Bonfire below zero
Sp
ring news l e
Ba t
ic Gro n a g r up O h From plot to prairie?
Advancing guerrillas
0 10 r2
• Bill’s big birthday • Seed swap info • The BOG spring and summer diary • biodynamic gardening
www.bathorganicgroup.org.uk
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Plus
Time to spend a penny Dear BOGgers What a fine AGM we had last November - you should have been there. I was slightly disappointed not to have been presented with a gold watch or model of slug moulded in Madeira cake but then I am used to these setbacks. The 20th anniversary of this wonderful organic gardening group was marked by a splendid January picnic. We cleared away the snow and sacrificed the traditional sausage and baked a BOG grown potato on a brilliant bonfire - you should have been there. So, what now? We obviously want more people to visit our lovely gardens and experience the delights of organic gardening. At the moment, should nature call they can be adventurous and use the long serving and slightly down-at-heel treebog. Or they have to leg it 7 miles to the nearest public convenience. If you are even slightly disabled this can be a hard decision. The truth is we need new on-site facilities. It would be a wonderful and fitting end to our 20th year to be able to cut the ribbon on a new,
before it’s too late state of the art compost toilet. But we need to raise serious cash. The first and easiest step of this process would be for all those who haven’t yet to paid their subs (oh how I hate saying this every year). Standing order is favourite and a form is on another page of the newsletter. But we do not eschew cash, cheques and other easily negotiable means of exchange. The next would be to set up a fund raising group. I am not doing this on my own and the committee is busy elsewhere, so I need people to join me. Those prepared to help in even the smallest way are welcome. Phone (319117) or email (peter@eco-logicbooks.com) me and off we go. In the meantime I look forward to seeing you (and your friends, neighbours and colleagues) at the Seed Swap on February 21– facing page, or see the lovely website for more details. Yours with crossed legs and no official status Peter Andrews
Bath Organic Group SEED SWAP SUNDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2010 2:30 – 4:30 St Mark’s Community Centre St Mark’s Road : Widcombe : BA2 4PA Entry: £2 (to pay for the room)
The annual SEED SWAP meeting is a great place to share crops that have been successful for you – hope you’ve saved some seeds – and swap them for those that other people have grown. It’s an excellent way to find veg seeds that do well in Bath, and new ones to try out – and it’s all for the price of a packet of seeds from the garden centre. WHAT TO DO 1. Put this date in your diary 2. Pack up and label your seeds – in small quantities – for swapping: Plant & Variety – be as accurate as you can Year Grown – very important Your name – and phone number and any tips on growing 3. Bake a cake – bring cake to share. Tea etc provided. 4. Eat – drink – chat – and swap seeds If you are new to seed saving, come along anyway and find out about it For further information, contact Sue Kendall (01225) 335813
TOAST
The usual BOG celebration cakes had real icing all round for the 20 birthday party of the community garden in January. The snow that carpeted the plot was no great problem: early arrivals had started a bonfire which provided both heat and a cooking medium for potatoes and the charcoal that barbecued sausages and warmed up the pizza. And because the wood had got wet in the snow it also produced enough smoke to make everyone smell like kippers for hours after. There was even water, because some prescient person had thought to
bring a container of the stuff, anticipating correctly that all the normal supplies in the steel shed would be frozen. The only casualty of
the day was Steve Chamberlain’s hedgelaying demonstration, which had to be cancelled, not least because the hedge was a bit snowed up.
BILL’S BIG BIRTHDAY
In October Bill Brown celebrated his 85th birthday with a big party at the Moravian Church Hall. Among the Guests were Tim ,Steve, Len, Pauline, Rosemary ,Dan and Izzie, the Kales and the Gibbons.
