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Produce available this week
We have a number of fine young sunflower heads to give away or for
donation. These are fab little flowers mostly from multiple head plants.
Please get in touch if you would like a bunch of these, we have about
20 to donate to a local cause or harvest festival.
Note for October. We do have late french beans, courgette and runner
beans, keep ordering as these are often put aside for box customers and
may not be taken out on the barrow.
VEGETABLES:
NEW - chestnuts, gathered from Bradbourne Lane. Ask for a recipe.
Soya - ask for a sample
French Beans are back for a limited time and only to order
Courgettes (Round),
onions,
marrows,
Potatoes 'BINTJE' - mixed size as they come or ask for ....
very small potatoes 'BINTJE' - for roasting whole or....
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.
Parsnips
French Beans (late crop - few, only to order)
Leeks
Baby Leeks
Baby carrots
Spanish round peppers (few left - best to order)
Chestnuts from Bradbourne Lane
Soya
HERBS: All best to order
Rosemary,
Old English Mint,
Coriander seeds
Chives
OTHER: All best to order
Oilseed Rape seeds,
Sunflower seeds,
Bamboo clumps for planting as an attractive barrier 'hedge' - email bamboo@communigrow.org
Leek seeds
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Planting & Harvesting Sessions this week, the 6th October to 11th October
Monday 6th - N/A
Tuesday 7th 10am until 3pm
Wednesday 8th - 10am until 3pm
Thursday 9th N/A
Friday 10th 12noon - dusk
Saturday 11th 11am - dusk
Saturday 18th October - A Friends of Communigrow Open Day
- cooking with veg picked from the plot with our (basic) field kitchen
and developing this as a regular event with clay oven etc. Another
chance to try pumpkin delicacies 'Nature's Golden Orb' and
more seasonal stuff including chestnuts, leeks and the mass of
potatoes. Also a chance to try our own soya beans - now past the green
'Edamame' stage and nicely drying for storage through the winter.
Please come rain or shine and if you know you will be coming and what you can do please email us at kitchen@communigrow.org so we know numbers.
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continued ...... The story so far... and yet so near! the Larkfield and Ditton Local Food campaign and project Communigrow
'Empowerment through Local Food'
All we needed were people. That's where we are today, building on
local interest .... and setting out plans through support of the
Plunkett Foundation and the School for Social Entrepreneurs (see below) .
Local people are fab and once wheeling the barrow around the houses we
found instant interest without explanation nor incentive. Every single
person we met has been an inspiration. So we held our series of three
open days at the plot, start our membership (our 'Friends of
Communigrow' and set out for registration as a Charitable Incorporated
Organisation with specific objectives in the field for Education,
training and skillshare in food, farming through social enterprise.
More 'Friends of Communigrow' are needed (see below if you may like to help us by being a 'supporter' - the more the merrier).
The School for Social Entrepreneurs and the group of 20
like-minded individuals on the Lloyds Bank sponsored start-up course has
been a real boost. With a host of assisted learning to encourage
confidence in our enterprises and 'witness' examples to show how much
may be achieved when focused to a clear ambition of improving society in
modest yet significant ways.
Back in April of 2013 I also applied to the Plunkett Foundation for some
guidance in what we were doing on the field. Their advice through
support for community enterprise suggested we may have a problem with
just the 2 acres we had available back then and although their figures
don't really bring craft into the equation and, surprisingly, don't
integrate education outside of volunteer land based experiences as a
function into their model for CSA. I felt they had a very knowledgeable
point based on their many years of helping groups such as ourselves and
so with their help I set about discussions over the whole field which
has been cut for hay for many years. This is an ambiguous move.
Essential if we are ever to make the idea of serious growing feasible.
Planning for this is complex. We would not want to upset neighbours nor
simply leave ground to grow weeds. One thing is certain - we do need
more tunnels. Plastic seems to cover half of kent and is one of the few
ways to extend the growing season so some well sited modest sized
tunnels are important along with cloches which are mini tunnels placed
over particular beds when needed. Beyond that we have some limit to how
we grow and so we shall need to diversify to ensure we always have
something to offer. Funky crops are a good solution and with a few
trials like the soya we can soon have quality foods people seldom have
the chance to eat from a walking distance though this point applies to
many of the foods we now grow, even potatoes!
So this brings us round to the true nature of a plot. By introducing an
education factor in local sourcing, health and an active lifestyle,
nutrition and eating more fresh vegetables we can take on a different
function to the normal market garden and this is now central to our
objective as a charity. More on this at a future date.
