The event took place on Saturday the 5th of Dec 2009 but we had so much to plant that we had to leave the bushes and canes healing on the ground and carried out the planting the following Saturday.

We got a nice selection of apple, pear and plum trees and also a variety of soft fruit bushes i.e. black, red and white currant bushes and raspberry canes.

We introduced the day with the concept of the tree guild. This is a harmonious cooperative association of multifunctional plants around the tree which provide mutual benefit for each other, making less work- and more food and flowers, for the gardener.

Following that model in Spring/Summer will be completing our guilds and will be plating plants around the trees such us bulbs, wild garlic, dill, fennel, bee balm, calendula, nasturtiums, rhubarb, perennial spinach and broccoli; clover, comfrey etc which will attract beneficial insects; increase soil fertility; provide diverse yields of food; reduce human intervention and produce natural mulches.

All in all we had fantastic planting days and it was a nice way of celebrating the National Tree Week!

Blackhorse Action Group Gardening Project –  Food growing and wildlife gardening events

Grow food, learn about wildlife gardening, meet your neighbours, and get your hands dirty!
We invite all local residents to a series of local food growing events on our two new community garden sites near Coppermill Lane.

Various days throughout the year
Free or very low cost
email

Thanks to everyone who showed up for our community garden/harvest celebration on the Douglas Eyre playing fields.
The apple press was a particular hit with the look on some of the kids faces when the juice poured forth worth putting the event on for alone. The BBQ didn’t kill anyone, and the apple bobbing was as ever a reliable bit of fun.

Many residents discussed options for the community garden, including taking part in a PASE exercise.  PASE stands for plant, animal, structure, event – with people writing their choice for each on a post it note (i.e. what events could be held, what animals could be kept, what structure built).

The prize for the most outlandish animal suggestion goes to whoever said we should keep an elephant!

Those not chatting, quaffing juice, or manning the bbq were busy building a compost heap (below).
Made from used palettes – kindly donated from a company down by Tottenham Hale – its a first step towards a working community garden.

By the end of the day, limbs were aching and hands unused to a hard days work blistered but hopefully its the first of many events.

If youre interested in anyway in helping with the community garden whether that’s planning, or the digging when its set up, please email foodgardeningandenvironment@blackhorseactiongroup.org.uk.

Thanks must go to the Hornbeam Centre’s fruitpicking project for the use of their wonderful Apple and Pear press.  For details on how to help out with their project visit the website.

Organiclea is a small food growing cooperative based in Waltham Forest and has recently taken on the Council’s disused glasshouse to create a community plant nursery which will provide a great resource for fresh food, plants and skillsharing.

Come along to one of the monthly Sunday workdays to experience and share the amazing space, learn and share skills, and contribute to the development of the project.

Next workdays are:
Sunday 27 September, 25 October and 22 November
11am-4pm.

The site has indoor space but please dress for the outdoors. Please bring food to share for lunch.

Organiclea
www.organiclea.org.uk

Hawkwood Nursery, Hawkwood Crescent, Chingford E4.
How to get there:
Maps and details at
http://www.organiclea.org.uk/get-in-touch.htm

Transport:
BICYCLE River Lea towpath, exit at Ponders End lock.
TRAIN Ponders End or Chingford stations
BUS 215 313 379

Enquiries: 020 8558 6880 (Hornbeam Centre) / info@organiclea.org.uk

Our FREE gardening workshop was a great success with residents happily planting out their veg and flowers to take away.

BAG applied for a grant to encourage residents to get out and garden, and this was the first event we’ve put on with the money we received.

For more information, to take part or if you have any ideas for future gardening events email Caroline.

More events are planned later in the year and next summer so stay tuned.

Want to grow some food and flowers?

Come to BAG’s first FREE beginners gardening workshop on Sunday the 7th of June.

There will be containers for everyone to plant out with organic vegetables and flowers. Once you’ve finished, take them away and enjoy.

THE WORKSHOP WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE 
DOUGLAS EYRE PLAYING FIELDS, 
2.30-4.30pm.

The Workshop is completely free and open to all, but numbers are limited so please book in advance by emailing Caroline.

