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Working towards a sustainable Ashtead
Let’s get stuck in!
It’s that time of year again already! Christmas is just around the corner, another year has zipped by and it’s time once again to get the presents and food in.
We’ve been talking a lot about food at our Transition Ashtead meetings lately and decided that a top priority for us is to set up a Food Group to run several food-related schemes. The aim would be to promote more local food growing, put people in touch with local food producers, and to reduce food miles and food carbon footprint. We’ve been encouraged by Transition Dorking’s progress towards restoring the community orchard at Ranmore. The Council has provided some land for the project and Transition Dorking plan to use it sustainably to grow fruit trees. There is also the newly-established community garden in Leatherhead, at the Scout Hut site in Woodbridge Grove – another scheme supported by the Council. These are terrific projects and it would be wonderful to see similar things happening here in Ashtead. A Transition Ashtead Food Group could also organise garden sharing – matching people with gardens they can’t cultivate themselves with those wanting to “grow their own”. The idea would be for the “growers” to share some of the produce with the “sharers” in a mutually beneficial system. Vegetable Gardens in schools – the Food Group could offer expertise and labour to local schools wanting to promote fruit and vegetable growing in school gardens, encouraging children to see fruit and veg as an integral part of their diet.
The Food Group could organise fruit sharing and juicing, sharing fruit in abundant years, buy a fruit press for communal use, and encourage fruit tree planting.
Blackberry picking could become a regular Ashtead event, with a picnic and jam-making sessions.
For any of this to happen, though, we need people to join the Food Group! I am personally very much in the mood for growing food – I have recently taken up an allotment on the Leatherhead site. I would have liked a plot in Ashtead but there were over 40 people on the waiting list ahead of me, so it would have been a long wait. (See Chris’s Allotment blog on the Transition Ashtead web site to see how I’m getting on!) The long waiting list shows there are lots of people in Ashtead keen to “grow their own” but without the means to get stuck in. I’m lucky enough to have a garden at home for some veg growing but I’ve run out of space, hence my expansion onto the allotment.
I love eating the veg I’ve grown – I know it’s fresh, it’s organic, it hasn’t travelled far and I grew it! Marvellous! I’m saving a home-grown butternut squash to have roasted with our Christmas dinner. If eating food you have had a hand in growing appeals to you, if you would be interested in any of the proposed projects or you have any more ideas, get in touch with us today and get stuck in to the Food Group!
Stop press! On Monday 30th November at 8pm we have an expert in PERMACULTURE AND BIODYNAMICS coming to give practical help on how to use your garden. The meeting is in the Ralli Room at The Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall in Woodfield Lane. It’s a chance to meet us, get some useful advice on your garden, and enjoy homemade cakes 
. See our website or posters for more details.
Merry Christmas from all at Transition Ashtead!
Are you growing your own veg already? – share your gardening tips with me at chris@transitionashtead.org.uk I look forward to hearing from you.
For more information about Transition Ashtead, see our website at www.TransitionAshtead.org.uk
Contact our Secretary Derek Smith on 01372 378914
or email info@transitionashtead.org.uk
From Transition Ashtead, http://transitionashtead.org.uk , 17th August 2009
Working Towards a Sustainable Ashtead
The Power of Community -
How Small Steps Can Make a Big Difference
Transition Town Ashtead, the project working towards a sustainable Ashtead will hold their second open meeting on Monday 24th August, 8pm at The Brewery Inn, Ashtead. The topic for discussion will be “Peak Oil and what it means for Ashtead”. This will be a sociable and interactive evening, everyone is very welcome to attend.
Peak oil refers to the year when world oil production starts to decline. Why does peak oil matter? Well, just about everything we use every day is made from oil: plastic, candles, sticky tape, trainer shoes, lycra socks, glue, paints, varnish, foam mattresses, carpets, nylon, polyester, CDs, DVDs, plastic bottles, contact lenses, hair gel, brushes, toothbrushes, rubber gloves, washing bowls, electric sockets, plugs, shoe polish, furniture wax, computers, printers, candles, bags, coats, bubble wrap, bicycle pumps, fruit juice containers, credit cards, loft insulation, PVC windows, shopping bags, lipstick….and that’s just some of the things made directly from oil, not those that needed fossil fuels and the energy they consume in their manufacture (which is pretty much everything). Globally we now discover only 1 barrel of oil for every 6 that we use therefore cheap oil will soon no longer be sustainable.
Ed Milliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, wrote “The Transition Towns movement shows our message can be about green hope, not green despair: we can help people shift from cars to bicycles and public transport, not by finger-wagging but by making the low-carbon choice the easy choice, such as through improving bike storage at stations. We can make the argument that the transition to renewable power is not just good for climate change but can hold back a rising dependence on gas imports from abroad”.
Barry Smale, chair of Transition Ashtead said “it’s very encouraging to see the interest from our local community with people keen to get involved in practical solutions including local food production, reducing energy use, recycling and supporting local business”.
There are now over 190 towns worldwide registered as Transition Towns including
neighbouring towns Kingston and Dorking. Transition town Ashtead is a community
group working together to develop a low carbon, sustainable and resilient future for the town.
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Email: info@transitionashtead.org.uk
