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Buckland Food Growers 

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Who we are

Sep 2009

This is a brand new project to develop a food growing project. Following the first community meeting run by HogCO, which was a huge success, the group are moving forward with aims and objectives, and have recently obtained access to land at Buckland Abbey.

We aim to:

  • enhance community cohesion, well being and enjoyment through the creation of a self sustaining community project where members can grow, nurture and produce food together;

  • support local biodiversity through thoughtful land management and adherence to organic gardening and farming principles; and

  • be able to sell surplus produce (cider, apple juice, honey, fruit and veg, pork, eggs) at local farmers markets with profits reinvested into the project.


Latest news -

October 2012

As is the case with many food growers and producers both nationally and locally, this has been a challenging year for us at Buckland Food Growers.
Our pigs had a bout of pneumonia, a fox took several of our lovely chickens, and we lost some bees in all the dampness of the summer. The lack of bee activity and the late frost meant that our apple harvest was severely diminished and we were not able to have a community apple pressing day as we had planned. 

However, all that said, we have had some absolutely delicious pork (with more on way), the chickens are now free-ranging and we are hoping to increase our flock soon, we have 5 thriving hives, plus a 'top-bar' hive, and a great crop of potatoes, also we have many members that are committed to our values.
As the News announces that food prices are rising (again) due to the poor harvests this summer, it is apparent that community food projects like this are vital in that we are learning together how to grow and produce food, reducing our dependence on supermarkets, and getting to know our neighbours.

Many thanks to all of our members, the National Trust and all of you in the parish for your support in setting this project up and seeing us through our second year of local food production.

In the coming year we aim to be growing more fruit, perhaps some veg also. We would like to have more chickens, we will continue with our pigs and bees and work hard at this years wassailing to ensure a good apple harvest next Autumn. Please contact me if you would like to join us.


September 2012

Now that the hedgerows are brimming with berries and other useful free food, I have managed to persuade none other than Richard Mabey - Naturalist, Artist and local byways expert (actually he is my Dad), to take us on a hedgerow amble, identifying and collecting edible berries, leaves and plants. A firm date will be set for this over the next week or so, so watch this space if you want to come along.

As a follow on from this we are hoping to hold a Hedgerow Jelly making day. Again, dates and venue to be confirmed. So watch this space.

As many of you know the apple harvest is severely diminished this year due to a late frost. Matt is waiting to hear from Tamar and Tavy Apple Group as to proposed plans for community apple pressing in October.  We will be harvesting and pressing apples from our orchard on 14th October. Put the date in your diaries as this is always a fun day to be involved in. 

As soon as the apples are harvested we will be putting a couple of sheep into the orchard to help with grass and weed management. We are hoping also to be using this method to graze the garden field as well. The sheep will be 'on loan' from James Eggins who has the farm across the path.  This will enable us to have a go at keeping sheep with the view that if we have enough interest, we may be able set up a 'Sheep Group' in the future.

BFG hosted the annual HogCo conference last week at Buckland Abbey. Delegates attended from approx 20 community food growing projects from around Devon. They all had a tour of BFG and a talk from me as to how it all started, how it works and what we are up to. Everyone was very impressed and inspired by the work we have done and all that we have achieved in the last couple of years. Thanks to Jane and Debbie who came along to help out.

Some of you will have noticed that the shed has been sorted out over the summer. Thanks to Tony and Jane for their time to do that.


March 2012

The beginning of our second year of food growing and rearing, has got off to a great start. We are now concentrating all of our production into the lower half of the garden field (below the allotments) at Buckland Abbey, except of course our cider and apple juice production which remains in the orchard.

So we now have 12 new pigs, 17 chickens (and 1 cockerel), 5 beehives, some fruit and veg and 40 apple trees living and growing in approx 2 acres, with over 40 families sharing the work and responsibility and looking forward to a share in the harvest.

We are planning to have produce to sell locally soon including, pork and eggs so look out for us at village markets as the season progresses. The BFG will be proud to share our local food, grown and nurtured in the heart of our community, with our neighbours. Please support us, we are a 'not for profit' organisation, so all money raised goes back into the group to buy much needed equipment. Last year we bought a horse box which has proved invaluable for transporting pigs, and we have bought some pruning equipment for the orchard, with money raised from sales of produce.