Other guests were some ladies from Sheppard’s Gardens, and friends from Bath City Farm and the Canal Trust. It was good to meet Ked and Warren again as they had worked with us on the garden
for years and to see Ked’s lovely little girl Iona. Bill had asked us to wear T shirts with a logo on to stimulate conversation so I wore my new green Bath Organic Group one. No problem as there was a happy buzz throughout the evening. We had a splendid meal of soup ,cold meats and salads, followed by huge chunks of sponge cake and the bar did a lively trade. Bill did a short speech followed by thanks from the groups present the n the mock cake with real candles came in and photos were taken. But the real stars were a couple of bemused city farm chickens which Bill tucked under his arms and introduced to us. Instead of presents he had asked for donations to City farm and was delighted that it raised over £250 We look forward to your 90th Bill .Cheers! Sheila Blethyn
Guerrillas make a mark
The guerrilla gardeners have worked for two days on a site at the top of Park Street, up behind St James’ Square in Bath. In December a patch of bramble and nettle was cleared to ground level, and then – the real sweat – the team set about digging out the roots. We celebrated the end of our first day by planting an apple tree, not
knowing we were condemning it to a month of freezing weather. On January 24 we had a second day there, taking down an old fence to slightly enlarge the site, then tackling the roots again. Enough space was cleared to start a herb garden with rosemary, sage, oregano and some lavender. Guerrilla gardening has a long history, and much of it is for visual amenity. Contacts and links In Bath, we were directly inspired guerrillagardening.org/ (for a Lonby the Incredible Edible speaker don example) Virginia Williamson: (vjwilliamson@ from Todmorden, who came to the Big Event in November. Incredhotmail.com) ible Edible aims to ‘grow and For future dates, contact Lyn Barham (lynbarham@btinternet.com or campaign for local food’. The first aim is to use space for productive 01225 428029).
Left: before. Above: preparing for the herbs. Right: planting the apple tree
purposes (which we all think has great visual amenity anyway!) and for produce to be freely available to the local community. Could Bath guerrilla gardeners have as big an impact as they’ve had in Todmorden? We hope so. A useful step would be to encourage some people to take on the role of identifying possible sites in their local ward. We can then create a shared city-wide list, and expand our numbers by encouraging local friends (and anyone else) to work on sites in their area, where they’ll also have easy access to the produce. Virginia Williamson has the beginnings of a list of ward-based site-
seekers, and can offer advice on how to find your ward boundaries on the B&NES website. Meanwhile, we’ll be returning to those obstinate bramble roots in Park Street some time in the next month. And the apple tree? It’s still there, but very dormant. We’ve got our fingers crossed that it has survived its chilly ordeal.
What’s on at BOG? FEBRUARY Saturday 13th 2 – 5pm
Ready Get Set Grow In the Brunswick Room at the Guildhall, Bath - an Allotment Association event
Sunday, 21st 2.30 – 4pm
Seed Swap at St Marks Community Centre, Widcombe - please bring any seeds you have clearly labelled and of course .. c a k e ..
MARCH Tuesday, 2nd 11am
Garden Development Meeting
APRIL Saturday, 3rd Morning
First Farmers Market of the year. Help will be needed on the Friday to pick/ prepare produce. Members who have volunteered to help out will be contacted beforehand. If you would like your name added to this list please see Sheila, Kate or Pauline
Saturday, 10th 11 am
Garden Development Meeting
Friday, 30th MAY Monday 3rd 9.30 – 5.00 Saturday, 8th Morning Tuesday, 11th 11am
Growing Green preparations start Growing Green Open Day at BOG community garden Our main event of the year. Lots of helpers needed for refreshments, the plant/ produce stall, and to show visitors around the garden. To add your name to the list please see Sheila, Kate or Pauline. Farmers Market Garden Development Meeting
JUNE Saturday, 5th Morning
Farmers Market
Saturday, 12th all day
John Brookes Plant Sale at Southstoke in aid of Julian House We need helpers both morning and afternoon
Saturday, 19th 11 am
Garden Development Meeting
JULY Saturday, 3rd
Farmers Market
Tuesday, 13th
Garden Development Meeting
AUGUST Saturday, 7th
Farmers Market
11am Saturday, 14th
Garden Development Meeting
SEPTEMBER Saturday, 4th
Farmers Market
Biodynamic alternatives Mike Atherton gave a talk on biodynamic gardening in the newly restored polytunnel on a very wet Sunday in October. For those that braved the elements he presented a picture of the earth, its past and present condition, and what can be done to combat the changes that are happening. The biodynamic movement started in 1924 after lectures by Rudolf Steiner, ‘a philospher, scientist and social reformer whose spiritual research has also influenced education, medicine and the arts.’ It is an holistic movement encompassing all life, regarding the planet as a whole, as a living whole. Land is a part of this whole. ‘Instead of simply supplying the plant with nutrients, the biodynamic gardener aims to bring such life and vitality to the soil that the plants
