WEGA Wishes you a Happy New Year and all the very best for 2021!


Planting spring bulbs at Blackpit Lane Site – 2 household ‘bubbles’

National lockdown – January 2021. Can we carry on?

Another year dawns, and the light at the end of the tunnel keeps disappearing. As of 5th January, we’re back where we were last March, and more worryingly, the new strain of the virus is apparently spreading a lot faster than the old one. On the plus side, the Covid 19 vaccine is being rolled out and while this will make a difference long-term, it will take many months before we can feel safe just going about our everyday lives. So, if the general rule is that we must all stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives, what …
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”I have had an allotment at the Ward End Gardeners Association in Birmingham now for several years. It has been a lifeline during lockdown where I have been able to come as part of daily exercise allowance” – Allotment Holder

Can I firstly give you a hearty welcome you to the website of the Ward End Gardeners Association (WEGA) – a Birmingham allotment association which manages 5 sites in Ward End, B8. The first aim of this website is to tell newcomers all about our beautiful sites in the heart of Birmingham, where they are, what they have to offer, how much they cost and how to rent one. You can explore the menu on the left hand side to view the comprehensive information that we have provided. We invite you to do so.

The second aim is to serve as a community hub, as a repository for the sharing of information and for plot holders to raise issues, to contribute ideas or to help with the overall management of our facilities. There is also a “members only” forum where you can raise your issues . If you are a plot holder, we encourage you to join the forum and contribute!

The association is voluntarily and democratically run entirely by the plot holders themselves. Everyone is welcome to contribute ideas and help if you feel inclined to do so. There are many things to get involved with from helping with site maintenance, administration or contributing for fundraisers and events



Christmas is coming!

The days are getting shorter, it’s damp if not raining, dark and with all the restrictions in place, you’d be forgiven for having the winter blues. Cheer up, brighten up your days with Christmassy things and plan for next year’s blooms, eats and treats. Gifts for loved ones – or ...
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National Covid 19 restrictions from 5 November

Source: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus From Thursday 5th November until Wednesday 2nd December 2020, there are new restrictions on movement and day-to-day contact with other people because of the rapidly rising numbers of Covid-19 cases across the UK. The aim of these new measures is to reduce the growth rate of the virus, ...
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Vacant plot – Are you the one to make it bloom again?

Unlike some sites in Birmingham, Ward End Gardeners Association sites are not full and don’t have waiting lists. At least they don’t at the moment, but things are changing since lots more people have discovered the joys of gardening during the Covid 19 lock-down. Currently all our five sites have ...
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New Allotment Year starts 1st October – and time to pay for your plot!

It’s no accident that for gardeners, the year starts now, not January. And that’s because this is the most important season when it comes to developing a fine garden and producing wonderful vegetables, fruit and flowers. Just published is a survey by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS -www.rhs.org.uk/press/releases/RHS-launches-Grow-at-Home-this-autumn ) which ...
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Autumn Starts

You’re a new plotholder fired up and wanting to get something into the ground? Or you’ve had a plot for a while and want to organise it for year-round production to keep your kitchen stocked with fresh fruit and veg. Any which way, the question is: is there anything I ...
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What you can do with your produce

Everyone has different reasons for wanting to have an allotment, but for most, it’s the prospect of growing your own fruit and vegetables which appeals. “They taste different” is the comment allotment holders get most when their friends and neighbours try their tomatoes or strawberries or potatoes. Or “I’ve never ...
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National Allotment Week Get Together 2020

We couldn’t let National Allotment Week go by without doing something, so at Northleigh Road site in Ward End, Birmingham, we organised last minute a get-together-and-jobs day just for plotholders and their families on Saturday 15th August. More chatting, eating and drinking than anything else, it was a chance to ...
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WARNING – HEAT EXHAUSTION

With temperatures soaring this week and heat waves becoming more common, plotholders need to be aware of the dangers of over-doing it when it’s very hot. Yesterday one of our members at Northleigh Road, Ward End, Birmingham, had heat exhaustion after spending all day on her plot weeding and tending ...
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National Allotments Week!

10 to 16 August 2020 This year the National Allotment Society is celebrating National Allotments Week by sharing the allotment stories of plot-holders, across the UK, who enjoy growing food for health and well-being. The stories are being entered into a competition, winners to be announced on 10th August – ...
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Diverse Garden Project

Another new venture is about to start at our hideaway site – St.Margarets Road. This is the smallest of the Ward End Gardeners Association sites in East Birmingham, but it’s packing a punch with all the developments there. This is the result of the partnership between the Association and Unity ...
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Create your oasis of peace

Allotments are hard work. There is no doubt about that. But they do not have to be punishing. A friend once said that his allotment had become an intolerable labour camp! One of the major reasons that people give up on allotments, is because they feel they have become unmanageable, ...
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Mobile gardens

You've heard of roof gardens, vertical gardens, water gardens, indoor/outdoor gardens. So why not mobile gardens? ones that you can take with you for a bit of instant green therapy wherever you are. Here's a couple of examples from the Gardeners World Live Show in 2019 where there was a ...
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Sowing seeds for the future – Diggers instead of Digitisers

