Our “Hotspot” Insulation scheme — offering reduced price loft and cavity wall insulation — has been extended, so is still available for all suitable households in Portobello. The offer is being run by Energy Saving Scotland advice centre in partnership with PEDAL. If you would like more information, or to book a free survey, please call 0800 512 012 to speak to an adviser at the Energy Saving Scotland advice centre. Continue reading
Yearly Archives: 2010
FREE Community Gardener Training
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
Local Food Links — next meeting 25th January
Hi, we just wanted to let you know what happened at PEDAL’s recent Local Food Links event, and our plans for the next event — where we hope lots of local people will come along to start working together for locally-produced food grown and sold here in Portobello.
On Tuesday 23rd November in the Community Centre, Heather and Pete of Whitmuir Organics hosted a discussion on local food in Portobello. A group of 16 local people got together to create a vision of a fantastic food future for Portobello … locally-produced and organic … then work out how we might get there.
Have a look at the map we created, and the diagram summarising the current PEDAL Food groups and projects, which is on the Food page of this website.
We are holding a follow up event on Tuesday 25th January from 7 – 9pm. We want to bring together as many people as possible who have been involved in PEDAL’s food projects — whether that’s the orchard, market, food growing courses or whatever — and people who are interested in local food but haven’t yet managed to get involved. Folk will be able to choose the topic they’re most keen on and work with others to plan what can be done over the next year. We hope to see you there!
Details of the venue will be posted on the website and emailed to all those who expressed an interest.
Posted in Uncategorized
Winter Solstice celebration bonfire warms the cockles
On Saturday 18th of December, 2 — 4pm, PEDAL held a Winter Solstice Celebration at Donkeyfield Community Orchard. Around 40 people came along to celebrate this most seasonal of events, including several folk who had never been to the orchard before — not bad for sub-zero temperatures. The trees were wassailed in fine fashion (thanks to Gordon for the local cider, and Mairi for the song from the Winter’s Night concert), Peter brewed up some fine mulled wine and created a fantastically warming fire, Beth told a great story and some lovely lanterns were made.
Local Food Whatever the weather!
The December Portobello Organic Market was a sunny snowy success despite the wintery weather and most other events being cancelled. We brought fresh bread, veg, meat, fish, cakes and gifts to Portobello when everything else seemed to be running out.
The Christmas Hamper Treasure Hunt went down a storm as well , with great competition developing to find the hidden golden apple. The lucky winner of the hamper was Andrew Paton, so congratulations to him and thank you so much to all the stallholders who contributed produce.
Have a very merry christmas and remember the first Portobello Organic Market of 2011 is on February 5th 10am — 2pm.
(Apologies for any confusion caused by January date mentioned in Edinburgh Outlook)
Portobello Organic Market December 2010
Still bringing you lovely local produce despite the wintery weather! Our it’s nearly Christmas Market! Come along and buy christmas decorations, presents and festive treats! Don’t forget you can also order deliveries of fruit, veg, and meat for your christmas dinner.
There will also be Christmas Carol singers (11−12) and a christmas treasure hunt to win a Porty Shopper of goodies.
Stallholders
Bespoke Organic Events — organic tea, coffee & snack
Blackmount Foods Ltd — organic meat- beef, lamb, mutton, pork
Bloom by Joanna Kent — knitted accessories
Cramond Bramble — delicious homemade fudge
Fletchers of Auchtermuchty — venison & game
G A Thomson — sustainably sourced fresh fish
Gourmet Treats — pies & pickles
Hello Petal! — Christmas wreaths and table decorations
Herbidacious — handmade creams & ointments
Highland Fling — crafts from the children of Highland Fling nursery
Kitchener’s Delicatessen Ltd — cheese, oatcakes etc
Let them eat cake — homemade cupcakes
Libby Torrie — organic silver jewellery
Maureen Welsh — jams, jellies & preserves
Patisserie Jacob — handmade local bread
PEDAL — information about PEDAL projects and a chance to buy a Fruitful Porty fruit tree, receive a free home energy check & lots more!