by Kate Mills themselves are eager to grow and find what they need. ‘The heart of the biodynamic garden is its compost heap. All organic waste can be transformed into humus-rich compost with the help of biodynamic compost preparations. ‘These are made from yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle, oak bark, dandelion and valerian, through a unique process of fermentation. ‘The humus-like substances are added to the compost in minute amounts and help to guide and regulate the decomposing and humus-forming processes in the soil and make plant nutrients such as sulphur, potash, nitrogen, calcium silica and phosphorous available in precisely the form needed by the plant for healthy growth. ‘Two further biody-
namic preparations are used to stimulate and harmonise plant growth. ‘These are horn manure and horn silica, two sporay preparations which act in a polar way to one another. Horn manure is specially prepared cow manure and horn silica finely ground and prepared quartz meal. Both undergo a fermentation process in a cow horn. ‘Before being applied they are dissolved in water and stirred vigorously for one whole hour - usually by several people. It’s hard work. ‘Horn manure is sprayed towards evening, directly onto the soil prior to sowing or planting. ‘Horn silica is sprayed early in the morning as a fine mist onto the growing plant. It helps to stabilise plant matabolism and enhance the qualitiative development of the crop. ‘ Continued
Remember?
The next edition of the newsletter will mark 25 years of BOG and it would be good to trace the history of the organisation through the memories of you, the members. All scurrilous and outrageous stories about characters and events in the past will be published without fear or favour, relying on the vast resources of the organisation to pay off any court proceedings that follow. Send your memories now to Geoff Andrews (contact details in the next column)
Continued from previous page • Quoted text is taken from Biodynamic Agricultural Association literature. For more information contact BDAA Painswick Inn Project, Gloucester Street, Stroud GL5 1QG Email: office@biodynamic. org.uk Or The Garden for Research Experiential Education and Nutrition (GREEN), Upper Grange, Lovedays Mead, Stroud, GL5 1XB Garden Visits can be arranged at Biodynamic Gardening Initiatives, The Marshes Farmhouse, Eaton Bishop, HR2 9QT. Tel 01981 251845 and at GREEN
BOG CONTACTS Community garden matters: Tim Baines 28 Ashley Avenue, BA1 3DS 01225 312116 timjbaines@yahoo.co.uk Membership/rotas/visits Sheila Blethyn 9 Winsley Road Bradford on Avon BA15 1QR 01225 866150 sheilablethyn@tiscali.co.uk Trading hut/farmers’ market Pauline Magrath 8 Beech Avenue Bath BA2 7BA 01225 Not the chair Peter Andrews 19 Maple Grove, BA2 3AF 01225 319117 zen20627@zen.co.uk Newsletter/Gardenshare Geoff Andrews 30 Oldfield road Bath BA2 3NF 01225 484422 g.andrews@mac.com
Bread - the hardest way Last year BOG used our loaf and grew wheat in the community garden, enough for a loaf at BUFFET (described in the last issue). So here’s how we did it. As members of the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens we got a little packet of Paragon spring wheat and some basic instructions (as part of their Mission Nutrition project with Blue Peter). So we set aside alittle bit of ground, prepared it to a fine tilth and sowed and followed the directions to sow seed 2cm apart in rows 10cm apart between mid March and mid April. A bit of protection to keep the pigeons/mice off was needed until the shoots got going and a couple of weedings to keep down the competition. By July the ears were forming on 45 cm high plants and harvesting was done in Early August (the mice and rats kept a better eye on it than us
By Danny Smith, (with last year’s bread) and started their own harvest before we did). The grain was dried and (very) laboriously picked from the ears and then winnowed. Grain is stored dry for use and next years planting (come to the seed swap to get some of your own seedcorn). Store in bulk but not in an airtight container. Making flour from the ill gotten grains is a bit more of a problem - I didn’t fancy hours of work with a quern stone and lacking a
coffee/spice grinder I invested in a manual grain mill (available for less than £50, search the internet or your nearest Lakeland shop). 20 minutes light arm exercise later you should have enough flour for a loaf (and the appetite to eat it). It worked out at about 500 grams of grain per square metre - slightly better if you can keep the vermin off - not a high yield for garden space but the soil doesn’t need to be brilliant (though you might consider following wheat with another crop e.g. buckwheat, if harvested early enough). Lessons learnt: • leave the ears on the stalks so you thresh against something • when winnowing drop the grain onto something large and soft (sheet) - hard surfaces make the grain jump away! • keep an eagle eye on the ripening ears (or grow in a cat patrolled area).
