Communigrow weekly news - help wanted this week - from monday 23rd March, also vacancy for an education co-ordinator and our crowd fund

help wanted this week ...... from MONDAY 23rd March Monday - 12 until 6pm Tuesday -  N/A Wednesday - 2pm until 6pm Thursday - N/A Friday - 2pm until 6pm 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 - all help appreciated at this vital time of the year Many thanks for your help in advance. Tasks this week include..... Sowing - Onions and Carrots (go together as companion planted bedss Sowing - garlic Sowing - potato sowing - squash and pumpkin, courgettes Solar tunnel - base preparation for 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. 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.

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........

another case study...... Sydenham Garden was set up with the main purpose of helping those in our local community coping with or recovering from significant illness. Sydenham Gardens Resource Centre, 28a Wynell Road, London, SE23 2LW Patients are referred to the project through their GP or key worker and when at the project are known as “co-workers”; working alongside centre staff and other volunteers. Co-workers have the opportunity to work either in the community garden and nature reserve or with our Art and Craft group. Although some opt to do both! We make every effort to cater for the individual’s physical abilities as much as possible and tasks in the garden can range from light activities such as sowing seeds in pots, to heavier work such as digging or bricklaying. We also provide accredited training and help with progression to further education, volunteering opportunities or reemployment. The charity’s co-workers also have an active part in the development of the community garden and in the shaping of the project as a whole. Many also get involved in our very popular community events. Regular social events, group trips to other community projects and visits to places of interest are also an important part of the co-worker experience at Sydenham Garden. If you think you would like to join us as a co-worker, please have a look at our leaflet. www.sydenhamgarden.org.uk/uploads/ About Us Founded in 2002, Sydenham Garden is a growing, award-winning, registered charity involved in improving the health and well-being of residents living in Lewisham and Bromley. We provide gardening and creative opportunities for co-workers (the name the project gives to our primary beneficiaries) referred from over 30 community organisations and health sector agencies. We have developed an integrative approach where those with different degrees of mental and physical ill health come together with volunteers and members of the local community. This approach aims to reduce exclusion and the prejudice which fuels continuing lack of opportunity for many of our beneficiaries. As a user-centred service, co-workers and volunteers are very much involved in our decision-making processes and service delivery approach. In 2009, we had a record number of over 60 co-workers regularly attending the project, with over 50 co-workers, volunteers and local people achieving Open College Network qualifications. We are currently developing a significant expansion of training and work experience opportunities in the form of a market garden social enterprise. As local support continues to grow for the charity and its invaluable work in the community, over 1500 visitors attended our ever-popular seasonal events last year. We are always striving to be as inclusive and accessible to the community as possible. Co-worker Activities Co-workers take part in a range of therapeutic gardening or Art and Craft activities, depending on their interests. Co-workers set medium and long term goals (activity and health or social) and seek to achieve these during their sessions. Garden sessions begin with the co-workers, volunteers and staff deciding what needs doing and tasks are allotted depending upon individuals’ goals. Art and Craft sessions take place in a group and individuals complete projects such as card making, painting, felt making etc. Throughout the year co-workers have a chance to complete accredited training courses – we have run Level 1 and Level 2 Gardening courses, Level 2 Ecology and Conservation, Level 2 Felt Making, Mosaic Making and Batik / Tie Dye. find out more about this fab project at www.sydenhamgarden.org.uk

Mainstream agricultural research and development tries to solve farmers’ problems with top-down, chemical and energy-intensive inventions. FarmHack seeks to solve problems by helping our community of farmers to be better inventors, developing tools that fit the scale and their ethics of our sustainable family farms http://farmhack.net/