In this weeks update.... September 29th Produce this week Planting and harvest sessions "The Story so Far" (and yet, so near! - Local Food)

In this weeks update.... Pictorial notes from the field Produce this week Planting and harvest sessions "The Story so Far" (and yet, so near! - Local Food) "Why Education" - questions answered Guardian article on struggles and rewards of local food - The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm  Stroud Community Agriculture Our 'Field Kitchen' and open day on the 18th October

Produce available this week Note for October. We do have late french beans and runner beans, keep ordering as these are often put aside for box customers and not taken out on the barrow. VEGETABLES: NEW - pumpkin as a cut piece. Great for soups and stews, stir fry, roasting, sauce, Ask for a recipe. Courgettes (Round), onions, marrows, Potatoes 'BINTJE' Very small potatoes 'BINTJE' - for roasting whole Large potatoes 'BINTJE' - for baking new crop salad leaves, fine runner beans (no string), long runner beans (to string), spinach, cabbage (best to order), beetroots. French Beans (to order) Leeks Baby Leeks Baby carrots Spanish round peppers (few left - best to order) HERBS: All best to order Rosemary, Old English Mint, Coriander seeds - fab fresh taste from the plot Chives OTHER: All best to order Oilseed Rape seeds, Sunflower heads, wheat heads. Bamboo clumps - email bamboo@communigrow.org Leek seeds

Planting & Harvesting Sessions this week, the 29th September to 4th October Monday 29th - anytime from 11am Tuesday 30th      by arrangement Wednesday 1st - N/A Thursday 2nd    4pm - 7pm Friday 3rd          12noon - dusk  - more potato harvest from 12noon if we have enough people - please help if you can Saturday 4th     11am - dusk Friday 3rd October - potato harvest from 12noon Saturday 4th October - inaugural trustees meeting, contact trustee@communigrow.org for further details Wednesday 8th October - 'Nature's Golden Orb', Exhibition of delicious pumpkin delicacies at Ditton Junior School Saturday 18th October - Friends Open Day - cooking with veg picked from the plot with our (basic) field kitchen. Another chance to try pumpkin delicacies and more. Please come rain or shine

Communigrow special - Ditton Junior School, in the playground at end of the day on Wednesday 8th October.

The story so far... and yet so near! the Larkfield and Ditton Local Food campaign and project Communigrow   'Growing together' I've been asked to write a few lines about the way that we've managed to secure the field for our future. Lucky? I think of it more the process of positive thinking and actions designed through years of varied experiences of many people. The story goes back to 2011 when Student nurse Louise approached Betsy at Joining Hands for her help in starting a community growing project. With Besty's help Louise asked East Malling Research if they may have a small area of land for the idea and, luckily, they said yes, have 2 acres to lease! This was a little beyond the abilities of the project at the time so they set up with limited funds for a third of an acre growing with two local schools and the scouts with help from many individuals. It was a sort of allotment style plot with a poly tunnel and basic facilities. After the grant ran out they were left with little option to carry it on as best they were able but in January 2013 I had heard that the plot was to be returned if they could not find someone to carry it forward, and develop plans for some longer term project on site. As I had been researching Community Supported Agriculture since visiting Stroud CSA (see below) back in 2001 and having been a WWOOF (look it up, fab organisation) volunteer and host it was an idea worth following up. All this was at a point after 5 years of work and very nearly achieving something (but not a lot) at Bostall Woods in Plumstead I found the Communigrow project very interesting and worthy of looking into especially as I needed to get myself fit again after a year of being redundant. Here was a project started, stalled and was now ready to be taken further with an ideal location, climate and back to my roots. East Malling, Ditton and Larkfield each have a great 'village' atmosphere with town cross rural situation, and after trial crops last summer I found the potential was good to great for the natural sort of growing I am interested in. All we needed were people. That's where we are today, building on local interest (I'd given up hope with 'social media' and hopes on distant people, active in this sort of eco thing but all busy doing their own projects) and setting out plans through support of the Plunkett Foundation (see below) and the School for Social Entrepreneurs (see next week's newletter). It is through the veg that we have found so much local support for the objectives we are aiming for. These include: A new viable market garden of volume production with varied cropping and production plan Incorporate sustainable techniques with extensive use of varied cover crops - 'green manure' Produce for a variety of purposes, Ethnic foods, Arts and Crafts, social & horticultural research Create a ‘Local Exchange Trading System’ to maximise fair returns Establish added value enterprises such as bees, oil and associated craft produce from the field Create skills base for educational programme in all operations and social care Install awareness in the health benefits of an active lifestyle Create new habitats for conservation Membership of our new market garden community open to all I would like to thank all who have enabled this to happen. Best to order a Veg Box using the list above as boxes get priority of some of the scarcer veg we grow  - email fresh@communigrow.org or call Laurence on 07806708386. pic - CSA UK is a great recently formed network of Community Supported projects for growing and farming