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at St Marks Community Centre, Widcombe, Bath on November 29
held at St Marks Community Centre, Widcombe, Bath on November 28 Present : Pauline Magrath, Kate Mills, Su Joel, Jane & Bernard Thomason, Sheila Blethyn, Rosemary Alvis, Geoff Andrews, Su Kendall, Lyn Barham, Jon Lucas, Virginia Williamson, Gill Christie, Di Nelson, James Bond, Bill Brown, Tim Baines, Dan Smith, Helen Woodley, Peter Andrews, Diana Burgess, Steve Chamberlain, Mat Lewis, Len Fawcett and Sylvia Hudnott Apologies had been received from Steve Isaacs and Simi Rezai Before the meeting started at 2pm we had a shared lunch 1.The Minutes of last year’s meeting were approved. 2.Peter reminded everyone that 2010 is the 25th anniversary of the start of Bath Organic Group and the 20th anniversary of the community garden and, unlike when we started, it is now thought fairly normal to be ‘organic’. Report on Activities in the past year : Tim on the Trading Hut : it’s now three years since we took over the running of the hut from the Allotment Association, the last negotiated payment of £250 will be paid to them next year. The turnover was up 8%, takings £5,546, giving a profit of £312.
Tim thanked everyone who helped out with the hut. The Trading Hut was now taking orders for onions, potatoes and seeds from either Kings Seeds or the Organic Gardening catalogue and to gain the discount of 25% they need to be able to send an order in to the value of £170. Anyone sending in an order will be reimbursed by way of a voucher which can be spent at the trading hut. Tim also sought orders for West Riding seed compost. Pauline on the Market : last year they took £1,027 and this year £1,244, which was without the Southstoke sales. They are trying to provide unusual and/or difficult to buy fruit and veg which no-one else sells. This is very labour intensive, ie soft fruits which are very popular. They plan to sell small plants in the first few months next year when there is not much produce available to sell. Unfortunately there have been a lot of thefts, not only in our garden but generally in all the allotment sites in the area. This has been reported to the police. It was thought that these thefts are done by people who then sell on to pubs and clubs. The garden committee will talk to Simon about putting up a higher wire around the perimeter and Virginia Williamson offered to draft a letter to the Federation of
Pubs and to the Council committee who deal with licencing. Action : Garden Committee and Virginia Williamson Lyn Barham volunteered to make an A3 board to hang up with the produce prices. However, Pauline said that Philippa Donaldson who helps to take the produce to the market does not have any room in her car, so Lyn said she will enquire if it could be stored in The Hub. Action : Lyn Barham It was hoped that a leaflet dispenser could be obtained to display various leaflets about organic gardening and the new ‘Once a Pip’ booklet that had been produced. Garden Committee : The committee try to meet once a month on alternate Tuesdays and Saturdays to involve as many people as possible. Communication is the key as without the volunteers the garden would not exist. John Gibbons was thanked for his help earlier in the year and a letter will be sent to him. The children’s area is now covered and water butts installed and the polytunnel has been reskinned and given a new floor. The Growing Green Day was the best yet and the garden looked fantastic with thanks to everyone who helped to get it ready.
Tim & Dan have put in an application for funding for a new compost toilet. Kate has produced a diary for the year with all the dates for the committee meetings and various other Open Days. Sheila asked for volunteers for the garden rota and a list was handed around the meeting. Bill is providing funds for chickens to be kept in the garden and these will be bought in the Spring. Sheila on School Visits : Sheila thanks Kate Mills, Pauline Magrath, Margaret Herrick, Alison Mayall, Len Fawcett, Gill Christie and Margaret Hall for their help with the visits. In March two classes from Oldfield Park visited and went home with lettuce and tomato seeds in pots. At the end of the summer term 60 children from Oldfield Park had visited – in two parties of 30 – to help with juicing. Sheila will send out circulars to another 12 schools but the problem is transport. The schools that do visit are only a short distance from the garden and can be walked to it. Newsletter : Peter thanked Geof Andrews for producing the newsletter and the next one will be sent out in February – last date for entries 8th January, also for his help in producing the Once a Pip booklet.
