Page 50 - BR October 2023 (1)

October 2023 October 2023
BERE REGIS THOSE BYGONE DAYS A GARDENING CLUB

PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION

We have been feeling the heat this month.
(A trip down memory lane seen through the lens of a camera) Another weather record broken!. After that wet
July and August it was great to just feel the sun
This month sees a fantastic photo Exhibition of Old Bere Regis on Saturday 28 on your back but it was out with the Garden hoses and summer clothes. I even
th
October at the Village Hall in North Street between 10am - 6pm went down to Ringstead, sat on the beach and went for a swim.
Mark Bennett has specially produced a brilliant souvenir booklet of this exhibition After all our wildlife talks this year we have had the best year for numbers of
and they will be on sale. butterflies according to the national Butterfly count. My garden was buzzing with
them and loads of brown grasshoppers. I have a wildlife garden but it may be just
Many photos from Mark and Paul’s collections will take you on a journey back in laziness in not cutting the grass enough. It’s been too hot to cut grass for the last
time to the Bere Regis of yester year when the horses and carts travelled the roads two weeks. Now I have no choice but to do it today before it rains.
and bread was baked in the village.
It seems we are getting normal autumn weather. By the time you read this
There will be Refreshments and a wonderful opportunity to learn about how the Michaelmas with have come and gone and the devil will have spat on the
village used to be in those Bygone days.
blackberries.
Offers of help with refreshment or stewarding please phone 01929 472023
I was told about a very heavily laden damson tree in the allotments and went
Admission is £3 and children free down and harvested a few. I think a few gallons of damson gin will have been
made. I have some in the deep freezer for damson chutney and have made
Raising funds for Bere Regis Village Hall. damson jam.
We met at the Sports club in September and Steve Jeffries came and gave us a
talk on shrubs for everyone. He has had fifty years experience in growing shrubs
and the twenty four members (and two dogs) who turned up, were treated to his
wisdom. I made a few notes. Do not prune shrubs in autumn but in the spring. It
stops disease getting in and stimulates
growth in the spring. Do not waste
time and water watering, use a ‘soak
a hose.’ Peat free compost is now a
reality or will be next year. It often
looks dry but test it underneath and it
is often quite damp. Overwatering is a
common problem. The best peat free
tub and Basket compost is something
called silver mix. Just remember that
Acers like Shade. He bought several
shrubs with him and I was particularly
impressed with the white ‘Strong
Annabel Hydrangea.
Next month 3 October we are holding our annual Harvest Supper and to assist
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with the catering I have booked Bloxworth Village Social Club. I know it is out of
the village but there is parking and no stairs. This is a one off experiment but will

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