As a 'Friend' of Communigrow you may express your interests in our charitable project either as a growing plot for fresh fine veg or as a place to learn and have some fun or as a method to explore your own ideas. In future there will be many rewards only available to our friends as they will propel the project forwards. Print out, complete and return to us as an image file, join@communigrow.org, thanks Facebook - Larkfield and Ditton Local Food Website - Communigrow.org We are looking for families who do not currently eat a lot of fresh veg. Over the next year we want to work with a group of families to help them introduce more fresh food and reduce pre-packed and prepared items from their diet. If you know of someone of any age or ability, who you feel may benefit, please do get in touch. Email goodvegclub@communigrow.org   Case study Stroud Community Agriculture All About Stroud Community Agriculture Stroud Community Agriculture Ltd (SCA) is a community-led enterprise, which is developing a local farming business to produce fresh organic/biodynamic produce for its members. Members pay an annual membership and a further payment in order to receive produce including vegetables, pork and beef, and diversifying into other produce. The farm is certified organic and is influenced by biodynamic methods.   Our Principles The guiding principles of Stroud Community Agriculture: The Community Co-operative is bound by a set of principles established by the members at an early public meeting. The principles are: To support organic and biodynamic agriculture. To pioneer a new economic model based on mutual benefit and shared risk and ensure that the farmers have a decent livelihood. To be fully inclusive. Low income shall not exclude anyone. To encourage practical involvement on all levels. To be transparent in all our affairs. To make decisions on the basis of consensus wherever possible. To strive towards social justice. To offer opportunities for learning, therapy and re-connecting with the life of the earth. To network with others to promote community supported agriculture to other communities and farms and share our learning (both economic and farming). To encourage members, in co-operation with the farmers, to use the farm for their individual and social activities and celebrations. To develop a sense of community around the farm. To work co-operatively with other enterprises that share our principles. Our Vision Stroud Community Agriculture (SCA) provides a link between people and farming. It does this by providing an opportunity for people to support and benefit from farm projects in various ways; by paying towards the costs of running farm projects, by receiving a share of the produce by volunteering time to help with farm work and other work linked to the running of SCA, by setting up and attending events linked to the farm, or just by being interested in SCA SCA aims to provide as many people as possible in the Stroud area with opportunities to make these direct links with farming and food. SCA aims to: Pay the people who work on the farm a fair wage Develop a rich variety of crops, livestock and other projects that meet the needs of the farm and the people who support the farm Provide opportunites for as many people as possible to make connections to the farm in whatever ways work for them. Manage the farm in a way that is sensitive to the environment, wildlife and ecological system that the farm is part of Encourage other, similar projects to set up How is SCA organised and how do we operate? Stroud Community Agriculture Ltd is incorporated as Community Co-operative. As a Community Co-operative every member has a vote, which puts everyone on an equal basis. Membership spreads the costs and risks involved in business. Members hold quarterly planning meetings to set the direction for the farm. At an annual general meeting members elect a core group of (currently 8) volunteers to act on the plans set at members meetings. Read the minutes of AGM's. Decisions are usually reached by consensus. The farm business is owned and controlled by the members, who employ the farmers. The farmers are members too, and sit on the core group, although they cannot take decisions about their own pay. Another benefit of the Community Co-operative is that it is possible to raise capital by shares, should we wish to, by allowing investment with a return for investors as a profit-sharing organisation. Although this is not likely to happen, it does mean that it would be possible, for example, to raise money to buy land to set up a land trust. Recipe for Pumpkin Bread (more a loaf or cake than a bread in my eyes) You need about 300g of our local grown communigrow pumpkin, peeled and seeded. Simmer for 15 minutes or until tender enough to puree until smooth, preheat oven to 170'c, gas mark 3. Sift together 225g plain white flour, 1 and half tspoons of baking powder, half tspoon of salt and 2 tspoons of mixed spice. Cream together 115g butter with 175g soft brown sugar until light and fluffy and then beat in slowly 2 whole eggs. Once beaten stir in you cooled pumpkin puree, fold in the flour mix and scatter 25g of pumpkin seeds. Transfer to a greesed (2lb) loaf tin and bake for 1 to one and half hours max until golden brown and check with a skewer into the centre which should come away clean. Turn out, leave to cool and eat! Options include substituting part pieces of walnuts instead of pumpkin seed, honey instead of sugar, cinnamon and ginger, raisins or cloves instead of mixed spice Here is a list of the best uses for pumpkins..... Soup - tremendous. Use with a little cream and it is one of the best soups you could wish for. Pie - blind bake a short crust pie base and see how the pumpkin is transformed with a simple recipe Stews - now if you have never added to a stew do not miss out on one of the seasonal best veggies available. Singularly the greatest addition to any stew when lightly fried beforehand. Stir fry - my personal favourite, 'matchstick' cut and throw in towards the latter stage to maintain the firmness as they will soon go to mush. Pumpkin seeds - never eaten the seeds? try drying in an airing cupboard and then roast, in their 'skin until golden. This is one of the most nutritious seeds there is and is a rich source of zinc, which is particularly important for men. Salads - not a lot of people have tried the shredded pumpkin in a salad but try it. Great with quinoa or grain mix and goes particularly well with pomegranate seeds. A 'super food' mix. and many more ask for our recipes   The Plunkett Foundation   The Plunkett Foundation today is best know for its work helping rural communities to set up and run a range of community-owned co-operatives, including community shops, co-operative pubs and community food enterprises. In 2012 the Plunkett Foundation won the Social Enterprise Supporter of the Year Award for England at the Social Enterprise Awards.  Plunkett was also highly commended in the UK awards. We also work to help promote co-operatives to rural communities for example through the press and media.  We also campaign to make it easier for rural communities to set up community-owned co-operatives, though setting up support and funding programmes and influencing government policy. Our Field Kitchen From horse box to kitchen, the idea is to have a way to cook on site. This may eventually be a valuable resource for events but for now we need tea! One day we may hold workshops and cookery demonstrations but that's after hygiene control have left us all stainless and pennyless. For now it is all experimental. As an experiment we aim to focus our open day on October 18th on cooking the seasons veg picked from the field, prepared and cooked on site. For this time we'll tow it down the field so we may talk about plans and action and will have a double ring burner, flat plate bbq, sink and little else! Cover will be provided by the awning and gazebo. We will also look into the idea of making our own low tech wood fired pizza oven, for future use. If you have an interesting recipe you may like to bring it along to try it out on us all. We shall have cabbage, pumpkin, leek and spinach as 'specials' along with the standard onions and potatoes. We may still have a few peppers. More on this next week.

