Food Group
Following the meeting on the 30th January we now have a list of veg to grow from seed including dwarf french beans, swiss ‘rainbow’ chard, tumbling tomatoes, chillis, climbing french beans. Seeds like salads and beetroot will be sown direct into the soil. Like last year there will be strawberries, herbs and marigolds for colour. This year we are also planting up the big round bed on the corner of Tesco Express. The plan is to have a wigwam of climbing french beans in the middle with all the other veg around it.
The seeds will be ready to plant out at the beginning of May after the last frosts.
Planting the Village Vegetables June 2011
Planting in the Street
Ashtead Apple Juice
In October 2011 we had another successful Apple Day event at the APMH. We had the demonstration apple press and also collected an amazing half tonne of apples! These we took to be commercially pressed, pasturised and bottled. The resulting juice was delicious, we designed our own ‘Ashtead Apple Juice’ label and sold all the 258 bottles within 2 weeks! The profit went towards the ‘Village Vegetable’ fund. A huge thank you to everyone who donated their apples.
Yummy juice!
Garden Share Scheme
The idea is that anyone who has a garden with space to spare and who doesn’t have the time or energy to use it all but would like to see the land put to good growing use, can be ‘matched’ with someone who doesn’t have a garden or space to grow any vegetables.
We already have the offer a piece of land which will be suitable for at least a couple of gardeners! If you want to grow vegetables this year please register with us for the opportunity to get gardening. For novice vegetable growers, don’t worry there are plenty of enthusiastic gardeners in the Transition Group who would be delighted to help with advice. And don’t forget the garden owner may well have grown veggies in the past but can’t manage to now, and they could be full of great advice and tips for successful growing.
There is much more information in the Guidance Notes which should answer any questions you have about the scheme. If you want to register either fill in the Gardener Registration form or Garden Owner Registration form. We have included a Garden Share Conditions for the matched owners and gardeners to agree beforehand. We suggest that there is an initial meeting between the parties to discuss the conditions and to see whether you think it will work for both of you as don’t forget this is a commitment on both sides.
If you have any further questions or want to send in completed forms please email foodgroup@ transitionashtead.org.uk
Other Aims
The Food Group wants to promote growing and buying local produce and also encouraging biodiversity by:
- Let the grass verges grow long which is beneficial to wildlife
- Planting more trees and hedges
- Finding sites for bee keeping
If you would like to get involved with The Food Group, please give Caroline Cardew-Smith our Secretary a ring on 01372 275304 E-mail foodgroup@ transitionashtead.org.uk, or come along to one of the Transition Ashtead Open meetings on the 2nd Thursday of the month at the Marshall Room, Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall, 7.30-9.00pm
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