Food on the agenda

I managed to join part of the Food Group Strategy group meeting chaired by Transition Stroud which is a mix of folk including Down to Earth Coop, local farmers, academics, councillors and more. Stroudco Foodhub were also represented - do look them up if you don't know about them - Gerb from the Farmers Market was also there. Anyway the turn out to the meeting was low but the group was looking to see how they could gain support to develop a local food strategy - already groundwork has been done but funding is needed. I'm hoping the District Council will look to support some of this as there is a clear benefit to local businesses, health and much more....

Anyway if you are interested in joining to get in touch with Transition Stroud. Meanwhile take action to tackle the supermarkets - as Action Aid write: "Supermarkets make billions in profits, but many of the people in poor countries – mostly women – who produce the fruit and veg that stocks their shelves work in shocking conditions for extremely low pay. But years of our campaigning have resulted in a massive victory. The government is just about to introduce a watchdog to push supermarkets to play fair in the UK, and overseas.  But we must make sure the watchdog can bring supermarkets to heel – this means the power to fine from day one."

This is an issue returned to many times on this blog - please join me in signing the letter at: http://www.actionaid.org.uk/103341/supermarket_watchdog_campaign.html

Gold for 'Stroud in Bloom'

Well done to all organisers - it was also great to see that the judges wrote: “Stroud has even pre-empted the RHS theme for 2013 Edible Gardens. Where Stroud leads the RHS follows!”

See more about the Edible Gardens project by Transition Stroud at: http://www.edibleopengardens.org.uk/

See films from last year and this at: http://stroudcommunity.tv/tag/edible-open-gardens/

Pam Warhurst: How we can eat our landscapes

Inspiring talk on edible landscapes...

Four Edible Open Gardens films I've put together

Here are four films from the Edible Open Gardens weekend...

The first looks at a garden in Chalford and talks about Permaculture, Forest Gardening, mushrooms and edible flowers: http://stroudcommunity.tv/edible-open-gardens-2012-film-one-lean-house/

Next is the Permaculture workshop - a short introduction to what permaculture is all about:
http://stroudcommunity.tv/edible-open-gardens-2012-film-two-permaculture/

Third is a very short film highlighting the County Coppice Group:
http://stroudcommunity.tv/edible-open-gardens-2012-film-three-county-coppice-group/

Lastly a great little film - edited by me but filmed by Helen Royall that looks at how to make a Polytunnel:
http://stroudcommunity.tv/edible-open-gardens-2012-film-four-how-to-make-a-polytunnel/

More coming soonish!

Edible Gardens success

Photo yesterday by Maggie Booth

This weekend I was fortunate to go around to quite a few of the wonderful gardens and workshops - all open for free - if you missed the project see my earlier blog here.  Numbers look set to be up on last year - I will put together some films of some of the gardens/workshops but with work commitments i suspect it will be a wee while before they are available...

At our Whiteshill and Ruscombe allotments yesterday I met the Chair of Stroud in Bloom - he had given the judges an edible garden programme and one of them commented 'Where Stroud leads others will follow!' Indeed! Next year the national 'in Bloom' team are planning on an edible theme - this could be a fantastic opportunity for Transition Stroud to reach a wider group of people....we'll see...indeed we have a meeting tonight of Transition Council then more of a party on Wednesday for all those who opened their garden....hopefully a chance to discuss how we can make it even better in the future....

Edible Gardens opening for free!

Transition Stroud's Edible Open Gardens weekends 7-8th July and 14-15th July

Over 40 edible gardens and allotments will be opening free to the public plus 10 free workshops to encourage people to grow and learn more about food. There will be vegetables, fruit, herb and kitchen gardens, chicken keepers, pigs and more in various communities including Stroud, Whiteshill, Stonehouse, Bisley and Horsley. The gardeners will be available to share their knowledge and passion for growing. See films of last years event here and more about this year here: http://www.edibleopengardens.org.uk/

Here's some of the quotes we are using to publicise the event:

Helen Pitel, one of the organisers said: 'If you are thinking of growing food at home and are not sure how to make use of a steep garden, then the Open Edible Gardens days will give you inpsiration, ideas and encouragement. There are steep gardens to be seen in Nailsworth, Chalford, Thrupp, Whiteshill and Horsley. Lean House  in Chalford is the steepest vegetable garden I have ever seen - it is almost unbelievable!'