For anyone interested in hearing a bit more about what we do and how it all works, we are holding an open day on 14th April, come along and chat with members, help out with some digging and enjoy a hot dog. We will look forward to seeing you then. I will send out more details nearer the time.
Thanks to you all for your continued interest and support.


Lucy Wood
Chair Buckland Food Growers

November 2011 Newsletter


July 2011 (scroll down for earlier items)

Its Time to celebrate our success this year
BFG Social Event
BBQ
23rd July 6pm


Sausages made from our pigs

(Please email Lucy with no of people attending in your family so we know how many guests to cater for :-) )

Looking forward to seeing you


Buckland food Growers Newsletter July/August 2011

Local food grown and nurtured in the heart of our community.
'Small projects grow, lives are changed, people inspired, communities and policy makers notice and change happens'. (Ed Miliband 2011)

Progress

So much progress it’s hard to know where to start. All of us involved in BFG have been learning more about our organisation, working with each other as a community and learning also about the food we eat and how it is produced. We are starting to harvest various vegetables including chard, onions, peas, potatoes and also broad beans have featured this month. It turns out that not everyone likes them. Those that don't are not on their own, in the Middle Ages it was thought that the souls of the dead lived inside broad beans as they caused such bad sleep disturbance due the fact that they are difficult to digest. And Pythagoras refused to eat broad beans under any circumstances as he was convinced they were possessed by evil spirits! Love them or hate them, they have been in abundance in our garden.
Having looked after the pigs for 4 months, the time came for them to go off on their holidays. Members of the pig group are now enjoying delicious pork, the provenance of which we are all proud. We will be welcoming a new batch of weaners into the garden field ready for Christmas. This process has been such a great journey for all of us, a rare opportunity to be so involved with our food, from field to plate.
All members of the BFG and many friends were invited to enjoy some of our very own sausages at the summer social event on 23rd July. 70 people turned up on that beautiful sunny evening, the sausages were BBQ'd to perfection and the event was a great celebration of our achievements.
We held a working day in June, during which members of the bee group were very busy building four new hives. These are ready to home new bee colonies, and our mature hive should yield some honey within a few weeks providing the weather stays warm. Apparently, if we get a cool wet spell, the bees will eat the honey and not spare a thought for us!
The Community task force have been double digging two sections of our new garden under the supervision of BTCV, in preparation for planting. The veg group will be working on a planting plan for this new growing area over the summer with some guidance from Simon from TGL (Tamar Grow Local). HogCo have financed a Food Hygiene course attended by 8 members who now are certified to prepare, handle and serve food, this will enable us to produce items such as jams, chutneys and sauces and sell food that we have grown.
Any one who has been into the orchard recently will have noticed the trees are already in fruit. Their winter prune took out much of the unwanted branches to let the light into the trees for greater fruit production. The trees have now also benefited from a summer prune, thanks to a course held in the orchard and run by Tavy and Tamar Apple Group. The pruners took out excess fruit and branches which will ensure that the trees will reach their full potential and the apples should be abundant at the end of the summer at harvest time. Apple pressing will take place at St Andrews school on Friday 14th October and at Buckland Abbey on Saturday 15th October. Please check website for more details nearer the time.
Also, the chicken group have been making progress. The house and fencing are up, and chickens are on their way. This additional produce group will be an eggciting eggstension to the growing wealth of food that we are now able to provide for our members.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed their time, enthusiasm, experience and knowledge to the project so far. Progress has been amazing, we should all be very proud of how far we have come, and how much we have to look forward to........ this year and going into the future.
If you are interested in joining us please take a look at our website www.bucklandfoodgrowers.co.uk or contact me for more details.


Buckland Food Growers Newsletter June 2011

Buckland Food Growers, Local food Grown and nurtured in the heart of our community

 Notes from Chair

News headlines have recently been very focussed on the rising price of food. All of our family food and fuel bills are getting out of control. We are paying high prices for often poor quality food that has been flown to our super markets from around the world.

The time has come where we surely have to question why this is so. Why do we spend so much of our time and money in supermarkets when we live in a land-rich, fertile area of the country where farming and local food production is our heritage?  

As the oil resources on earth become more scarce, the people and communities who have the resources – land, skills, community and infrastructure, to grow and produce their own food, will be in a good position to support themselves and each other during unpredictable times.  

