Notcutts, St Albans What's On May 2008 - June 2008 For a full programme of events throughout the year pick up a What's On leaflet from the garden centre. 2008 Charity We are delighted to announce that Guide Dogs for the Blind is our company charity for 2008, look out for fund-raising events at the centre throughout the year. Meet the expert – Saturday 10th May – from 10.30 – 4.30pm - FREE! Garden Writer Gareth Salter will demonstrate how to make the most of your Kitchen Garden. Lots of veggie information plus how to plant up Kitchen Garden containers. Look Out for Wildlife – Sunday 25th May – 10.30am to 4.30pm - FREE! Celebrate with Notcutts the wonderful wildlife that can be found in the English countryside and our gardens. Learn lots of little creature facts with Science Boffins and see Jan with his wonderful birds of prey. Celebrate 40 years of Butterfly Conservation and meet other wildlife organisations. RSPB, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust volunteers and Guide Dogs for the Blind will also be on-hand. Look Out for Wildlife Calling all children – enter Notcutts Wildlife competition for your chance to win a Bird Box Camera for your school and £50 in wildlife products for you. All you have to do is to paint or draw pictures of wildlife and bring them into the garden centre to be displayed. The winner will be announced at the end of May.     Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust – Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th June Volunteers will be on-hand to explain their valuable work.

News May 2008 - June 2008   BEETROOT JUICE SALES SOAR Sales of beetroot juice, both in the restaurant and shop, are soaring at Notcutts since the media reported that drinking 500ml of beetroot juice a day can significantly reduce blood pressure. “We realised that we were constantly replenishing stocks of James White Beetroot Juice,” says Mark Skinner, garden centre manager. “James White juices always sell well but we were surprised that we were ordering far more of the beetroot variety and the reason is that people have discovered that it helps to cut blood pressure. “The key beneficial ingredient appears to be nitrate, which is also found in green, leafy vegetables,” continues Mark. “We are finding that more and more customers want to grow their own vegetables, whether it be in containers, their gardens or on allotments, that we have significantly increased our kitchen garden range to meet that demand. Some people don’t like germinating their own seeds, some people want just a few plants and others lose seedlings to the elements or pests and so they come into the garden centre to buy established plants in the kitchen garden range. Coupled with the huge range of seeds we stock, there is something for the novice to the most experienced vegetable grower.” “Beetroot is so easy to grow and now is the time to plant it. There are so many delicious recipes you can create using beetroot, but if you don’t want to grow them yourselves then the garden centre has beetroot juice,” says Mark. Researchers discovered that in healthy volunteers blood pressure was reduced within an hour of drinking the juice. The study, by Barts and The London School of Medicine and the Peninsula Medical School, could suggest a low-cost way to treat hypertension. Previously, the protective effects of vegetable-rich diets have been attributed to their antioxidant vitamin content. Professor Amrita Ahluwalia of Barts and The London School of Medicine says, “Drinking beetroot juice, or consuming other nitrate-rich vegetables, might be a simple way to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system.” (source BBC news website). Image by Mike Hammett WATCH THE BIRDIE – WIN A CAMERA For a chance to win a Bird Box Camera for their school and £50 worth of wildlife products for themselves, children can enter Notcutts ‘Look Out for Wildlife’ competition. All children have to do is to paint or draw pictures of wildlife and bring them into the garden centre to be displayed. The winner will be announced at the end of May and children can visit the garden centre in half term to see the pictures entered into the competition. On Sunday 25th May from 10.30am to 4.30pm the garden centre is organising a free wildlife day. The Science Boffins will be demonstrating lots of creature facts about butterflies, ladybirds, ants and other garden bugs and Jan will be visiting with his fantastic birds of prey, along with other wildlife organisations, for Notcutts’ ‘Look Out for Wildlife’ event. The Guide Dogs for The Blind Association, will also be visiting the garden centre. There will be lots of free to enter competitions with some great prizes to be won including an exclusive family outing to the Guide Dogs breeding establishment. As The Guide Dogs for The Blind Association is Notcutts chosen charity this year there will be a special wildlife treasure hunt map at £1 a go (proceeds to Guide Dogs) with the prize being the exclusive family visit. “As our customers, and particularly children, are very interested in wildlife we often organise wildlife days in school holidays,” says garden centre manager, Mark Skinner. “There was so much interest in the bird box cameras last year, with some of the garden centres actually having nests in their boxes, that we thought it would make an excellent prize for schools. The bird box camera is just one of 460 wildlife products we stock, so there’s something for everyone.” NOTCUTTS CHOOSE GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND AS THEIR 2008 CHARITY Notcutts has chosen Guide Dogs for The Blind Association as their 2008 charity. Guide Dogs will benefit from all fundraising at the St Albans garden centre. February half term, Wednesday 13th February from 10.30am to 4.30pm, will see the official launch of the fundraising with Guide Dog puppies, their handlers and GDBA volunteers in the garden centre talking to customers about the organisation and its work. The What-a-Doodle puppet theatre will also be entertaining in the garden centre, with shows at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, plus there will be fun competitions to enter. “Guide Dogs have worked with Notcutts in helping to build up some very successful All About Dogs Days at other Notcutts garden centres,” says garden centre manager Mark Skinner. “The organisation was so professional and supportive at these events that we all voted to work with them in 2008 and extend our support to fundraising across the group. “During the year the money from our wishing well and fundraising within the garden centre will all be for the benefit of Guide Dogs,” continues Mark. “This activity will all be complemented with regular visits by Guide Dogs volunteers and their puppies and dogs. We have always found that such visits are a hit with customers who have a warm spot for the adorable dogs.”

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