How many of us older folks bemoan the time that youngsters spend on their mobiles and video games?  Back in the good old days, we say, kids used to be outdoors playing and finding out what the real world was all about.     But if you watch young children who haven’t ...
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St Margarets Rd Allotment Site revival

A year ago, St Margarets Rd Allotments, the smallest of our five allotment sites in Ward End, Birmingham, only had 6 plotholders and just over a third of its 22 plots occupied.   The site has no signboard and is near enough invisible as it’s accessed by an unsightly track between ...
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The Coronavirus Lockdown – gardening opportunities at home with WhatsApp

our Grow Your Own at Home Lockdown kit Daily life has changed for all of us, some more than most, and being in social isolation can be grim if you can’t do all the things you’re used to. For people with allotments who are used to the outdoors and the ...
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Coronavirus crisis: Going to your plot – yes or no?

You can’t move for information, advice and instructions at the moment, but a lot of them are general and it’s hard to take in when you’re thinking – Does this really apply to me? Quite a few of us plotholders are over 70, or have health problems of one sort ...
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The association is voluntarily and democratically run entirely by the plot holders themselves. Everyone is welcome to contribute ideas and help if you feel inclined to do so. There are many things to get involved with from helping with site maintenance, administration or contributing for fundraisers and events

Tackling Trash

Rubbish dumped anywhere and everywhere around our streets is nothing new: we see it every day. It’s one of the ...
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Last Orders for Seeds!

In case you haven’t heard on the grapevine, it’s your last chance today (October 25th) to place an order through ...
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MP’s Visit to St Margarets Road Allotment Site

On 1st September 2020 Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne paid a visit to one of the Ward End Gardeners Association ...
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Plot Inspections

As part of the Committee’s efforts to improve the sites we manage, plot inspections are starting this weekend 8th/9th August ...
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Graham Smith Funeral

For those of you who have not been told, the funeral of Graham Smith formerly of Black Pit Lane, will ...
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Graham Smith – A sad loss

Members at Black Pit Lane site have been shocked and saddened this week at the sudden and unexpected death of ...
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One down, 91 up?

It takes many years, sometime centuries for a tree to reach maturity.  Yet someone with a chain saw can fell ...
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WEGA Facilities and Stores update

Since the Government imposed further restrictions to prevent Coronavirus from spreading so rapidly, we've been advised to close and limit ...
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An upside to social distancing?

A big plus for Ward End Gardeners Association allotment holders – and anyone else with an allotment – is the ...
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Coronovirus epidemic – is there anything positive to report?

When so much of the news is bad, and some of it is very bad indeed, it’s still possible to ...
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Coronavirus crisis: Going to your plot – yes or no?

You can’t move for information, advice and instructions at the moment, but a lot of them are general and it’s ...
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Bulletin – Coronavirus

Advice is arriving thick and fast, changing daily even hourly, about how we cope with the coronavirus pandemic. So how ...
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Lime Tree Rd Clear-up

In between the storms and floods, the big clear-up at our second biggest site has begun, with a few plotholders ...
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Fairholme Rd Site Clear-Up

Plotholders at one of the two small sites run by Ward End Gardeners Association have been in over-drive this week ...
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National Allotment Society Meeting

This is being held at 2pm on Saturday 15th February 2020 at St. Giles' Church Hall, Vicarage Lane, Ash Green, ...
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Veolia grants update

In September last year the Association was lucky enough to be awarded two Veolia Envirogrants for 2 of their sites ...
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Apple flapjacks with cinnamon – healthy snacks from windfalls

The oats in Flapjacks give them a reputation for being a healthy snack and energy booster, particularly in cold weather, ...
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Tomatoes – a taste of summer

There’s nothing better to make you appreciate the joys of growing your own than picking a fresh tomato off the ...
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Gazpacho – Spanish style tomatoes & cucumbers

If you have a bumper tomato crop, how about trying a traditional Spanish dish called Gazpacho. This is a cold ...
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Preserving Courgettes

Once you’ve tried lots of recipes for using fresh courgettes, you may still have some left, and they don’t keep ...
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Courgettes in breads and cakes

If you’re not a fan of sickly sweet cakes which are high in sugar and fat, why not try cooking ...
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Courgettes – You can almost watch ‘em growing

August is the time of courgette gluts! Once they get going, you can pick one a day from some plants, ...
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Pumpkin treats

Pumpkin treat - savoury Pumpkin Scones This recipe makes scones with a difference – savoury, no sugar and with the ...
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Chick Pea Soup with Chard

About this recipe:  Chard is such a brilliant vegetable, easy to grow and it just keeps going through the winter ...
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Beetroot – Superfood

Beetroot If your only experience of beetroot is in salads with vinegar, then a beetroot glut on your allotment is ...
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Pancake day special

Here's a pancake day special supper you can cook up from allotment ingredients, as recommended by Vanessa, who used to ...
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Beetroot Soups

Borscht (Beetroot soup) Not every year is a good year for beetroot, but when it grows well, you’re going to ...
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Parsnip Soups

Yummy Parsnip Soup There are two main ways to make a soup featuring parsnips.  The quickest and most straight-forward generally ...
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