Greendykes Organic Allotments are holding a Planting Week between 4-11th March. To kick start things they are looking for volunteers to help plant 200 native trees on 4th March between 10am — 2pm.
Tools, gloves and refreshments will be provided. Bring spades or extra plants if you have them!
For further information please contact Brian Shields on 0131 6613504 (wk) or 0131 6605351 (hm) or brian.shields@edinburgh.gov.uk
Posted in events, gardening, Volunteering
Nourish is a network of people and groups interested in local food in Scotland, who, to quote their Declaration of Dunbar “..are working towards a sustainable Scotland in which, in every region we produce more of what we eat and eat more of what we produce.” To join just register at Nourish.
The Nourish Scotland Annual Conference 2011 will bring together parties interested in Local Food from all over the UK for Wonderful Workshops, Spectacular Speakers, Luscious Local Food and a Cracking Ceilidh! Tickets are on sale from http://nourishconference2011.eventbrite.com/
On Saturday, Lesley Riddoch will be chairing the debate at our Hustings event, with political representatives from a cross section of parties taking your questions on the issues surrounding Local Food and Land Use.
Wild Food with Ian Edwards of the Scottish Wild Harvests Association
Farmer’s Markets with Howard Wilkinson of Ayrshire Food Network
What To Do when the Funding runs out – expert advice on Social Enterprise and Income Generation
CAP Reform with David Barnes of the Scottish Government
Nourish: The Way Forward – Plenary Session to vote on priorities for Nourish Strategic Plan and options for Regionalisation
Opportunities in Procurement & Government Tenders including the Commonwealth Games
Getting Community Growing Projects Going with Urban Roots
Food Waste with Zero Waste Scotland
Land Use Strategy with Jo Hunt and John Ferguson of Nourish
Inspirational Visit to LEGUP Urban Growing Project in Govan
Land and Legal Issues for Community Growing with Landshare
Orchards with panellist of 4 experts taking your questions
Veg Box Schemes – with Caspar Lampkin and Fiona Ross
Food Security with Mike Small of Fife Diet
Haggis Making with Chef Didier of Whitmuir Organics
Andrew Whitley from Bread Matters, founder of the Village Bakery and Real Bread Campaign
Fisheries, Slow Food and many more…
We’ll be dancing the night away in our Friday night Ceilidh with music from Sarah Northcott and the Little Biggar Band. We’ll be providing a bar too for your choice of refreshment…
Delicious seasonal meals using local produce (organic wherever possible) will be supplied by Hyndberry. Lunch and Dinner on Friday and Lunch on Saturday are included in the price of Weekend Tickets.
This year we have Free Childcare courtesy of GERA’s Mobile Play Team who’ll be running food related workshops and arts and crafts activities for the younger delegates.
The conference will be held at the Pearce Institute in Govan, Glasgow. The Pearce is a fantastic venue, with plenty of room for networking and breakout sessions. It’s right across the street from the Subway, is wheelchair accessible and has a Hearing Induction Loop. More here: http://www.pearceinstitute.org.uk/
Posted in events, Food, Land Reform
There will be a Mushroom Growing Course on Saturday the 19th of February, between 10am and 12 noon. Come along and learn from Dr Neville Kilkenny the fascinating art of growing edible mushrooms on wooden logs, and take home your own innoculated log! This is an indoor course limited to 12 places. The course is free, but we suggest a donation of £5. Please reserve your place early to avoid disappointment! (NB This course is now full, but register your interest with us in case we are able to lay on another mushroom event.)
Sustainable communities working together towards financial independence.
In these tough economic times how do ‘community led’ sustainability projects maintain momentum? What strategies/income generating options exist or could be developed, and how can communities work together to increase the effect of what they do?
You are invited to attend a gathering of active communities in Scotland to discuss these ideas and to consider some of our options. Click here to book a place
Date: 5th March 2011
Time: 9.30am (for registration) till 5pm
Venue: Oatridge College, Ecclesmachan, BROXBURN, West Lothian EH52 6NH (click for map)
There will be a free minibus between Linlithgow railway station and the venue
Cost
This event is free. You can also get help with travel costs.
