Potato Plus day 2008

Dear Members, due to the malice of inanimate objects i.e. my email packing up just before Potato Day I was unable to personally thank you all for the hard work and dedication that you put in before, during and after the event. Thanks Judith for saying it for me. Without all the unpaid hours of hard graft and supply of equipment and expertise we’d have had no chance of it being such a resounding success yet again. So well done everyone - give yourselves a pat on the back.

Numbers were up again and we had a lot of kids which was very pleasing - nice to get hold of the next generation of gardeners - who had great fun with their activities. The cookery demo and Dave Catt and Steve Elves tastings both were very popular. We had a few problems with some of the stands turning up late due to roads being shut due to accidents and illnesses but they all were very happy with the way the day went and want to come back again. David Banks efforts on the PR paid off - having someone in sole charge made all the difference - he made sure we didn’t miss a trick. And it was great that Dave Allan did a live spot on the BBC Radio Scotland Potting Shed. I think that we’ll be really on the map as a gardening event next year!

A discussion on how to improve the 2009 event even further is now underway. Don’t be shy if you’ve any thoughts or new ideas for us. I shall start on the layout for 2009 in September in order to get the stands booked from November onwards. Some of the food producers who were unable to come this year due to illness should be able to come next year. So I hope to have a more balanced mix of food and non-food in 2009. I would dearly love to get an organic plant nursery on board but we don’t seem to have any locally. Does anyone know of one?

Judith updated our website Potato Plus page. If you’ve got any more pictures please send them in.

A big thank you to all the helpers - I hope we haven’t exhausted you all too much and can count on you again for 2009.

Roberta Carruthers