3.Treasurer’s Report : Dan presented his accounts. BOG was very lucky to receive so many donations for the Shed of Steel and everyone was thanked for their involvement. £200 was made from Tim’s stall at the Flower Show and the 2010 show will be more of a community show, which will probably be beneficial to BOG, as we will be able to provide lots of small plants from the garden. 4. Appointment of Auditors : Lyn Barham volunteered to audit the accounts. 5.Election of Committee : Peter Andrews is standing down as Chair. No-one came forward for this position so it was suggested that at future meetings we have a ‘rotating Chair’. Everyone else is willing to stand again but it would be good to have some different faces on the committee and everyone was reminded that anyone can attend these which are usually held at Peter’s house. 6. Any Other Business: On 13th February from 2-5pm a Ready Get Set Grow show will be held at the Guildhall, an Allotment Association event. There will be 12 stalls [BOG will have two]. Mention was made of BAGS which is being run by BOG, the Allotment Association and Transition Bath, which enables people without land to contact someone who has surplus land or who are unable to look after
it themselves. However, the council won’t give the names of those who are waiting for an allotment, so one of the stalls will take the names of anyone interested in having some land and vice versa. This scheme is quite strictly controlled with rules. This will also enable people to become aware of what they will be taking on when they do get an allotment. Dan Smith was thanked for the excellent BOG website and mention should be made of his homemade bread as he had grown the wheat and milled the flour himself. …tea break… with auction of various items which brought in £30+ We then broke up into smaller groups to discuss the future of BOG and the following items arose : 1. How to attract younger people into the garden? - Diana Burgess mentioned a young man who had been very enthusiastic but had been told that he could not come down. This, in fact, had been discussed at a BOG committee meeting held on 5th October. We were concerned as he was only 14 years of age and therefore came under the Children’s Act. We also became aware that we had no Child Protection Policy which has now been written. However, we are still unsure of where we stand on this. Diana is going to work at Bath City Farm and is undergoing a Criminal Records check at the moment. We have
asked her to enquire at Bath City Farm how they deal with this situation.ACTION : Diana Burgess 2. One-off evening courses at the garden covering good organic practices – perhaps initially these could be offered to parents after a school visit. 3.Education : How to Grow Vegetables plus a starter pack /
plus plants with flyers perhaps at Trading Hut 4.Plants being grown to show the stages of development of a plant : • just germinated • two weeks later • two further weeks on – and so on to full grown 5.Weather conditions – what affects plants. 6.Simple garden courses 7.Square meal project
8.Feedback of activities 9. Surplus of produce 10. Large laminated map of BOG with opening times information – at library/BRLSI/ where else? Peter thanked everyone for their suggestions which will be discussed at either the Garden or BOG committee meetings. He thanked everyone for attending and the meeting closed around 4.30.
Accounts Garden Admin1 Farmer’s market Membership Donations Rent Gardener2 Seedswap Square meal Growing Green3 Shed of steel4 Insurance5 Total OPENING BALANCE
Income 2008/2009
2007/2008
2,061.80
1,233.94
1,042.00 529.00
856.00 216.68
75.00 619.71
40.00 12.92 310.60
1,009.47 5,336.98 1573.52
2,670.14
Payments 2008/2009 231.30 96.52 1,137.28
2007/2008 962.45 148.24 1,298.66
185.00
91.50
161.29 2,215.99 30.00
153.07 1,836.00 6.50 79.00
1,410.00 399.00 5,866.38 CLOSING BALANCE
76.00 4,651.42 1,044.12
NOTES 1email newsletter for majority of members. 2 includes some material expenses. 3 spring flower show stall inc. 4 Triodos account emptied. 5 two years of garden insurance
Bath & North East Somerset Allotments Association
Ready, Get Set – Grow! Saturday, 13th February, 2-5 pm Guildhall, Bath
This is a FREE event for anyone who wants to start growing vegetables? Come and find out what’s involved in preparing and maintaining a plot. Of special interest to anyone
• on the allotment waiting list • thinking of applying for an allotment • who would like a ‘garden share’ • who would like to gain experience in a community vegetable garden
• planning a veg plot at home