Helen Royall,  coordinator of the event and Transition Stroud member said: "This is a chance to celebrate some of our wonderfully productive gardens and local food growing projects in the Stroud Valleys. We want to see if we can reach lots of people who have never grown veg before."

Gardeners Question Time on Stroud FM this Friday

Food prices rising

Philip Booth, Stroud District councillor for Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe, who has been part of the planning, added: "Annual food inflation is now at 6% and squeezing people on lower incomes. Our food system is staggeringly inefficient and heavily dependent upon oil, at a time when the production of energy from fossil fuels is on the decline. Britain only grows 60% of our food and we are subject to world price volatility and a financial system where bankers not growers rule. Nine million Brits (out of 60m) say they garden. With this Edible Open Gardens project we hope to all learn lots and inspire more local food production at a lower environmental cost than the supermarkets."

Free Composting Workshop Wednesday

Wednesday 28^th March 2012 1.30- 2.30pm / 4 – 5pm

Come and learn all about composting! SVP’s Get Growing project is running 2 free composting workshops in partnership with Down to Earth Co-operative. I have been tiold there are still several places available on this course - Amanda is excellent - see her on video at the Edible Open Gardens workshop: http://stroudcommunity.tv/edible-open-gardens-how-to-compost/

Facilitated by Down to Earth’s expert community gardener and composter, Amanda Godber, participants will get a chance to learn everything they need to know about setting up and managing a composting system. They will be able to see an up and running productive compost scheme and get background information regarding what & what not to put in including specific advice for composting in schools. There will also be an opportunity to ask lots of questions and discuss any composting queries.

Location: Thrupp Allotments
Meeting Point: Entrance to allotments
Cost : Free, donations welcomed, and tea and Coffee will be available
BOOKING ESSENTIAL - so we can communicate with you should there be any change of plan.
Please contact: Tamsin Bent or Emily Janke-Pearson 01453 753358

Winterfest film and what Transition Stroud is about

Here's a video by Eric Wilkinson with editing by me - it celebrates Transition Stroud and related projects. Winterfest was a day of stalls, bicycle servicing, storytelling and entertainment in an empty shop on Saturday 3rd November in Stroud. This film has short interviews with people involved in the projects and gives a flavour of what Transition Stroud is about.

Blog Action Day: food growing links

Today is Blog Action Day on Food. Since 2007, Blog Action Day has focused bloggers around the world to blog about one important global topic on the same day. Past topics have included water, climate change and poverty.Well the day gives me an excuse to revisit our Edible Open Gardens project. It was so successful this year that already plans are afoot for next year.

Our videos of the day have also still getting lots of views - see them here if you haven't yet - several people have passed me links to other useful websites so here goes - thanks to Helen, Jim, Roxanne and The Ruscombe Dreamer for these:

Facebook Backyard and Garden farming, smallholding, homesteading and foraging.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/Backyardfarming/?id=10150373919798619

Eat Weeds - foraging for wild food - an excellent site:
http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/

Self Sufficientish - Forum and huge wealth of information:
http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/

Downsizer - aimed at providing info to those on a journey to live more simply and sustainably:
http://www.downsizer.net/

Composting advice - hot and cold:
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/composting/compost_2.php

10 Rules for Composting:
http://www.nannypro.com/blog/10-rules-to-remember-about-composting/ 

The film 'Our Daily Bread' - it is very moving, horrific and powerful and enough to make anyone think about where their food comes from: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxlquoyqU7M 

And here's an article re storing food which looks at the Mormons policies and how that appears to have led to food waste:
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/blogs/transition-voice/2011-09-16/who-s-storing-food-now