Speakers
Tim Helwig Larsen (author of the Zero Carbon Britain Report) — Energy Bank
Georgy Davis - Community Energy Scotland, Development Officer for SE Scotland
James Hiddinga — Ethica Solutions Scotland Ltd.
A diverse range of speakers will highlight some of the ways that communities can work together on income generating projects. There will be opportunities to work in depth with the speakers and get a real insight into the range of projects they are engaged with. There will also time to talk with people from other communities, to share your own thoughts and ideas and hear from others.
Last chance to book a place on Out of the Blue’s Happy Green Cookery Course which starts tomorrow.
Friday February 11 Quaker Meeting House Edinburgh 5.30 – 8.30
Just Food connects local farms with the city to get fresh, seasonal and sustainably grown food to people on all different incomes
This event is for everyone interested in strengthening Edinburgh’s local food system and making affordable fresh local food available to all.
5.30 Soup and bread
6.30 Talk by Abby Youngblood from Just Food, followed by discussion
Cost £2 at the door. Advance booking essential
To book or for further information contact pete@whitmuirorganics.co.uk 01968 661908
This event has been sponsored jointly by:
Transition Edinburgh South
Nourish
Edinburgh Local Food Network
Transition Edinburgh University
Portobello Organic Market features the best of artisan and organic food, drink and arts & crafts sourced from the south east of Scotland. The market is held on the first Saturday of each month (except January, when there will be no market). With an open plan layout and up to 25 stalls selling a wide range of produce, what bet ter way to start your month?
Venue: Brighton Park, Brighton Place, Portobello, Edinburgh
Opening Times: 10am to 2pm, Saturday 5th February and the first Saturday of every month thereafter.
You can view more inform a tion about the Organic Market and how to book a stall via these links.
In February and March 2011, The Edinburgh Community Backgreens Association (ECBA) will be running a FREE Community Gardener training programme, covering all the skills you need to become a fully fledged community gardener in your neighbourhood.
During the course of the training, we will establish a community gardener network so the participants can support each other’s projects after the training has finished.
This training is for anyone who is involved in community gardening projects, or anyone who would like to start or get involved with a project. The participatory approach to training means that we will draw on participants’ varied knowledge and experiences to learn.
Course Content
some of the key themes we will cover are:
* Models for Community Gardening within a Tenemental Context
* How to recruit group members and publicise Community Backgreen projects
* Design Issues and creating a development plan for your site
* Carrying out your backgreen plans: running workshops etc
* Running a Community Backgreen Group
* Establishing a support network for the newly trained Community Gardeners
Dates and Location
The Community Gardener training will run on four full Saturdays from 10am-5pm, (with regular refreshment breaks). The training will be held at the ECBA offices: 5 Rose Street The dates of the workshops will be:
Saturday 12th February
Saturday 26th February
Saturday 12th March
Saturday 26th March
Registration and Attendance
You can attend just some or all of the workshops, as long as you let ECBA know in advance which ones you plan to attend. To register for the course:
email courses@ecba.org.uk, or call 0131 248 2698
For more information see the ECBA website — www.ecba.org.uk
Sunday 26th September saw the launch of a campaign by St Philips church to support the congregation and church hall users in reducing their carbon emissions by 10% within a year.
At harvest sunday mass, there was a presentation on climate change and things we can all do to reduce our carbon footprint. Over the following year, there will be opportunities for people to make pledges, receive more information on how to fulfill these, and report back on the changes they’ve made.
Posted in events
The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens are having their National Networking Event on Friday, October 8th 2010 at Battleby, near Perth.
Workshops include New Allotments; a look at different allotments models, Livestock on Community Gardens, Social Return on Investment, Selling Produce at Farmers Markets, Orchards, Wildlife Gardening in Winter, Community Gardening and the 2011 Elections, Risk Management and more!
There will be a chance to meet funders, find out about beekeeping, Care Farming, Planning Aid Scotland and hear case studies from other projects. It’s a great opportunity to network, meet like-minded people and share ideas.
For further information please contact naomi@farmgarden.org.uk Tel: 0131 623 7058 Deadline for applications is Friday 16th September 2010.
You can down load booking forms at http://www.farmgarden.org.uk/farms-gardens/your-region/scotland/506-news-a-events
Posted in events, Food, gardening, Land Reform, Orchards