Provenance of the food we eat is becoming more crucial, animal welfare issues and use of chemicals are a concern as general food prices rise. Community is maybe an aspect of life that falls by the wayside as we become busier with increasing financial pressure, and the skills associated with growing and producing our own food are dying out and have become less 'valued' as the market becomes more saturated with global produce.  

BFG are trying to address these issues we are growing food locally, seasonally, with minimal environmental impact - in harmony and with consideration for our natural ecology and landscape. Growing our own food locally reduces food miles, it helps control our individual and community carbon footprint. By growing food together, we can strengthen community ties, be more aware of our neighbours, learn new skills from each other, take responsibility for the food that we eat, and the best bit......Enjoy fresh, local, seasonal food. Grown and nurtured in the heart of our community.  

BFG had a stall at Buckland June Fair, the rain held off and we sold some fabulous lettuces, beautiful posies of sweet peas and sensational bottles of elderflower cordial – all from our veg patch!  

Our veg patch is positively bursting with life, the first early potatoes are making their way onto out dinner plates and plenty of veg to come over the next few weeks. It is a very busy time of year for our veg group, our watering rota has ensured that produce has the best chance of survival in recent worrying times of low rainfall, and we are arranging weekly work sessions where teams can work together to get some of the bigger jobs done.  

Our fruit and veg expansion programme is proceeding well, the wheel design growing area in the garden field has been de-turfed now by BTCV CTF (Community Task Force) volunteers, our next steps are now to prepare the soil for planting.

 

If you are interested in joining BFG or would like to come and see what we are doing, please contact me and I will be happy meet you and show you around. Otherwise, you are welcome to have a look around whilst you are visiting Buckland Abbey. Please look on our website

www.bucklandfoodgrowers.co.uk where you can download a share prospectus and share application form.  

Lucy Wood Chair BFG

lucyjwood@googlemail.com 

News from the Pig Group 

Well it's nearly D day for the first batch of saddle back pigs we have been rearing for the last 16 weeks or so.  It's been an enjoyable experience for the entire group and the way we have got our ourselves organised has meant that it has not been at all onerous on any one family.  If anything in fact, there have been those who have been saying that they would really have like a little more contact with the pigs.  

People often talk of what fantastic little personalities they have.  I have mixed emotions over this concept.  I am such an animal lover but I am also such a carnivore.  I believe in good animal husbandry and welfare of the highest standards.  This is the contract we have with any animals that are ultimately going to end up on the menu.  It is for that reason that  I personally have really been keeping the little squeakers at arms length.  I've quite frankly not wanted to form that bond with them.  It's a big deal being involved in this process, it has connected us all with the food on our plate and the day I and others take them to the abattoir will be significant moment for all, not least the pigs.  I guess from my point of view the distant relationship that I have tried to maintain with them is simply my coping mechanism for the inevitable outcome.  

The group has worked well, and we will soon be ordering new animals for the next batch.  It is worth pointing out that rearing your own pork does not necessarily mean cheap meat.  It means the very highest quality of meat at the very affordable prices.  If you are at all interested in being part of this project then we would really love to hear from you.  New members are always very welcome."  

Jez McDermott Pig Group Manager  

News from Bee Group

Three members of the bee group, have been attending a bee course run by Tamar Grow Local, this has been an excellent course, very practical, giving them confidence and skills to work with our thriving bee hive. We also have two members experiencing Natural bee keeping at Embercombe.  

Others have gained experience at the BBKA Tavistock Apiary of hive inspection and Top Bar Hive “reshaping”.  

The bee group, along with David Milford, have inspected the Buckland WBC hive a few times, adding a super to provide more room for the brood. The Queen has run here course and supersedure is occurring, this is the usual way that bees keep their colonies going.  

Our Bees swarmed last week, onto a nearby fencepost. David and Jane managed to collect them and put them into a new hive, they appear to be quite happy in their new home.  

June has proved a difficult period for Bees as the nectar gap has been longer than usual following the warm dry spring when many plants flowered early.  