Transition Stroud AGM

A couple of weeks ago we had our Transition Stroud AGM and it was great to hear about all the progress - and some great cakes to eat!! I've played a role in developing a number of the projects like this years' first Stroud Potato Day and the Edible Open Gardens project which saw workshops and 37 open gardens - plus the fourth Eco-Renovation Open Homes this September and getting Energy Monitors into Glos libraries. Stroud Pound has also been making it's mark and for the first time we have a Development Worker two days a week developing Transition and the StroudCo Food Hub - see more about that exciting project here. See more at:
http://www.transitionstroud.org/

It was good to read The Independent and their good article about why the Transition movement is so important. See here or click read more to see it.

Transition Network newsletter is out

The October issue of the Transition Network newsletter is out - see it here:
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/news/2011-10-06/october-2011-transition-network-newsletter

It is the newsletter's third birthday and features a number of videos that I have put together re the Edible Open Gardens and Eco-Renovation Open Homes event. The newsletter is as always full of inspiring events and projects from around the world - well worth a look.

Stroud Mayor at Festival of Nature which included renewable installers fair

Stroud FM: Gardeners Question Time

It is now Eco-Renovation Open Homes weekend which I am rushing off to help organise - but earlier this year as part of the Edible Open Gardens weekend we organised a Gardeners Question Time on Stroud FM. Well here is a summary of the answers given by Helen Pitel, Jane Brown and Ellen Winter who were our resident experts on the show and Amanda Godber our gardening advisor. You can see the videos of the weekend here and more about the weekend at: http://edibleopengardens.org.uk/

Update Sept 2011: Follow this link, press play, and you can hear the first hour of our
Gardeners' Question Time show recorded earlier this year: http://podcasts.canstream.co.uk/stroud/index.php?cat=The%20Transition%20Show 

1. I have tried year after year for about eleven years to grow parsnips but alas they never germinate, and I have read the books and followed the suggestions, and I've tried in different locations: Bristol, Gloucester and Cainscross. What could be the key thing that I am missing, apart from luck?   

Must have fresh seed from freshly opened packet /sow thinkly / slow to germinate, label them and add date / sew with radishes then you can see them / need thinning / could be problem with slugs / sew in toilet rolls (put screwed up newspaper in bottom, fill with earth. Can be put into ground and toilet roll will decompose) / Water trench/ground before seeds sown and keep moist.

Click Read more to see the other questions

Stroud's Edible Open Gardens: the videos

I've been meaning to blog here the 5 videos we made regarding the Edible Open Garden event last month - plus the one about our allotments. I am still getting lots of positive feedback about the event - the main video has had over 340 views but actually one of the Edible Open Garden organisers likes the second look best of all. Certainly Cyril's photos are great in it.

Photo: press coverage of the event

Stroud's Edible Open Gardens weekend taster video - meet some of the people, 37 gardens and workshops: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk0NVJ2orNM

A second look at some of Stroud's Edible Open Gardens with some great photos by Cyril Laffort and others plus a few video clips: http://youtu.be/jqoKH8Wu8yY

Composting demonstration workshop from Stroud's Edible Open Gardens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z8ALUtNt2w

Chicken Keeping workshop at Stroud's Edible Open Gardens weekend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slpg0DE_jMY
 

Edible Open Gardens launch before weekend: a talk with local food organisations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBSlhrGMYWI 

Whiteshill and Ruscombe Allotments - The movie! See the opening of this wonderful new community project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmveLQNX3E 

European Food Sovereignty movement

I saw a while back that the Women's Environmental Movement (WEN) and War on Want are interested in supporting a European Food Sovereignty movement. This is all about taking back control of food and agricultural processes through grassroots action and linking up with ordinary citizens in the global South.

The movement ties in with other groups around the world fighting to democratise food and agricultural systems. This all sounds good stuff - and fits with alot of what many of us are trying to achieve locally - the recent Edible Open Gardens was about trying to encourage more people to grow their own food - see more about why we opened the gardens here.

