Get Growing Trail 2015
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BRISTOL FOOD NETWORK Bristol’s local food update2015 community project news · courses · publications · events march–april Get Growing Trail 2015 Spring is coming! All my shiny new veg seed packets are We are getting going with this year’s n Get more people involved with optimistically lined-up, and ‘Get Growing Garden Trail’ – our growing their own food, either through of course it’s hailing outside! 5th annual community garden open volunteering or education. weekend, to be held over 6–7 June. Spring is a great time to get If your project has not signed-up yet, or others involved with growing Last year the Trail saw 33 productive you would like to talk through what taking too, and we have some exciting sites open their gates to the public. part entails, please contact Caitlyn Jones new initiatives and events Groups taking part included community ([email protected]) or Jane coming up, which can help us orchards and gardens, allotments and Stevenson. There is no cost to take part in the Trail! You can choose your opening do more of that. Let’s get even smallholdings, city farms and market gardens. Sites ranged in size from Grow hours – anything from a couple of hours more of Bristol growing. Bristol’s experimental aquaponics and up to the whole weekend. Groups will Please email any suggestions for the hydroponics, housed within a shipping benefit from the shared spotlights of the May–June newsletter by 13 April to: container on the former Diesel site at Trail, Big Green Week, the Chelsea Fringe, [email protected]. Temple Meads, up to Feed Bristol’s and Bristol European Green Capital 2015 – 8 acres of wildlife-friendly veg growing so if that doesn’t bring in the volunteers, in Stapleton. My highlights of 2014 I don’t know what will! included the exuberant polytunnel veg We would like groups to register an at Let’s Grow! in Knowle, the extra cute expression of interest to take part by pygmy goats at Bramble Farm, and the 6 March, with a final deadline for secret garden being reclaimed from the inclusion in the printed guide of 27 March. undergrowth at Blaise Castle. Bristol’s local food update is produced There will be a pre-Trail evening get- by Bristol Food Network CIC, with support The main aims of the Trail are to: together for participating groups in May. from Bristol City Council. n Showcase different ways of organising If you are involved in other food activities Bristol Food Network CIC supports, informs and connects individuals, community communal growing and harvesting, so such as foraging, cooking, education, projects, organisations and businesses new growers can see what would suit etc, or if you have a growing-type project who share a vision to transform Bristol them. To either get involved with that you’d like to get off-the-ground, please into a sustainable food city. project, or to take the model away to get in touch and we’ll try to make the right Registered office: 7 Queen Square, Bristol BS1 4JE set up something similar elsewhere connections. A Community Interest Company, Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England and Wales. n Enable participating projects to recruit Jane Stevenson Registration no. 8838348. volunteers and members [email protected] Making Things Happen in Greater Bedminster Ben Barker This is an invitation to the Bristol Food Network to come to Bedminster during Make Sunday Special in Chelsea Fringe 2015 and beyond. Groups in BS3 will be Bedminster The alternative garden promoting a wide range of activities. Until now these events have been Here are three examples. festival restricted to the city centre. In 2015 they will also take place in four off-centre 16 May–7 June 2015 Let’s Walk Bedminster venues including Bedminster. The theme Now in its fourth year, the Chelsea for our day is Sports, Games and Exercise, Fringe has established an international This is a Green Capital strategic project but that does not mean that food related reputation as an alternative gardening to redress the environmental balance activities cannot be represented. We will festival in the UK and beyond – towards pedestrians, especially older, be closing the lower end of North Street celebrating everything from guerilla disabled and very young people who (between Greville Road and Cannon gardening, community projects, are discriminated against by the current Street) to traffic as well as using local large-scale installations, performance situation. We will be clearing obstacles green spaces such as Dame Emily Park. art, food events, street happenings, from pavements and improving the look We think that the date will be 14 June, but performances and much more in of streets with planting, art work, signage this has yet to be confirmed by Bristol City between. It’s an open-access fringe etc. We are also interested in better Council. Local food