David Hancock Bee Group manager

 

News from Chicken Group

There are currently 8 families involved in the chicken group which formed after the AGM in April. We are aiming to have 17 chickens to produce enough eggs for each family plus surplus to sell, their new home will be at the bottom of the BFG garden. The new chicken house arrives next week, with members helping out over the working weekend to get the fencing up and everything ready for the arrival of the chickens! If anyone knows a source of POL hens please let me know, or if you are interested in joining the group its not too late!  

Susie Zaleski susie.zaleski@gmail.com

Chicken group manager.

Please visit our website for up to date events list.

Dates up and coming

29th June 6.30pm. Tour of Maristow Walled Gardens with Transition Tavistock

9th July Village Hall Coffee morning. Produce for sale.

10th July HogCo tour of Embercombe Gardens

18th July Jam and chutney course

23rd July BFG Social evening and BBQ.

1st October Harvest festival. Buckland Village Hall

14th October Apple pressing at St Andrews School

15th October Apple pressing at Buckland Abbey orchard and Social evening

 


May 2011

Buckland food Growers Newsletter May 2011

Local food, grown and nurtured in the heart of our community’

Notes from the chair – Our Vision, a look back over a busy year

Buckland Food Growers was started this time last year at a meeting held in the village hall resulting in a group of us agreeing to take the project forward. We have come a long way in only one year, this is due to the excellent support we have from members, the National Trust, HogCo, TVAONB and WestDen. All those involved in the setting up of BFG have learned new skills and made new friends. Especially me! It has been a very exciting year with many ups and downs.....mostly ups I hasten to add.

Our aims and objectives are concerned with working together, sharing the work and the produce, Education, social cohesion, respecting the environment, and producing food for ourselves and for sale locally – producing locally grown food for local people, reducing food miles and contributing to the local economy.

Selling our produce (and products of our produce ie jams, chutneys, sausages) will ensure that we are not only meeting our aims but the group are making a profit which will contribute to our sustainability. The BFG is a 'not for profit' company so no individual/s will personally benefit from profits made. However, like any business or charity we need to build up a healthy bank balance to ensure the future of the group.

Future proofing The BFG by achieving robust finances....

Each produce group will be working towards this. For example, the Cider and orchard group are working towards producing pasteurised apple juice as well as craft cider for sale locally . A funding bid is being put together as I write to enable the group to purchase equipment required. This is a great opportunity for members of this group to learn about the process and all that it entails with the benefit of limited liability, no personal financial investment and much fun with the knowledge that profits made will go back into the group. The BFG are providing the opportunity to experience this process with a group of like minded people, using the power of combined thinking and skills to produce a great end product . The group are also contributing to the continuation of local orchards, preservation of local heritage varieties, conserving local biodiversity and sharing what we are learning with others in the community through events such as Apple Day.

Through our links with BTCV the veg group are making use of Community task Force. These are young adults who have been unemployed for 6months or more. By supporting these people to gain new skills and giving them the opportunity to be creative by working on environmental and conservation based projects, we are extending our community to them and challenging preconceived ideas about young unemployed adults. This group will be carrying out heavy ground work that we would otherwise struggle with, they will be a valuable asset to our project and I hope links will strengthen as our project grows.

Now that the allotment association are up and running, and BFG are now producing food. We will be planning the resurgence of the annual parish 'Flower Show' where local people can enter their fruit and veg, cakes, jams and other produce. I would value any input with planning this event from residents who remember it from previous years.

What’s Happened

The BFG held a Special General Meeting in March where the committee and management team were required to stand down and a new Directors and Committee were elected and voted in. The structure is now as follows:

Directors

 

Chair

Lucy Wood

Secretary/Veg group leader

Lynn Roddy

Treasurer/Bee group leader

David Hancock

Pig Group leader

Jez McDermott

Orchard and Cider group leader

Matt Wood

Committee members

 

Education coordinator/Chicken group

Susie Zaleski

Publicity

Jon Cummins

Fundraising Coordinator

Jane Griffin

Social Secretary

Kevin Charlton

Website

Andy Milburn

The veg group hosted a days gardening course at the Abbey. Jane and Sophia from HogCo taught 8 BFG members various new skills to use when growing plants including identification of plants, sowing seeds, soil testing and soil composition. It was very much enjoyed by all who participated, and we feel much more confident with growing and planting. This was a pilot course by HogCo, I am sure they will go on to teach many more successful courses.

