hkd newsletter

ISSUE 29!

SEPTEMBER, 2012

HKD TRANSITION Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint, Keymer, Ditchling Transition www.hkdtransition.org.uk

Building a stronger local community to cope with peak oil and climate change

Autumnfest to showcase workshops Our annual Autumnfest on Saturday September 29 in Hassocks will feature a series of workshops and talks on a range of subjects as well as all the other delights you have come to expect from our celebration of local food, drink and sustainability.

The event is free and takes place from 10am to 3pm at Downlands School in Dale Avenue, Hassocks as part of HKD's work to highlight and promote sustainable living. The event includes local food, energy efficiency and renewables, crafts and other stalls.

We have now confirmed the following speakers and workshops – more may be added before the event so look out for final details which will be posted up at the school on the day.

Time

Workshop

Theme

10.30-11am

GREnergy

Renewable heat

11-11.30am

Downs Energy

Insulating your home how to pay for it

12-12.30pm

South Downs Solar

Solar energy for your home

12.30-1pm

Magpie Co-op

Wormeries and composting

1.30-2pm

Andrew Tolfts, Woodfuel Development WSCC

Sustainable wood for home heating

2-2.30pm

Philip O’Connell

Keeping bees

tbc

Deryn Bell

Stone Carving Demonstration

Can you help out at the Autumnfest ?

The Autumnfest is shaping up well: we have had a good response from a wide variety of stallholders, and there should be plenty of interest for everyone.

As you can imagine, it takes a lot of work by a lot of people to make events like this happen. We've had a number of volunteers step forward to help on the day, but we could use a few more.

If you can spare anything from a couple of hours to all day it would make a big difference.

We need people to help with: baking cakes or biscuits ahead of time to sell in the cafe (with a focus on seasonal ingredients - we can help with ideas if you need them); serving teas, coffees, cakes and lunches (soup and Ploughman’s) in the cafe, setting up the hall from 8.30 - 10.00 am; welcoming people at the door, clearing away from 3-4pm; plenty of other things!

If you can help at all please email Juliet Merrifield on julietmerr@gmail.com Last year's volunteers had a great day and had lots of positive feedback. This year promises to be even better!

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Diary 17 September Keymer Berry Walk 7-8.30pm. Tank Track (right at the end of Lodge Lane into Underhill Lane. Parking on the left after a few 100yards). £3, children free. Tel Sarah Furey for details: 01273 831446 and to book a place.

22-23 September Lewes Eco Open Houses. visit homes where the owners have taken steps to seriously reduce carbon emissions and reduce their energy bills. In many cases there have been reductions of 80 or 90% in energy use, CO2 emissions and costs, whilst making houses warmer! Click here for details.

15-29 September.

Hurst Festival. Details click here.

20 September Nature’s medicine chest herbal walk with Sarah Furey. 5-7pm. New Way Lane, Hurstpierpoint. Tel Sarah Furey for details: 01273 831446 and to book a place.

22 September Hassocks Village Market, National Tyre Forecourt 9 am to 1 pm.

29 September Autumnfest. Downlands School, Hassocks 10am-3pm. See details opposite.

28 September -7 October Lewes Octoberfeast. A vibrant festival of local food and drink. A 10-day-long taste-sensation party, organised by local people for local people, on a non-profit basis. Click here for details.

30 September Apple Day, Stanmer Park, Brighton. 11am-5pm. Click here for details.

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ISSUE 29!

SEPTEMBER, 2012

Outside The Box with Collette from Ashurst Organics September! For growers an abundant month, the time of year when summer and winter harvestable crops meet for a short period of plenty. And the fruits of your labour can be quite literally enjoyed before the frosts set in and transform the season.

Ordinarily that is. Of course 2012 has raged with extreme weather, which has curtailed everyone’s harvest somewhat.

Courgettes that failed to produce gluts are already slowing down thanks to the shorter days and colder nights.

The pumpkins and squash that survived are small and the ‘bonsai’ sweet corn have been mostly eaten by badgers being so conveniently low to the ground.

But September has also seen an improvement in growing conditions and at last vegetables that were struggling to produce are finally looking happy and healthy in their beds.

More moderate rainfall and sunnier

days have finally warmed the soil and melted the waterlogged/baked hard ground into something that looks alive with biological activity again.

It is the protection of this ‘soil life’ that is the fundamental principle of the Soil Association.

The charity was set up in the 1940’s to question and resist the faith without caution in agro-chemicals and the economically driven industrialisation of farming.

Soil health is the primary concern of the Organic movement purely and simply because it is the few inches of living substance on which all other life on this planet depends. No soil, no nothing!

To protect soil we can grow food by working with nature rather than by exploiting it. By using organic methods such as mulching, sowing green manures, rotating crops and adding organic matter in the form of recycled green and animal waste.

Chard Pesto Chard - a member of the beetroot family - celebrated here because in our fields it is finally looking lush and edible, rather late in the season. It’s usually harvestable for most of the year and is a reliable crop for the kitchen garden.