outlets will be open festival, which means that if it’s about walking destinations including green and there will be lots of opportunities to plants, gardens, flowers or landscape, space improvements. meet and engage with local people around and it’s interesting or original and wider food issues. quirky – then it’s in. Bedminster Skills Week We have an open-access platform and our team of friendly volunteers We started this as an experiment in 2014 will help facilitate and advise by inviting organisations and individuals individuals and groups in the to propose a ‘skill’ that they might creation of exciting and innovative present. Our task was to bundle these up horticultural interventions, community and publicize them. We ended up with Greater Bedminster Community initiatives, art happenings, walks, about 100 skills ranging from learn the Partnership, c/o Southville Centre, talks, exhibitions and other events. ukulele to join a tapestry group and help Beauley Road, BS3 1QG Participants are exciting, original, make a wildlife garden. We are doing it eclectic, inclusive and push the again in May (9–17). We found that it’s an www.southvillecentre.org.uk/news-2/ boundaries of what is usually effective way to raise public awareness projects.html considered appropriate in garden/ and recruit new participants. We are If you are interested in finding out more landscape design. assembling this year’s programme now, about these or other events in BS3, so don’t delay. contact [email protected] This years festival runs from May 16 to June 7: that’s 22 days, four weekends and one Bank Holiday Monday to fill with exciting gardening projects and events. At this stage we are inviting individuals and organisations, first- timers and Fringe veterans, to register their interest and to discuss what they might like to do. Please get in touch with us via email: chelsea.fringe. [email protected] if you would like to be involved and do forward this on to anyone else who you think might be interested. ChelseaFringe.com @chelseafringe ← North Street road closure. 2 bristol’S locAL FOOD UPDATE · MARCH–APRIL 2015 Hobbs House Bakers Carol Stephenson of Leigh Court Farm Luke Hassell of The Story Group Local producers come together to offer a fresh approach to food shopping Florence Batten-Turner For the first time, dozens of farmers, with supermarkets on some fresh produce fishermen, makers and bakers in and that proves the savings available each around Bristol are selling and delivering week. their fresh local produce to homes and By reducing food miles, cutting out offices at least twice a week in all BS the middle men and delivering food postcodes via fresh-range.com. immediately, fresh-range virtually This is a very new kind of food shopping eliminates the need for physical stores experience for Bristol and Bath. The and so can keep the cost down for fresh-range online store makes it easy for customers. To fill any availability gaps out with our organic chicken, lamb and pork. customers to choose the freshest foods of season, imported fresh food is marked It’s brilliant that customers can buy from direct from local producers, and have with a globe stamp, for full provenance so many local producers like us all in one them delivered to their door. Food with transparency. place like this.” the fresh-range stamp is baked, caught, fresh-range offers an exceptional range Delivery starts at only £1, in sustainable cooked, cut, laid, picked or produced just of unique food and drink from dozens of packaging that keeps food fresh until you before being delivered. local, often award-winning, producers at want to unpack it. Chilled foods come Whilst The Guardian reported in January lower and fairer prices. Organic and non- packed in recyclable outer cardboard 2015 that supermarkets are paying some organic produce is on offer and includes packaging insulated with Woolcool lining. UK dairy farmers as little as 19p a litre, meat from The Story Organic, fruit and This is British sheep’s wool that farmers local producers earn the majority of the vegetables from Leigh Court Farm, freshly otherwise struggle to find a market for. retail price on fresh-range.com. Midway baked bread from Hobbs House Bakery, Outer packaging is reused and recycled up Dairy in Somerset and Somerset Dairy salad leaves from The Severn Project, milk to six times. This is one of the ways that using Godminster Farm’s organic milk in from Midway Farm Dairy and much, much fresh-range keeps its delivery prices and Bruton both receive more than double this more. carbon footprint low. amount. You can read details of where every piece Anna Herbert from Hobbs House Bakery Founder Rich Osborn says: “It’s all about of meat, egg or dairy product comes from says “We are so pleased to be working the freshest possible food, transparency to discover more about the practices of with fresh-range, we believe that our and value.