The April Tavi Grow forum, hosted by Max from Westden was held at Buckland Abbey. Tom Petherick talked to a crowd of 40 or so visitors about his experiences of organic gardening and said some wise words about composting. Simon Platten from Tamar Grow Local told us all about his role as 'project Propagator', and how he is involved with many groups in the Tamar Valley area. I then lead a tour of the BFG project which everyone enjoyed despite the rain, followed by cider tasting.

Nicky Scott from Proper job came to our SGM and gave a fascinating presentation on composting (can you see a theme emerging?), He is returning to meet with BFG, the National Trust and allotment representatives to discus the possibility of a community composting scheme. We are therefore looking for BFG members, allotment members and anyone else who would be interested in getting involved in this aspect of the project.

Jenny Tunley-Price gave several members of BFG a tour of her amazing Walled Garden Project. It was a lovely sunny evening and we all thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history of the garden and finding out about recent progress of restoration there.

What’s Happening?

4 Bee group members are currently attending Bee Keeping courses, funded by BFG. We have 1 hive in situ which is clearly thriving. And there is a distinct possibility we will have honey this year. Bee Keeping Suits are on order as are new hives and nuclei, soon to be established in garden field.

The veg patch is now producing veg, with salad produce finding its way into our homes. The asparagus bed has been planted and it seems hundreds of seedlings have been planted out from the poly tunnel and are now established in their beds. Currently 20 households are members of the veg group.

Volunteers from CTF (Community task Force), organised and supervised by BTCV will start digging up the garden field next week, ready for cultivation next year. The veg group will be holding a 'working weekend' in June to work on this new growing area, making benches, composting (!), making paths and commencing the transformation of the central seating area.

Please if you have any manure (preferably well rotted, but we will take fresh) you can spare, contact Lucy or Lynn as we will be needing LOADS of it. We are also planning a 'seaweed run' to Looe in conjunction with Jenny from Maristow, this will nourish our growing spaces beautifully. We will need help from anyone with a 4x4 and trailer for this event please.

Our pigs are growing and all members enjoying caring for them. They are very friendly and love a good scratch behind the ears, and they have only escaped once! We are all very much looking forward to our delicious pork ready at the end of July, in time for our first big social event.

The Orchard was looking beautiful with all its blossom during April, it is now green and lush, the trees appear to have benefited from their winter prune. Members from the cider group are enjoying the fruits of their produce from last years harvest, and looking froward to harvesting and pressing this years bounty.

The chicken group are in formation stage, 9 families are working together to build housing, put up fencing and choose breeds. This produce group should be up and running/laying with the next couple of months.

Group leaders have been tasked with spending the funds granted to us by DSDF, all groups will see changes, new equipment, tools etc. arriving over the next few weeks.

BFG Social events

23rd July Evening BBQ, all members, friends and families welcome. Plan is to cook up some of our home grown sausages, and enjoy these with produce from the veg patch, washed down with Cider (if there is any left) and maybe a taste of honey. Our chicken group should be established by then, so omelettes for vegetarians? This event will celebrate all we have achieved during our first growing season. More detail nearer the time.

October (date TBC) We will be celebrating our apple crop. Apple pressing all day and a spot of cider in the evening (another theme emerging !).

BFG will be at Buckland June Fair (11th June) promoting what we are doing and looking for new members. We will also be at Buckland Village Hall Coffee morning on Saturday 9th July, hopefully with some produce for sale.

Jenny Tunley-Price will be teaching a Jam and Chutney making course in July, venue and date TBC.

Wanted.....

We have found an urgent need for a petrol mower and strimmer/s, The BFG are talking to the Allotment association about sharing this equipment and we are looking at ways to raise money for it. If anyone has any of this equipment they would like to donate, please contact me.

I am looking for a professional chef to help me work on some recipe ideas and look at product development specific to BFG. Please contact Lucy if you think you may be able to help.

Thanks to all directors, committee and members for your support and hard work over the last few months.

Best Wishes, Lucy Wood, Chair Buckland Food Growers Ltd


April 2011

Community project grows roots at the Abbey

Buckland Food Growers Ltd (B.F.G.), based at the National Trust’s Buckland Abbey, near Yelverton, have been working hard to set the roots of their project since beginning work on it last spring. Now with just under a hectare of land which has been on lease from the National Trust since January, the growing and rearing of produce is underway in earnest.

