Friday August 6, 2010

Update

Local food fun: we've been writing for a while about the city's first Local Food Week during the annual Food & Drink Festival. We're really excited to announce that as a part of Local Food Week we'll be holding a big Local Food Picnic in Preston Park. Come join us for a day of swapping, sharing and cooking delicious local food. There will be lots of other great events happening during Local Food Week , including a screening of Food Inc, a food quiz, Apple Day and much more. In fact, September will be a month full of food-related fun, with loads of activities and event going on during the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival.

Next week is National Allotments Week! National Allotments week runs from 9-15 August, and here in Brighton & Hove there's lots going on to celebrate our love of gardening. There will be opportunities to visit allotment sites and learn more about the great community projects in Brighton & Hove. Some of the events during Allotments week include:

- 13 August: networking day for community food growing projects.  More info

- 14 August: jam making session & work day at the Transition Community Allotment. More info

- 14 August: opening of the city's first organic allotment plots at Foredown. More info about this and other allotment events...

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This months growing & eating tips

In the kitchen... The summer harvest is still going strong. Your garden, allotment or veg box will be full of tasty items like beans, courgettes, carrots, salads, cucumbers, tomatoes and so much more. We've recently added lots of new summer recipes to the Harvest recipe index. We hope you'll be inspired to try something new, like Jhal Muri (Bengali puffed rice salad), or a great classic such as Salad Nicoise.

In the garden... After so much warm, dry weather your garden will probably have been thrilled to see a bit of rain over the past few days! We're really into that bountiful time of year now, with courgettes, beans, tomatoes, raspberries, currants, beetroot and salad leaves amongst just a few of the summer's garden treats. There's lots to harvest, but lots to be planting out and sowing for the winter too. Some things to try sowing outdoors turnips, chard, winter radishes and broccoli raab. Plant out your cauliflowers, savoy cabbages and transplant your leeks. More August gardening tips...

Beyond the garden...You may have noticed the many gorgeous cherry plum trees dotted around the city brimming with yellow, rosy pink or purple fruit perfect for making jam, desserts, or other concoctions. If you feel inspired here's a plum jam recipe to try, but instead of removing the stones by hand you'll have to fish them out with a slotted spoon as the jam cooks. It's worth the time and effort!

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Funding & Project Support

Free trees for schools and community groups : the Woodland Trust has 250 free tree packs available. They offer a choice of four packs, one of which is called Jams, jellies, chutneys and cordials. Trees must be planted this autumn so get your application in quick! More information about the programme and how your can apply for a free tree pack.

Grassroots Grants to close in March 2011: Grassroots Grants, which has funded many local community projects, is coming to an end in March 2011. Funds are still available for projects that will end by 31 March 2011, so there is still time to put in an application. There are no deadlines for grants of £250 - £900. For grants of £901 - £5000 deadlines are 27 August and 8 October. More information...

New resources on the Harvest website: we've got a new Groups section all about support for community food projects on the website. You can find information about funding, our mentoring programme and lots of useful resources on a variety of topics. We've also added some case studies, which showcase the different spaces people are using to grow their own. We'll add more as time goes on, and in the meantime get in touch if you're growing food in an interesting or unusual way and would like to be a case study! 

Have a great weekend! - The Harvest Team

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