Trustees Wanted!

YACIO are looking to add new Trustees to help manage the Allotments.

This role is voluntary and requires you to be available to attend evening meetings once a month and help oversee the organisation.

If you think you have the time, skills and expertise to offer please send expressions of interest by email to contact@yorkallotments.org before the end of June.

For further details please visit:

www.yorkallotments.org/new-trustees

Updated Tenancy Agreement

In order to bring the Tenancy Agreement up to date YACIO has made a few changes to the Terms and Conditions set out as standard for all of our Tenancies.

A summary of the changes is as follows:

Clause 1 – Your deposit may be withheld if the plot is not in a lettable condition when your tenancy ends.

Clause 3 – YACIO’s policy on antisocial and abusive behaviour has been clarified.

Clause 5 – Confusing wording has been amended. (Fruit Trees can be pruned without permission, all other trees still require permission.)

Clause 8 – Hedges and fences should not exceed 1.5m. Tenants should gradually reduce the height of existing boundaries where this limit is exceeded.

Clause 9 – No barbed wire is to be used anywhere on the allotments.

Clause 10 – No sprinklers should ever be used for watering crops and water supplies should only be used for watering crops.

These changes will come into force from the 1st January 2021. Payment of your annual invoice (sent to you by post in January) will be deemed acceptance of the new terms and conditions. If you feel for any reason that you are unable to comply with these amendments then please let us know as soon as possible that you wish to terminate your tenancy as of 31st December 2020.

Updated YACIO Tenant Agreement Terms and Conditions 2021

Acomb’s Hidden Gem

Green Lane Growers have prepared this wonderful video about the Green Lane Allotments as their entry for the NSALG Allotments Week competition.  Check it out!

If you are interested in getting an allotment of your own and joining an allotment community you can add your name to the waiting list for up to three sites on our application page.

York Allotments April Nature Notes – by Sara Robin

It is fantastic that we can visit our allotments and keep growing while the lock down continues. I am based on Scarcroft allotments and here are some nature notes of what I and other people have been seeing on the site. No doubt similar wildlife will be turning up on allotments all over York. It would be great if people’s sightings could be recorded on this Butterfly Conservation website.  Even the smallest bug or worm will have a part to play and an interesting life cycle. Now we have a bit more time to stand and stare, check out what lives in your compost bin, amongst the leaf litter or what birds are visiting your plot. I’ll start off with some butterfly updates.

Butterflies on Scarcroft have come out of hibernation, so spring is definitely coming.  As the next few days will be chilly so we may not see them but keep a look out when it warms up again. In my garden and on the allotment last week, I have seen lots of Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies and a couple of Brimstones. More information can be found on the Butterfly Conservation website https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies

Small Tortoiseshell
Peacock

Both the Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies lay their eggs on nettles so if you have some in a sunny position don’t dig them up, just keep an eye open for eggs and caterpillars. The Brimstone’s food plant is Alder Buckthorn which I have on my allotment and I did once have their green caterpillars on it so fingers crossed for this year.

Brimstone
Orange Tip

Another fairly early butterfly I haven’t seen yet is the Orange Tip, the name is a bit of a clue and the males have lovely orange ends to their wings. One of their food plants is Jack by the Hedge or Garlic Mustard which is found along our paths and on some allotments.

Garlic Mustard

 

COVID-19

Updated July 2021

The Lockdown in England has lifted but we still need to take care and think about those that are clinically vulnerable to the disease.

Covid -19 – The virus that causes COVID 19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks.  Some droplets are too heavy to hang in the air and they quickly fall and contaminate floors and surfaces. Other smaller airborne particles can remain in the air for some time. You can be infected by breathing in the virus if you are within close proximity of a person who has Covid-19.

Click Here to read English Government advice about staying safe and helping to prevent the spread of Covid 19, the advice below is based on the English government advice.

HANDS: FACE: SPACE: FRESH AIR

How can I ensure my family’s and everyone else’s safety at the plot?

Do not attend the plot if you have coronavirus symptoms or a family member is self-isolating, this includes people who need to isolate after returning from holidays abroad.

Continue to sanitise or wash hands regularly, especially before and after touching communal items such as the gate lock. Do not wash your hands in water troughs

I am self-isolating or quarantining and cannot go to the allotment and worried about losing my plot, what should I do?

Please make sure that you inform us if you are unable to visit the site, preferably in writing, so that they can make allowances for your situation.