Born out of an idea by Chair of the group, Lucy Wood, encouraged by organisations GrowTavi, the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and HogCo in addition to the National Trust, the initial idea of growing vegetables has expanded. Lucy says: “Over thirty local families and households across the Buckland Monachorum parish are now involved with the B.F.G., getting stuck in not just with growing vegetables but also with taking stewardship of an orchard with a view to cider production, bee husbandry and rearing pigs for pork. This is a project that’s come from a community need to grow our own local, fresh and environmentally sustainable produce”.

Great news has come to the group in the form of over £12k of funding that has been granted by the Dartmoor Sustainable Development Fund. Jane Griffin, member of B.F.G. says: “Buckland Food Growers are so exhilarated to have been chosen for a grant from the DSDF.  It will mean that the BFG can get off to a flying start, meet the needs of the local community and really start to achieve our overall aim of, 'Local food, grown and nurtured at the heart of the community'.”

Jez Mcdermott, property manager at Buckland Abbey says "We have supported this project from the start and we are really happy to help the local community by providing an area for the BFG project to establish it's roots. We hope the work of the project will soon be able to be viewed by visitors to Buckland Abbey too, so everyone can get a flavour of what's been happening. I wish the project every success."

If you are interested in our work or wish to find you how you can join us, please visit our website at www.bucklandfoodgrowers.co.uk or contact Lucy Wood on lucyjwood@googlemail.com. Alternativly come along to our special general meeting on 2 April at Buckland Abbey at 10.30am to see for yourself what the project’s activities are.

March 2011

We now have a total of 30 households who have bought shares in BFG. This is a fantastic start to our food growing enterprise.

Most of the subscription payments are now in also. So far we have 18 members on our veg group, 10 in the pig group, 8 in the bee group and 8 in the cider and orchard group.

The lease has been signed and we have a bank account, so now we really are in business.

The veg group are currently busy planting seeds and preparing beds. Our rhubarb is looking particularly impressive and we are looking forward to an exciting growing season. Lynn Roddy has taken over as veg group leader, so any queries to her please at lynn.roddy@btinternet.com

The pig group are eagerly awaiting new arrivals on 19th March. We will be introducing 6 eight week old piglets to our field and to their fantastic new pig houses. The fencing is now in place thanks to the national Trust for helping us out with that. The group have formed 2 'clusters' that will take it in turns to feed and care for the pigs.

The bees are no longer going to be in the orchard due to safety concerns. They will now be living in the garden field just below the fence that separates us from the allotment group. The first hive should be place there in the next week or so. The bees can therefore be of benefit to the allotments and to the orchard nearby. This area is now really taking shape and will be a busy community space.

 

The Orchard is now looking very much better for a good prune. The Tamar and Tavy Apple Group lead a pruning course in our orchard a couple of weeks ago which was attended by 12 of our members, all paid for from grant money from TVAONB.

 

We are currently waiting for our funding bid to go to panel. Jane and myself will be presenting to them next Friday, so plenty of positive thoughts please for us on that day. We have applied for £12,000 which will give us a fantastic start and enable us to buy hives and bee equipment, more pig equipment and fencing, plants, bushes, tools and other gardening equipment. Also the money will enable us to start up a small flock of chickens.

Dates

TBC. BFG Special General Meeting. This is a legally required meeting where the current committee stand down and all members have the chance to become directors. So if you would like to take on more responsibility within BFG opportunities will be coming up soon. Details will follow shortly.

HogCo are holding a 1 day gardening course at our site on Monday 28th March. 9.30 till 4pm, bring a packed lunch. This is free of charge, places are limited to 15 so please let me know if you would like to come along to this event.

GrowTavi are holding their April forum at Buckland Abbey. 5th April 2pm in the school room. Guest speaker will be Tom Petherick (www.tompetheric.co.uk) who specialises in organic growing techniques and has been involved with Heligan. Also Simon Platten from Tamar Grow Local will be talking about the idea of a local food hub.

I will be giving a tour of the work we have done so far, and it would be great if some of you could come along and talk about your involvement. These forums are really very interesting and give us a sense that we are very much a part of a wave of change happening locally, in the way that we are thinking about food and our relationship with it.