Read all about CSA's A fantastic article about The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm community supported agriculture initiative from The Guardian, highlighting the importance, struggles and rewards of local food as part of 'Live Better Community Project' month. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/sep/01/writers-community-challenge-how-i-helped-bring-in-the-harvest Why? Education! Needless to say we are all on a learning journey. This may take us in many directions but none is as primary nor as fundamental to our existence than food and it amazes me how interest in food often progress's through life. It feeds our brains as well as our body and so enables us to carry out all the many tasks we take on. So it is often taken for granted. Modern social and economic systems make it possible to learn and experience a range of foods from around the globe. This is a good thing. But there is nothing quite like hands-on experience in cooking, harvesting, growing or sowing seeds and relating to all the many variables that create the ideal and sometimes not so ideal conditions for success. That's part of our aim, to help people of all ages and abilities share our land based experience. With a certified training scheme we can inspire new thoughts on community agriculture and perhaps they then go on to set up more similar projects, I think every town should have at least one! Next week, what is Appropriate Technology? Apologies to all who may not have understood last week about an odd comment made to me. This was directed at the project, which is on East Malling Research and I am trying hard to find out more so we can gauge all opinions of what we do and not only the good, positive ones. There are always things to learn, even from seemingly negative influences. Our location Access is onto the private estate so please do not enter uninvited or without appointment as you may be challenged - we cannot provide an 'open door' to the general public even though we may like to. We welcome all to join as a 'Friend' of the charity Communigrow to avoid all potential problems. We prefer if you can walk or cycle to the plot Exit A20 next to the KIA garage turning into Bradbourne Lane. Pass the Tandoori Palace on your right. As you come down the hill there is a right hand turning into the East Malling Research Institute Grounds. Turn in here and follow the road (Red Line), over the small stream. Pass the cluster of offices on your left until you reach a small white house on your left and the entrance to the Communigrow field (Green triangle) is just past it on the left through the wide gate.