So our cropping plan is developing. Herbs will play a major role with
boundary planting of several hundred metres along with 4 types of
potatoes, 6 types of pumpkin, courgette and other 'Squash' and the
perfection of carrot growing, both standard and heritage varieties
despite the prevalence of the dreaded 'Root Fly' that renders 50% of
what we currently grow as unsalable. It is through the veg that we have
found so much local support for the objectives we are aiming for and our
aims must remain on this focus
These include:
- A new productive market garden with varied cropping and production plan
- Incorporate sustainable techniques with extensive use of 'No Dig' and 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.
If anyone is able to help us plan the new planting please get in touch, email 2015@communigrow.org.
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Transition Network is a
charitable organisation whose role is to inspire, encourage, connect,
support and train communities as they self-organise around the
Transition model, creating initiatives that rebuild resilience and
reduce CO2 emissions.
Ultimately it’s about
creating a healthy human culture, one that meets our needs for
community, livelihoods and fun. We’re here to support you.
We shall soon have a few copies of the 'Transition Free Press' available for a donation of £2 to cover costs. To order email laurence@communigrow.org.
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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
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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
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Case study
Norwich FarmShare
Joining Norwich FarmShare isn’t
just about buying vegetables. We’re a community of people from Norwich
and the surrounding area working together to think differently about our
food.
Being a member gets you more than your vegetables. We give you a say in how your food is grown.
You’ll be invited to our social events and asked to join us for our workdays on the farm. You get to try the delicious recipes we
find for you- and tell us about your favourites too. You can learn new
skills or get a chance to get your hands dirty if you don’t have space
to grow at home. If you’ve got children, you can teach them first-hand
where their food comes from.
- Our delicious seasonal food is harvested each week at our farm at Postwick
- The
harvest is picked on the day and delivered to the FarmShare Food Hub at
Unit 6, Beckham Place (Off Edward Street), Norwich, NR3 3DZ – ready to
be picked up by members between 4-6.30pm
- We offer three sizes of vegetable share, to suit any size of household.
- We also offer seasonal fruit and free-range eggs.
- Members
come to the Food Hub to weigh out their weekly share, and get the
chance to meet other like-minded members of the community for a chat.
- OR, for a small supplement, members can have their food delivered safely to their doorsteps by our cycle delivery team.
You can join at any time and leave at any time- but our members who’ve
been with us for more than a year tell us it’s really special to see how
the crops change over the course of a year, from the glorious gluts of
summer to the pinch of the hungry gap in April and May. This means that
you’ll get different amounts of different types of veg all through the
year – and we work carefully with other local growers to make sure
you’ll always have a good selection in your share.
Helping with the work
Our
growers James & Rosalind are supported by volunteers. There’s
always lots to do on the farm and we need plenty of willing hands.
As
a community supported agriculture scheme we ask that, for each
vegetable share taken up, you also contribute a minimum of nine hours
of work throughout the year. You can do your shifts either by helping
out on the farm on Wednesday any time between 10am and 4pm
(April-October), helping with the harvest Thursdays 10am-1pm (all year
round) or come to any of our work days (last
Saturday of every month) throughout the year. If physical work on the
farm is difficult for you, we can offer other opportunities; just let us know and we’ll see what we can sort out.
Ready to sign up? Brilliant! It’s quick, easy and all online.
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Recipe for Pumpkin Pie
1 Deep short crust pastry case (unbaked)
1 medium pumpkin cleaned and baked @ 170’c for 45 minutes or until soft and left to cool.
Remove from skin and mash into a puree.
Mix together 3 beaten eggs with 200ml Evaporated Milk with 165g sugar
and a ground spice mix of 1 tsp cinnamon, half tsp ginger and half tsp
of nutmeg with half tsp of salt.
Add the pumpkin puree.
Place into the deep pastry case and bake at 180’c for 50 to 60 minutes until firm and set.
Thanks to Lin Atkinson for sharing her recipe
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
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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.
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Our Field Kitchen - Saturday 18th October
From horse box to kitchen, the idea is to have a way to cook on site and
maybe also take it out and about showing people how to cook innovative
dishes and the benefits of fresh food over mass produced processed and
packaged meals. We may one day have a bicycle version.
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 part of this 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 Soya and now chestnuts and the standard potatoes.
More on this next week.
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