April 9th, Buckland Village Hall Coffee morning. We have been offered the opportunity to display images and promote BFG. This will be a good chance to forge relationships with the village hall in view of potentially selling our surplus produce at their monthly market.

June fair. 11th June. Another good opportunity to promote the BFG and draw in new members and promote the work we are doing.

new veg growing site - January 2011


January 2011 (scroll down for earlier news items)

 

GENERAL MEETING

15TH JANUARY 2.30PM

 

Come along to school room at Buckland Abbey for

 

 

Bowl of tasty soup and roll

 

 

 

 

Presentation on BFG progress so far

 

 

Invitation to purchase membership shares

 

 

Opportunity to meet and socialise with fellow growers

Bring along friends and neighbours who might be interested

AND 

 

 

 

WASSAILING at 7PM in Orchard

 

PLEASE BRING ANY OLD OR UNWANTED GARDENING TOOLS 

December 2010

Buckland Food Growers is now officially registered as an Industrial and Provident Society. We are a ‘not for profit’ group for the benefit of the community. So we are now BFG Ltd.

This means that we are able to sell shares in our organisation. Shares will be available at a cost of £1, with a minimum purchase of 20 shares. Shares will not entitle the bearer to a share in produce but will entitle the bearer to one vote. Our first share issue will be launched at the meeting on 15th January 2.30 pm Buckland Abbey School Room.

Our share prospectus and application forms for purchase of said shares will be available prior to the meeting and will be sent out via email in the new year (hard copies will also be available). Society rules are available on request and will shortly be available as a document on web site.


July 2010

HogCO facilitated 2 community meetings attended by the National Trust and other landowners in June. This lead to the formation of the Buckland Food Growers and their discussions with the NT to lease land.

Group members have attended HogCO training on legal and governance issues and pickling and preserving techniques.


October 2010

Apple day at the school was a great success. The cider group who had collected apples from various local orchards, pressed apples all afternoon and produced about 200 litres of apple juice which is currently turning into cider ready for tasting and bottling next summer.

We had a stall at the event. Pat kindly made a delicious apple cake which was enjoyed by all and Sue made some crab apple jelly which was very popular and we made some funds with which we have purchased a Community Orchard book.

Sadly, the pig paddock that we originally thought we would have has been scheduled for an archaeological dig so we are unable to use this area. We have however been offered an alternative site near to the veg field, it needs a bit of clearing but is ideal for starting our pig project. There will be significantly less  fencing requirements for this new site, and therefore somewhat less expensive to get set up.

Jon Pratten has been looking at water tank solutions for the veg field and for the pigs. We aim to collect water from the huge barn roof and set up a system for storing and using this. Although this will initially be very expensive to set up, it has its obvious benefits in that our mains water bills will be kept low and contribute to our sustainability. Jon Facey will be helping us with our infrastructure requirements in January when we have access to land.

The business plan is underway. Susie is taking a lead on this and we should have it completed by mid November. We are also planning to apply for funding from The Dartmoor Circle who are interested in our project. We will have some significant set up costs for each aspect of the project that we need to cover.

Matt is looking into setting up a web site, so we can have an online communications network with events, photos and progress.

This week HogCo have arranged and financed for Jo, the Director of Land Based Learning from Embercombe to visit our veg field and has shared some of his expertise and experiences of growing communally. We have started a fantastic design for our garden which will be shared with you all as soon as I can arrange a meeting.

This weekend myself, matt, Jez and Jane are attending a Pig keeping course nr Honiton in order to be able to support Barry in his unrelenting enthusiasm for our pig project. HogCo have paid for us to do this and have paid for our subscription to DASH, who have some very interesting and relevant courses which we will now be able to access. Have a look at their website to see what courses are running.

The lease for land at Buckland Abbey is still scheduled to be signed in the new year. We have still got some way to go with all of our planning so we are ready with our spades  to ‘get digging’ in January. Look out for meeting dates coming up in November and hopefully a social event nearer to Christmas.


November 2010

Jo Clark from Embercombe came and spent half a day with several of us at the end of October. By the end of the day we had our veg field design and plans for a pole barn and 2 polytunnels! We also got lots of advice on how to make raised beds without using expensive wooden edges and collecting slugs and snails.

We will be meeting in the school room at Buckland Abbey on Thursday 18th November at 7.30pm to discuss the design with the rest of the group.

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