The food sovereignty movement is framed around six key (and totally sensible) principles, established by citizens worldwide and named after a legendary Malian peasant woman farmer, Nyelini. For more information about this new project click here: http://nyeleni2011.net/

WEN write: "It sounds ambitious – but it’s not impossible. At the launch of the UK side of the movement last month, Canadian activists explained how they created Canada’s first-ever citizen-led national food policy, despite having only one paid member of staff with the bulk of the work carried out by ordinary citizens giving their time for free. They gained a lot of media exposure, are now taken seriously by government agencies, and are beginning to exert leverage when it comes to food issues."

This project deserves lots of support so please give consideration to supporting it.

YouTube: second film of inspirational gardens from Edible Open Gardens weekend

This is the second film I've put together about Stroud's Edible Open Gardens with photos and some video clips of the gardens and people who made it possible. See also the films I made of the workshops on chicken keeping and composting plus the launch film with clips about various good organisations in Stroud (see 'Videos' in headline above).

Ex-Mayor and now Independent District Councillor, Andy Reed, sent me this comment on the event: "Just to say fabulous edible garden weekend - congrats to all involved. Have posted two articles on my blog gushing praise - everyone we spoke to said it was fab. Have added a link to your vid which I enjoyed. Guerilla gardens in Washpool was cool. Sugley farm was divine. The Italian garden in Stroud shows what can be grown with lots of practice! Do it all again next year please - you can quote me on that!" See his blogs on the weekend here and here.

Stroud's Edible Open Gardens Composting demo on video

Here is the latest film I've put together from film clips of this workshop. The need to grow more food locally was again brought home to me in an Observer article last weekend here.

Average supermarket baskets are up 6% on last year and rising much faster here than any other rich country (double US and EU!). It seems supermarkets who control 80% of food sales are taking advantage of consumers here - less than 25% of the rise is due to commodity price rises. On top of that the news is that cereal prices are expected to be at least 20% higher than the last decade while meat will be 30% higher. The Government has argued food prices will remain low but the latest trends call for a significant rethink with as always the poor being hit hardest.

YouTube: Stroud's Edible Open Gardens' 'Chicken Keeping workshop' highlights.

Apols if editing loses some of the info and sense but it was hard to distill a fascinating 45 mins into ten minutes. This was one of the various free workshops over the weekend of Transition Stroud's Edible Open Gardens weekend. 

See more about the weekend and meet many of the participants on another video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk0NVJ2orNM
See also launch video with stalls and interviews with various local food organisations: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBSlhrGMYWI

Highlights of Stroud's Edible Open Gardens weekend

A look at Transition Stroud's Edible Open Gardens weekend - meeting some of the people and a taster of some of the 37 gardens and workshops last weekend. We can't possibly show all the wonders and hope to produce a couple more YouTubes with more video clips and photos available soon. Please do let us know if there are mistakes or omissions as this has been hurriedly put together from numerous video clips. Click on the YouTube symbol to open in YouTube. See also here the launch weekend video with various food organisations.

Fantastic day in Edible Open Gardens

See programme for tomorrow here:
http://edibleopengardens.org.uk/

Yes I have had lots of fun and learnt lots about food growing - the heavy rain may have discouraged some but there was still a very steady flow of visitors to the gardens and allotments - and when the sun came out many people seemed to appear. I loved the hospitality of all the garden owners and willingness to share - hopefully a Youtube will be on it's way in the coming couple of weeks.

Already people are asking if we will organise again next year!  We will see - we have one more day to go and then a party for garden owners to share their experiences but certainly today has been a wonderful celebration of food growing.

Photos: top from Summer Street Allotments and bottom from Bisley Old Road Allotments

Why we need to grow more food locally

Last weekend we made a video of the Edible Open Gardens launch - see here - this weekend the 37 edible gardens will be open - see here. I can't wait - but this blog has a video made for Transition Forest Row looking at the need to grow more food locally and some of the different ways that can happen in a community. Similar to our video it includes CSA farms and more.