The workshop was funded courtesy of Grassroots Grants.

ORGANISED BY BLACKHORSE ACTION GROUP AND ORGANICLEA,

Coming up this Spring:

ALL DAY COURSES

Saturdays – 9.30am-3.30pm (all priced at £21/£5)

- 28 Feb: Designing the garden for vegetables
- 7 March: Common techniques for dealing with pests and diseases
- 4 July: Seed saving from one season to the next

Friday Hill House Learning Centre, Chingford, E4
For booking form: www.walthamforestclass.gov.uk
Call 020 8523 9355 For more specific course information call Ru on 07947 983347

10 WEEK COURSES:

- 10 wks Jan-April: “Vegetables and Salad growing”
Wed 7.30-9.30pm (£78/£20)
*Starting on Wednesday 21 January *This is a City and Guilds accredited unit.
Check availability with Ru 07947 983347

- 10 wks, Feb-May: “Designing the garden for vegetables/Getting started in the garden”
Mon 7.30-9.30pm (£78/£20) *Starting on Monday 23 February
*This course will take you through the steps for developing a productive garden: From soil care, composting and seed ordering, to crop rotation, companion planting and building support strucutures. Sessions are designed to enable you to take the learning back into your growing space.

Organiclea Community Growers
‘Food growing on London’s edge’
Hawkwood Allotments, E4  [Join a work day on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month.]
Hornbeam Centre, 458 Hoe Street. E17 (020 8558 6880)
www.organiclea.org.uk

Check out all the days and details below. For more visit their swish looking new website.

All workshops are at the Hornbeam Centre, 458 Hoe Street, Walthamstow unless otherwise specified. Prices indicated are for waged first then low income and unwaged.
Registration is appreciated and for sessions marked with * numbers are limited so please let us know if you are coming: email us or call 020 8558 6880.

Wednesday 20th August (3-4.30pm)*
Baking for kids (age 4-10) £1.50/£1
Come and have a go: mix, chop, stir and bake simple biscuits, cakes or smoothies, then enjoy the results!

Saturday 23rd August (4-5.30pm)*
Jam making £3/£2
Home-made tastes better… Discover the basic methods of this long-established way of capturing fruity goodness in a jar.

Wednesday 27th August (7-9pm)
Wine from the hedgerows: introduction to homebrew £3/£2
Brewing your own is cheaper and more satisfying. Find out how to make a fine wine from fruit you can find in the hedges, and get your cider started in time for the swap. Or just sample some we made earlier!

Sunday 14th September (11am-1pm)
Introduction to food growing £3/£2
Start early for next year’s swap – find out the basic principles of organic growing and pick up some simple tips to get you started growing your own. At Organiclea’s growing site, Drysdale Avenue, E4

Wednesday 17th September*
Kitchen pharmacy: using herbs for common remedies
3pm herbal walk – to be confirmed, call for details £3/£2
6-8pm preparation workshop £3/£2 £5/£3 for both sessions
The herbs and plants that you can grow in your garden or allotment site have many uses beyond the cooking pot. This session will show you how to prepare your own herbal treatments and take advantage of the many benefits herbs can bring to your health.

Saturday 27th September (4-5.30pm)
Seed saving £3/£2
Find out why we save seed, learn the basic principles and gain confidence. Then have a go yourself and become part of a local outlawed seed saving mission!

Saturday 4th October (4-5.30pm)*
Pickles and chutneys £3/£2
This workshop will take a peep at traditional uses of preserves and chutneys in different cultures. An opportunity to jar up goodness from locally grown and foraged fruit. Come along and share your recipes and ideas.

Saturday 4th October
Scrumping apples ‘n’ pears pick ‘n’ press day (Free)
11am intro and picking (meet at Hornbeam, come by bicycle if possible)
2.30pm juicing
Fruit grows in abundance in Walthamstow and the scrumping project helps to ensure it doesn’t go to waste. Come and take part in a picking session and using the apple press, and have a taste of the freshest juice you can get…

Thursday 9th October (7-9pm)*
Cake baking £3/£2
Learn a simple recipe for dairy free cake which you can adapt and experiment with to add your favourite fruits and flavours.

