Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of our members and supporters a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Once again we've had a busy year from the planting of the orchard in Hilly Fields at the start to harvesting and juicing apples in the Autumn and of course the ongoing work at Brockley Station on the community garden.

We leave you with a couple of images of the last session of the year at the community garden to rake and cut the wildflower meadow.

We hope to see you in the New Year.

Notes from the last meeting...

Community Garden

We discussed applying for a London Micro Grant (up to £1000) and Valerie has agreed to pursue the application despite the very short timescale (bid in by 14th Nov). Suggestions for the bid were to get a professionally made, but from recycled materials if possible, display board for the community garden so that we could better advertise the garden and transition events. In addition to ask for funding for soft fruit bushes for the garden.

-----------------------------------

Spinach now ready to eat at Transition Town Brockley plot, please pick as you wish.

Disclaimer: Eating food grown at the Transition Town Brockley plot is at your own risk. 

Winter gardening at the Transition Town Brockley plot

Saturday 3rd December, 2-4pm

Please bring gardening gloves and tools

Followed by trip to a local cafe for Transition catch up

Disclaimer: Gardening with Transition Town Brockley is at your own risk. Please come along with health and safety in mind. 


Draughtbusting Session


On Saturday 29 October, Transition Town Brixton Draughtbusters gave a demonstration of insulating sash windows and doors in a Victorian house, as well as showing foil panels to put behind radiators on exterior walls, brushes to exclude draughts under doors,  and a magnetic/acrylic system of secondary glazing. Draughtproofing strip and radiator panels were then available to buy and take away, and the householder had a sash window draughtproofed for free!  Everyone felt they had learnt and/or acquired something useful in the comfort of someone's home with a welcoming cup of tea or coffee.

Next Meeting - Wednesday 11th January 2012


It was agreed that the latest Transition Town updates would be circulated (to the regular or recent attendees at meetings) for people to browse through before the next meeting with a view to discussing how, with a vision of the whole spectrum of sustainability in the community, our group can develop activities and increase participation next year.

Events coming up...

Saturday 29th October -  DraughtBusting Session from 11 am onwards.

Do you want to save energy in your home? Transition Brockley is offering the opportunity to learn how to install some basic home insulation.

Drop in between 11am and 1pm to see a demo (in a private house near to Hilly Fields) of how to draughtproof doors and windows easily and neatly.  Then buy the materials and - DIY!

LOCATION:  22 Eastern Road, SE4

******************

Thursday 17 November 7.30pm, at Cafe Crema, New Cross Road:

The Mysterious Bee - an instructive documentary about one man's fascination with the bees he's keeping in his back garden.

See here for some info and also, a five minute clip on YouTube

£3 charge at the door.

**********************************

Saturday 3 December, 2 - 4pm

Winter gardening at the Transition Brockley plot.

Please bring your own gloves and tools.

Gardening is at your own risk, please come with health and safety in mind.

Meeting Update

In a concerted effort to keep people up to date with what's happening at meetings should members not be able to attend we will try and publish a brief resume of what was discussed alongside the date of the next meeting and events coming up.


Outcomes from Meeting 11.10.11 at Browns of Brockley


Local Timebank


Discussion around possibility of engaging with local timebanking community, to help source participants for activities but also to help to increase diversity of the transition town. Maria to investigate further.


Fruit Harvesting 2011

Background

Brockley has an abundance of fruit trees and a lot of fruit goes to waste because the fruit isn't picked. We're following on the heels of others. See:http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/nov/18/fruit-abundance-picking

The main aim is to highlight the contribution that food makes to our carbon footprint (around 20%) and ensure that the harvest from local fruit trees doesn't go to waste, by organising groups of volunteers to go and pick from people's back gardens or trees overhanging the pavement.

Transition Brockley has organised several picking outings over the course of August, September and October. A dozen volunteers have picked from half a dozen back gardens in the Brockley area. There's no doubt that walking around the area with a fruit picker does invite questions and perhaps we have inspired some people to pick their own fruit. (we certainly had questions about where to buy pickers). In early October, we did our final picking session and took some of our pickings along to a juicing event at Honor Oak Park allotments where a large group was engaged in chopping, mashing and juicing apples and pears. The end product was delicious.

Reflecting on the fruit harvesting at the October meeting we noted that difficulties were:

-not knowing how many volunteers were going to turn up

-making sure fruit trees were going to be ripe at the time of proposed harvesting. This in effect means that much has to be organised at the last minute, at a time when the tree owner can be around.

Suggestions for the future were:

-start earlier to catch the plums! Some were picked this year but there were more.

-alongside organising occasional groups of volunteers to pick, we could encourage people to advertise excess fruit on freecycle

-such advertising could be done using posters on trees on roads where we know there are lots of fruit trees.

-if we wanted to get more people we could make use of the Rushey Green time bank which is very active.

As well as sharing out fruit, we also hope to stimulate discussion about other ways in which resources can be shared.e.g. Do you know of others to add to this list? If so, please email us.

Garden Share 
Are you looking for a plot of land to grow fruit and veg on? Or do you have a garden which is neglected and would be happy for someone to use part (or all) of, to grow food? Transition Brockley are investigating matching up available plots with growers. If this might suit you, please email us.

At a national level see http://www.landshare.net/

Freecycle 
Online facility to dispose of items you no longer need to someone who can make use of them. Please see here for details.

