CSAs exist worldwide, even in China!
One of our Canalside members came across this article about a CSA farm in China.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/09/24/140670551/how-community-supported-agriculture-sprouted-in-china
Small is… festival 2011 – 2nd-4th September
The fourth Small is… festival to be set in the beautiful grounds of The Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development, near Rugby, is fast approaching. Download the PDF e-flyer here for further details of an engaging weekend which will celebrate the centenary of E.F. Schumacher, author of ‘Small is Beautiful: a Study of Economics as if People Mattered’, as well as giving members of the public, experienced professionals and young enthusiastic engineers the chance to engage with and question the ideas related to international development and sustainability across all areas of our lives.
Smallis e-flyer
‘Canalside blues’ as premiered at the barn dance!
The Canalside Blues
(to the tune of “Walkin’ down the line” by Bob Dylan, lyrics by Steven Hunt)
I’ve been working on the farm
I’ve been working on the farm
I’ve been working on the farm, it’s got a lotta charm, and I hope I didn’t do no harm
I might a trodden on a beet
Might a trodden on a beet
Might a trodden on a beet, with my size ten feet, that’s not a beet we’re gonna eat
I’ve been working on the farm…
I ate a potato
I ate a potato
I ate a potato, that I helped to grow, and it tasted better cause I know that I’ve been working on the farm…
I met farmer Tom
I met farmer Tom
I met farmer Tom, and we got right along, and I hope he’s listening to this song
Coz I’ve been working on the farm… really…
I’ve been working on the farm, I have so…
I ain’t no cheat, it’s written on the sheet, don’t believe me you can talk to Pete…
It was last year sometime…
I’ve gotten five e-mails
I’ve gotten ten e-mails
I didn’t read them all, coz my brain’s too small, just call if I can help at all
Coz I love working on the farm…
I got a funny coloured squash
I got a funny coloured squash
I need a recipe, coz believe you me, I got blue squash for my tea
I’ve been working on the farm…
I planted a courgette
I planted a courgette
I planted a courgette, and I’m willing to bet, that’s a thing I will regret when I get a hundred courgettes
I’ve been working on the farm…
I got some muddy shoes
I got some muddy shoes
I got some muddy shoes, but I ain’t gonna lose, just love them Canalside blues
I’ve been working on the farm…
Help to power Canalside with sustainable energy before 30th June!
We are applying for energyshare funding to provide sustainable energy sources for Canalside. A solar panel and wind turbine will be used for lighting and powering small electrical items at the project site. Help us go through to the next round of applications by becoming a supporter at:
www.energyshare.com/canalside-community-food-energy/
We need as many supporters as possible by 30th June to have a chance of going through to the next round!
How to be our supporter:
– Go to the energyshare site
– Click on the button ‘support this group’
– Go through a brief registration process by giving your name, address and a password
– Go to your emails and click on the link in the email from energyshare to activate your account and support for us!
Thank you for your support – we appreciate it massively!
Canalside Peace Festival stall
Come and find Canalside members, growers and steering group members on our stall at the Peace Festival – Saturday 18th – Sunday 19th June. We will have a wide range of organically raised veg plants available to buy to grow on at home, as well as the opportunity to find out more about the project, sign up for veg shares and trial veg shares, and more!
Canalside has a new website
In line with the continuing development and growing popularity of the Canalside, we’ve developed a new website that will, in time, allow us to take advantage of the community aspect of the project with photo sharing, recipe submissions and a pool of Blog contributors.
The new site was developed by one of our own members so has (hopefully!) captured the essence of Canalside and what we stand for.
Please let us know what you think.
Permaculture Design Course
This course will be based at Canalside site for its duration, with design projects at Canalside as well as other locations nearby. Participants will gather from 5pm on Friday 15th, with the course starting properly on Saturday 16th and finishing on Thursday 28th July. Further details below; a full course description is available from cazingall@gmail.com
‘During this internationally recognised certificate course we shall cover every major topic in Bill Mollison’s Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual. Living simply on the land we will be building community and experiencing new ways of connecting with each other and creatively solving problems together.
