OUR WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE - help wanted this week - from monday 16th March, also vacancy for an education co-ordinator and our crowd fund

help wanted this week

Monday - 12 until 6pm
Tuesday - 12 until 6pm
Wednesday - 2pm until 6pm
Thursday - N/A
Friday - N/A

Saturday - from 10am at our food and craft fair, The Festival of Fairtrade and Local at the church centre, Ditton

then after from at the field - by special arrangement (Darren)

Many thanks for your help in advance.

Tasks this week include.....

Sowing - Tomato & peppers
Sowing - carrots & onions & garlic
Sowing - potato

Solar tunnel - base preparation fro completion early april

Please contact to be sure of arrangements - we are on a private estate and public may be challenged by security.

Best drop in times are normally Tuesday, Friday and Saturday afternoons only.

Education Co-ordinator .......

needed part time for our charity

Education co-ordinator for all the field sessions needed. Ideal for local applicants of some professional teacher/charity educational background.

It shall be voluntary to start, part time to suit applicant and later we hope to have funding in place soonish. We shall be happy to put whatever it takes into attracting the right person.

Must be skilled and experienced in running gardening/growing/farming/environmental sessions for schools and groups. Forest School may be useful as would conservation.

Further details on application to our steering group. email education@communigrow.org

As our vision is for a healthier, more balanced society through 'learning, teaching,sharing' applicants need to have some community engagement skills and knowledge of the local area with schools and groups, parish councils and general networks.

www.Communigrow.org

for more information on our education work go CLICK HERE to go to http://communigrowcsakent.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/learning-teaching-sharing-over-5-acres.html

DONATE to our work

We desperately need your old seeds, pots and trays to plant up for this season. As you can imagine with that much ground to cover we need a lot!

You Donate direct via our Charities Aid Foundation page HERE: (https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/donatesteps.aspx?beneficiarycampaignid=3255)
Thanks in advance

NEWS

Produce available this week

NOTE, we are currently still in winter mode so our seasonal veg is very limited.

News: Eggs will be back this week. Orchard Eggs produce Biodynamic eggs of superior quality and very high 'Scratch' level.

VEGETABLES:

sorry to say our pumpkins have finally finished

Potatoes 'BINTJE' - mixed size as they come or ask for ....
very small potatoes 'BINTJE' - for roasting whole or....
large potatoes 'BINTJE' - for baking

spinach

Greens (broccoli greens)


Purple sprouting Broccoli

Leeks
Baby Leeks

HERBS:
Rosemary,

OTHER:
Bamboo clumps for planting as an attractive barrier 'hedge' - email bamboo@communigrow.org


We are currently sowing Carrots, garlic, onions, lettuce, salad leaf, spring onions, cabbage, brussels, parsnips, perpetual spinach, giant leaf spinach, giant leaf basil, beetroot, broccoli, mint, coriander, parsley, artichoke, rhubarb, kale, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, squash, tomatillo, sage, rosemery cuttings, blackcurrant cuttings, willow cuttings. Celery.

We need help to organise. This may be for education or for the Community Supported Agriculture, growing or simply buying our veg (the best way you may help us).

Thanks to Brett for the hard work  on our new logo........

The story so far... and yet so near! the Larkfield and Ditton Local Food campaign and project Communigrow

Learning - 'Zones'

http://www.lexiconofsustainability.com/

.... We also provide a community function, helping people get out and active - to get interested in a local charity. 

Our three thoughts on food .... 'learning, teaching, sharing',

Looking over examples of what other projects do it is easy to see that food can be a great way to involve people into our growing project. Not only do we not wish to simply produce lots of food, and then sell it but we'd like to help all those involved - from landlord to consumer - to consider how we may all contribute to the learning potential a plot of land, the environment we live in and the community as a whole may offer.
Freeing ourselves from the normal farmer shackles, as many small scale growing projects do quite successfully, means that we could offer many ways within the larger area we now have. Lots of 'spaces' for all sorts of routes to learning experiences. These spaces may be simply the larger beds for growing in volume and we place little elements within. The 'No Dig' system lends itself to this form of tiered structure. Or setting aside certain areas, or zones, dedicated to learning alone which may be focussed on a particular style, or several elements within one.
One of the best examples of the options we need to decide comes with the thoughts on further polytunnels.
Our current one is small and weather beaten. It also suffers from tunnel 'burn', that is the ground is parched by years of sunlight intensified by the plastic and confined space free from the rain. We are unlikely to be able to function without at least 3 larger ones.
These make great learning spaces protected from the weather and the seasons to some degree. Also they provide the resources we need to propagate and enlarge our variety of plants as reduced cost from seed which is also the basis of the learning, experience and fun!

Next time.... more on teaching within the field itself

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.