Enjoy it while you can.

Ingredients 1 knob butter!

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2 tablespoons olive oil!

2 cloves garlic 1 bunch Swiss chard 50g Pine nuts!

100g freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese Handful of fresh coriander or basil Directions Wash the chard thoroughly and shake to dry. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the olive oil. Peel and chop the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Chop the chard stems and add them to the pan. Stir, then cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Roughly chop the chard leaves and add them to the pan. Cook for another 3 minutes. Toast the pine nuts for a couple of mins.

Turn off the heat under the chard. Add the coriander leaves, pine nuts and parmesan. Puree the mixture until it looks like Pesto. Use as a sauce for pasta or add to stews for extra flavour. Chard is high in magnesium needed for absorbing calcium so pesto is an ideal way to get growing children to eat their greens.

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All of these methods help healthy soil play its part in the carbon cycle, sequestering carbon by locking it up in its structure.

Recently the term organic has fallen from grace and you often hear people say ‘it’s not organic but it is local’ as though local food alone is enough to turn the tide of the massive contribution to carbon emissions from our current world food and farming system.

But why poison your own local environment, bees and insects with pesticides, pollute your own rivers with chemicals?

And why rely on artificial inputs, chemicals that are a by-product of the oil industry - the source of so many carbon emissions and climate extremes that are hampering both conventional and organic producers alike?

Organic has become a dirty word amongst consumers no doubt owing to the perceived relative cost.

But organic farming methods are returning to the mainstream and need encouraging.

If you do grow your own there are great organisations and websites that can help. Garden Organic is well worth joining for its free downloads and troubleshooting tips. http:// www.gardenorganic.org.uk/ This month is also Organic September – The Soil Association’s month long celebration of all things organic. If you haven’t already, you can visit their website and get involved with the celebs: www.soilassociation.org/ Organic September!

One month to support a movement that at the end of the day is just trying to save the world.

Find out more about life at Ashurst Organics at www.ashurst-organics.com

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ISSUE 29!

SEPTEMBER, 2012

with Sarah Brangwyn of Made and Making

Make do and mend

With the summer almost over and, for most of us, the holidays behind us it can be a rather ‘blue’ time of year. How the much anticipated trip away can be over in a flash and become a distant memory even quicker. I was fortunate enough this year to travel to Morocco for 10 days. I last went many years ago and that first trip has always remained my favourite holiday. I was nervous about returning and smashing those memories – perhaps it was all ‘rose tinted glasses’? I needn’t have worried. Our10 days this year were even better than before. With so many mementos to choose from it was hard to settle on one thing but a small selection of tassels captured the colours that I had seen. Then those tassels got me thinking. You don’t need fancy silks to make them look good and they are so simple you can experiment and play to your heart’s content.

Perhaps a simple tassel of string against some brown paper wrapping can capture the eye in a different way. Or tassels from thin strips of fabric, strung like bunting as a party decoration? I’ve even played around with using carrier bags cut into one continuous strip. Imagine a stash of white plastic bags, or an old white flat sheet transformed into a white tassel garland. Is that beginning to sound Christmassy? So if you fancy having a go here’s a quick tutorial on how to make them: 1, Find yourself a piece of cardboard, a book or anything wide that you can wrap your strip around. The wider the chosen object the longer your tassel will be. 2, Create a continuous strip of your chosen material. (For the carrier bag I cut the top and bottom off until it was a tube and then cut a strip as a slight angle so that it unwound around the bag). Wrap your strip around the cardboard (see illustration). 3, Gently ease another piece of the material through all of the strands at one side and tie a knot. 4, Gentle ease off the cardboard and approx 1cm down from the top tie another piece of material around the whole bunch. 5, Hey presto one tassel!

Sarah X

Sewing and making courses After School Children Tuition Running during term time there is now a chance to attend a weekly, hour-long session to develop both hand and machine stitching skills. A variety of projects will be undertaken where hand stitching and embroidery will be integrated into pieces finished by machine.

The sessions run from 3:30pm to 4:30pm, cost £6 per session and are payable termly in advance Please call/email Sarah for more information or to book a place.

Autumn Workshops From beginners’ cushions, to mastering the measuring and making up of curtain and blinds there's a lot being covered. With evening, weekend and weekday sessions there is something for everyone.

Places are limited though so please book early and save your machine now.

21 September Babes in Arms Memory Cushions - 4 hours- 9.30am. 23 September Intermediate sewing - making a cushion using zips - 4 hours - 10.30am. 3 October Learn to make a Roman blind 3 workshops. 9.30am. 5 October Learn to make a roll-up blind - 4 hours - 9.30am. 8 October Learn to Sew - 3 evening sessions 7.30pm. 12 October Simple curtain making - 4 hours 9.30am.

Classes are held in Hassocks and organised and run by Sarah from Made and Making. Click here for details.

China painting class 28 September with Elaine Baker - 4 hours - 9.30am

Next issue Deadline for items for the next newsletter is October 7. Please let us have your letters, stories, news and suggestions by then.

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