‘Accompanied by film evenings/skill shares to extend the learning, this course offers life changing new ways to positively engage with the communities and landscapes around us. An outline of topics includes:
– Philosophies and Ethics underlying permaculture
– Permaculture principals and how they shape things in general
– Patterns in Nature and how to use that in design; methods of design; how to go from a damaged piece of land to having an idea for how to move forward with it
– Climatic factors and how to work with them
– Trees, forests and why we want to mimic their systems
– Water: catchment, usage, importance and conservation
– Soil, minerals, micro-organisms, building new soil and conservation
– Permaculture Gardening
– Earthworks: How to shape the land to help it achieve the goals we are aiming for
– Aquaculture, utilising water for high efficiency production
– Natural Building
– Alternative systems: community living, and other ways of choosing to live differently that work well for people and the planet
‘Fast paced and intensive, yet creative and dynamic, the course breaks away from traditional education and is an inclusive and collective learning journey! With plenty of ‘hands on’ practical learning to back up the class studies, this course is fun and engaging for all, whether you are new to Permaculture of wishing to extend your skills.
‘On completion of this course you can practise as a Permaculture designer or go onto further studies on accredited courses.
‘£420 Certificate Course including 12 days camping and organic food.
‘For more details see www.integralpermanence.org or email for information pack integralpermanence@gmail.com’
Music session on 15 May / Bring Back Folkwaves Campaign
There will be a traditional music session next Sunday 15 May at the Prince of Wales pub in Moseley. All musicians are welcome to come along and share a few tunes. More information on our website www.tradartsteam.co.uk/music/musicsession.htm
If you want to help bring back the popular Folkwaves programme, presented for over 25 years by Mick Peat and Lester Simpson on BBC Radio Derby, now is your chance. Over 1,000 signatures have been collected so far on a petition for presentation to BBC Local Radio Management to show the tremendous support from East Midland BBC licence payers – but the larger the petition the better. If you would be willing to collect signatures, please download a copy of the petition from www.tradartsteam.co.uk/folkwaves.html, get all your friends to sign it, and send it back to Bring Back Folkwaves Campaign, Prospect Cottage, Upper Lea, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 5GR
All the best – Pam
—
PAM BISHOP
Traditional Arts Team
19 Springfield Road
Kings Heath
Birmingham
B14 7DU
tel 0121 247 3856
pam@tradartsteam.co.uk
The Traditional Arts Team runs activities in the Midlands relating to traditional song, music, storytelling and dance, and publishes the Folk
Monthly magazine.
More info at www.tradartsteam.co.uk
Community allotment in need of volunteers
Judy Steele says:
We have a fantastic allotment in Lillington at Black Lane and are looking for volunteers to help to maintain it. There are families who are keen to come with children, but are unable to give the time to the preparation needed. We grow mostly fruit and vegetables and have a large polytunnel for tomatoes and cucumbers.
If you can help please get in touch with:
Judy Steele
judy@dmac.co.uk
South Warwickshire Local Food cic
01926 887119
07786 137770
Please leave a phone message if you can’t get through, or use text or email, as I may not be able to answer immediately.
Canalside features in CPRE report looking at local food webs in Kenilworth
As part of the Big Lottery funded ‘Making Local Food Work’ programme reports, mapping local food webs in 6 locations in England, have been produced by CPRE – the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Kenilworth was one of the locations studied and Canalside features in a case study, with quotes from our two Kenilworth veg members.
This is the summary of the report. To download it as a PDF, copy and paste the link below to go to the CPRE website.
Kenilworth, a small, relatively prosperous market town, demonstrates a promising, yet not too extensive, food web. Recently, redevelopment of the town centre introduced the first Waitrose in Warwickshire alongside other national chain shops and food outlets. These co-exist with a variety of small, traditional outlets including a butcher, greengrocer, baker, delicatessen, farm shops and a weekly retail market, which offers some local food. Over 30 outlets are servicing public demand for locally sourced food coming from over 75 producers. Many of the independent outlets selling local food were found to help raise awareness among customers of where their food comes from and how it is produced. Food outlets provide valuable local jobs with, we estimate over 175 jobs at outlets in the study area and a further 580 at local suppliers supported by sales into the town. Local food sales in Kenilworth amount to an estimated £3.2 to £7.5 million annually.
http://www.cpre.org.uk/what-we-do/farming-and-food/local-foods/update/item/1660-our-new-research-shows-the-value-of-local-food-webs