Saturday 11th October (11am-4pm)
Apple Day (Free)
Apples galore at Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road, Walthamstow – juice, fruit, games and information for all ages.

Saturday 11th October (12-2pm)
Seed sprouting drop-in at the Hornbeam market stall
Even closer than a balcony is space for one of the most nutritious, fast foods you can grow. Learn this simple growing skill – and produce a crop that will save you £££s.

Saturday 11th October
Raw food talk 6pm and pot luck supper 7pm (Free)
Find out how healthy and tasty raw food can be; bring something to share for the supper.

Thursday 16th October
World Food Day discussion evening (Free – donations for food)
7.30pm, with food served from 6.30pm
On the day designated to mark food as “a requisite for survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity”, take part in a discussion with Simon Fairlie, editor of The Land, to look at how we can break the corporate clutch on our food chain and how we can feed ourselves sustainably.

Saturday 18th October 2-4pm)
The Great Local Food Swap (Free)
Bring your swapping goodies for registration from 12pm
Swap your grown-produce for somebody elses pickles and bakes in a locally celebrated “good food swap“. It’s about sharing food you’ve made, grown, picked or found. It’s a chance to show off your produce and share good food by swapping what you’ve brought with other people, without the need for money changing hands.

How will it work?
You can pick up your box every Wednesday, from 3.30pm – 7.30pm, at the Hornbeam Centre (at 458 Hoe Street, close to the Baker’s Arms junction). The scheme is collection only, but if enough people in the Blackhorse area are interested they may consider delivering en masse. They can also make alternative pick up arrangements if you can’t make it on a Wednesday.

A few BAG members used the scheme when it first ran, and reported back very favourably.

Which box should I order?

Here are the box choices, with options for every size of household.

Standard veg bag – £41 per calendar month (equivalent cost per week: £9.46).
These contain around 8-9 varieties of seasonal produce. Standard bags always include carrots, onions, potatoes and two greens (e.g. spinach, chard, savoy cabbage) plus a selection of seasonal vegetables.

No potatoes standard veg bag – £46 per calendar month (equivalent cost per week: £10.61).
This contains 9 varieties of veg including a leafy green vegetable instead of potatoes. Greens cost more to buy than potatoes which is why this bag is slightly more expensive than the standard veg bag.

Small veg bag – £22 per calendar month (equivalent cost per week; £5.08).
This contains around 6 varieties of seasonal produce. Small bags always include potatoes and carrots and have onions every other week.
They always have one green item per week (e.g. spinach, chard, spring greens) plus 2 or 3 varieties of other seasonal vegetables.

Standard fruit bag – £31 per calendar month (equivalent cost per week: £7.15)
The standard fruit bag has 5-7 varieties of UK and European seasonal fruit each week. These are a combination of the following depending on seasonal availability: pears, grapes, oranges, clementines, Fairtrade bananas, kiwi fruits, plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, limes, lemons, grapefruit, apples.

Small fruit bag – £17 per calendar month, (equivalent cost per week: £3.92).
The small fruit bag contains 4 to 5 varieties of UK and European seasonal fruit each week. Fruit bags contain a combination of the following depending on seasonal availability: pears, grapes, oranges, clementines, Fairtrade bananas, kiwi fruits, plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, limes, lemons, grapefruit, apples.

Large fruit bag – £34.00 per calendar month, (equivalent cost per week £7.84).
Same as the small fruit bag above, but double the size.

What do I do next?

Either email Hornbeam or call in your order on 020 8558 6880 (leave a message). Let us at BAG know so we can try and get enough people ordering to justify a delivery!

How do I pay?

For July only, Hornbeam would like cash or cheque in advance, for the month’s cost of fruit and veg. After that a Monthly standing order allows them to plan in advance and offer a better service.) They will give you the standing order details when you pick up your veg.

If this is not possible please speak to us about paying by Monthly cheque (we would receive this by the 23rd of the month before -so for example, July 23rd would be the payment for August’s boxes). For those on low-income, we can offer a split payment option: Half monthly payments in advance.

Any questions either leave a comment below and we’ll answer or contact Hornbeam direct.