Draw in Rectory Garden

More details of all these events can be found at www.portesham.org.uk

Tickets available from Liz Draper 01305 871316

An invitation to visit 14 real village gardens

SUNDAY 10th June from 1pm to 6pm

Free Parking and Toilets at Drimpton Village Hall in the centre of the village (DT8 3RF)

£3.50 descriptive brochure (on sale at participating gardens) covers entry to all the gardens.

Look for the Daisy signs.

REFRESHMENTS and PLANT SALES

To raise funds for the refurbishment of the Village Hall

Review of the Barn Dance, Saturday January 28th 2012

Once again we had a total sellout for this event.

I must congratulate the Long Odds and Short Straws Band for getting us dancing straight away. We ‘Split the Willow’ and ‘Dosey Do’ed all evening with great aplomb and more than a few collisions. Some dancers clearly knew what they were doing but others, like me, hadn’t got a clue. Still it didn’t seem to matter.

The only break from the dancing was for the food. And what wonderful food it was. Congratulations to Pam and her team for serving up such a delicious meal.

They will be back, by popular demand, next year. But be warned, buy your tickets early because they sell out very quickly.

Many thanks to everyone concerned for a marvellous evening.

Jenny O.