Phantassie — organic vegeetables
Plants with Purpose — herbs and other useful plants
Pop-in Cafe — organic teas, coffee and snacks
Real Foods — a range of museli, nuts etc from the well know Edinburgh store
Temptations — tasty continental baking
The Caurnie Soaperie — scottish handcrafted soap
The Windmill Stump — linocuts & woodcuts
Usan Fisheries Ltd — sustainably caught wild salmon
Windshiel Organic Farm — organic meat — lamb, mutton, pork, bacon
Don’t forget we want this market to be the best it can be and feedback from local people attending the market is essential. There are feedback forms at every market or you can just add comments here, about what you would like to see, great things, not so great things… If you would really like to support the Portobello Organic Market, we are looking for volunteers to help manage the market. You can steward for a few hours on the day, help to decide which stalls we have and what the market’s priorities should be, as much or as little as you like.
Posted in Market
Local Food Survey
PEDAL are looking at various ways in which a strong local food system in Portobello might be developed. We are hoping to find out what residents of Portobello feel about buying locally produced food.
By locally produced food, we mean food that has been grown, reared, caught, baked or otherwise made in Scotland (preferably the south-east of Scotland). The produce currently sold in local shops may or may not have been produced locally.
In particular we would like to know what makes it difficult for people to shop this way and how it could be made easier.
This survey will only take a couple of minutes but will be very useful when deciding how to take this work forward. It would be great if you could take the time to complete it as everyone’s opinion counts. Please also forward it to any Portobello residents that you know.
To complete the survey please click on this link Survey
Best Wishes and thanks in anticipation,
Emma Dempsey (on behalf of PEDAL)
Posted in Uncategorized
Portobello Organic Market November 2010
We have even MORE STALLS this time, with new stallholders and old favourites.
Don’t forget we want this market to be the best it can be and feedback from local people attending the market is essential. There are feedback forms at every market or you can just add comments here, about what you would like to see, great things, not so great things… If you would really like to support the Portobello Organic Market, we are looking for volunteers to help manage the market. You can steward for a few hours on the day, help to decide which stalls we have and what the market’s priorities should be, as much or as little as you like.
Stallholders
Angel’s Organic Salon — organic skin & body care
Beak & Barker — lovely homemade cakes
Bespoke Organic Events — organic tea, coffee & snack
Blackmount Foods Ltd — organic meat- beef, lamb, mutton, pork
Bloom by Joanna Kent — knitted accessories
Bouvrage — Berry drinks with scottish raspberries & finnish blaeberries
Cramond Bramble — delicious homemade fudge
Fibrous — cute felty creatures and accessories
Fletchers of Auchtermuchty — venison & game
Frugal Cool — locally made sustainable crafts & design
G A Thomson — sustainably sourced fish
Gourmet Treats — pies & pickles
Herbidacious — handmade creams & ointments
Highland Fling — waffles and crafts from the children of Highland Fling nursery
Hugh Grierson Organic Farm — organic chicken & eggs
Imogen’s Wardrobe — organic & sustainable childrens wear & accessories
JoJo’s Danish Bakery — all sorts of danish pastries
Kitchener’s Delicatessen Ltd — cheese, bread etc
Let them eat cake — homemade cupcakes
Libby Torrie — organic silver jewellery
Maureen Welsh — jams, jellies & preserves
Midget Jems — homemade cupcakes
Oxenfoord Organics — organic vegetables
Patisserie Jacob — handmade local bread
PEDAL — information about PEDAL projects and a chance to buy a Fruitful Porty fruit tree, receive a free home energy check & lots more!
Phantassie — organic vegeetables
Plants with Purpose — herbs and other useful plants
Pop-in Cafe — organic teas, coffee and snacks
Real Foods — a range of museli, nuts etc from the well know Edinburgh store
Really Good Fudge — homemade fudge
Temptations — continental sweet & savoury baking
The Caurnie Soaperie — scottish handcrafted soap
The Windmill Stump — linocuts & woodcuts
Usan Fisheries Ltd — sustainably caught wild salmon
Windshiel Organic Farm — organic meat — lamb, mutton, pork, bacon
Posted in Market
Apple Day feedback — how was it for you??!
We had a wonderful Apple Day/ Halloween celebration on Saturday 30th of October, with near perfect weather, a bonfire, many pounds of apples being juiced, toffee apples, peeling competition, Splat the Rotten Apple and folk turning up in wonderful fancy dress. Many thanks to all who came and to all who helped.
However, if you were there, we’d be very pleased if you would take a moment to send us your comments and feedback. What did you like ? What would have made it better? Are you likely to join in future community events at the orchard? Woteva! — we look forward to hearing from you.
Please send comments to: info@pedal-porty.org.uk
Posted in Orchards