Hire your neighbours car (fully insured). See: http://www.whipcar.com/

Lend and borrow everyday objects, skills and spaces. See: http://www.ecomodo.com/

e.g. borrow a power tool - Apparently the average productive time of a drill in its entire lifetime is about 12-13 minutes. http://www.nesta.org.uk/blogs/assets/blog_entries/do_you_own_a_drill


Community Garden at Brockley Station


Volunteers met on Saturday 15th October to prepare the plot for the winter. The new sign is almost ready and will show what we have planted during the winter. The next session down at the garden is on Saturday 3rd December from 2-4pm. Please bring your own gloves and tools and remember that gardening is of course at your own risk so please bear this mind.


Draughtbusting Session 
Going ahead on Sat 29 October from 11 to 1.00pm. Address details to follow.

Mini-Meadow 
Meadow at the orchard plot on Hilly Fields to be cut then raked up within next week. Orchard carers to be contacted.

London Lead on Low Carbon Economic Growth
Event being organised at City Hall discussed and details forwarded to those in group interested in attending.


South East London Transition
Members of different South East London transition town groups met on Saturday 22nd October to share thoughts. Feedback soon!

Apple Days

Our friends at the London Orchard Project are hosting 3 apple days across London later this month with one of them at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening in the Peckham/East Dulwich which is a fantastic facility in our area which we advise you to check out! Details below:

The London Orchard Project will be hosting 3 Apple Days in partnership with The London Wildlife Trust

11-4 at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening in East Dulwich/ Peckam on the 16th October

11-9 at Camley Street Reserve in King's Cross on the 22nd October and
11-4 at Camley Street Reserve in King's Cross on the 23rd October.

All the events are family focused and friendly, and there will be some live bans from 3 pm- 9pm on Saturday 22nd, thanks to the lovely folk at Seventeen Events. 

What to expect on the day:
- The London Orchard Project will be hosting beginners' workshops on how to plant and look after fruit trees throughout the day at these events (up to 5 on 22nd). Participants will get expert advice on which fruit trees would be most suitable for their gardens, after which participants will get the opportunity to order a starter pack and fruit tree for £5 (which will be ready for collection in early December). This is an initiative supported by the Mayor of London's RE-LEAF Partnership.
- The London Orchard Project will be exhibiting a wide number of different apple varieties, with opportunities to taste them all. We will also be exhibiting fruit that have been harvested throughout London
- There will also be juicing on site, which people will be able to join in with- including a pedal powered fruit crusher, designed for us by our competition winner Peter Clarke!

- There will be preserving demonstrations throughout the day, run by Pickling Peckam on the 16th October, and Clippy from Clippy's Apple on 22nd and 23rd October
- Ian White from the Campaign for Real Ale will be running cider making and tasting workshops
- The London Wildlife Trust will be organising apple related games and activities for children
- Apple related foods will be prepared and drinks will be on sale
- There will be 6 acoustic bands playing from 3 onwards on the 22nd, organised by Seventeen Events

All the events will be free, but we will be accepting donations for The London Orchard Project and The London Wildlife Trust. 

We're in the process of putting together some lovely flyers...so watch this space and save the date for the time being!

Winter gardening session at Brockley Common

The summer has seen the community garden at the station flourish once again with much picking and eating done however gardening is a neverending if rewarding task and Saturday 15th October 2-4pm will see Transitioners and friends descend upon the plot to prepare for the winter with general maintenance tasks alongside the planting of winter crops.

Transition town member, Caroline has done an excellant job of co-ordinating the garden activities this year and writes:

Many thanks for your offers of plants for the winter garden.

So far we have offers of: broad beans, lambs lettuce, oregano, wild rocket, spinach, field beans, and possibly some strawberry plants (although it may be too late in the year to plant these.)

Please let me know before next Tuesday whether you will be bringing anything to plant. The list of possibles is: rainbow chard, spinach, broad beans, thyme, spring cabbages, rosemary, oregano, kale, garlic, lambs lettuce, onions, mustard, wild rocket, mizuna, chicory, chervil, leaf celery, parsley, peas, kale, mizuna, mibuna, winter lettuce, rhubarb, onion

And indeed you may know of other suitable plants for this time of year!

We would also be really happy to see you without plants as many hands make light work! And of course coffee and cake is always a great reward! 

Gardening with Transition town Brockley is at your own risk. Please come with health and safety in mind.

So if you fancy a spot of gardening before the cold really sets in then please do drop by and we'll be more than happy to see you! A reminder of the date again: Saturday 15th October 2-4pm at the community garden outside Brockley Station. We shall no doubt drop in to the Broca for a hot drink and cake at some point!

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

Fran has been in touch with an update on the orchard at Hilly Fields which by all accounts appears to have been a great success this year with the addition of a couple of pear and mulberry trees and the mini meadow.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR LOOKING AFTER 
THE APPLE, PEAR AND MULBERRY TREES ON HILLY FIELDS!

All the trees are looking very healthy - well watered and free of weeds.  New laminated labels have been attached  to replace the worn-out ones.  In our usual weather pattern there would be lots of rain now and much cooler temperatures, and we wouldn't need to water any more until next April.  However, given the high temperatures and dry spell we are having, if you aren't already doing so, it would be a good idea to give the trees a soak until autumn proper sets in!

The mini-meadow has  been really colourful and there are still poppies and ox-eye daisies in flower, but once they all stop flowering, they will need to be cut down, left for the seeds to set for 4-5 days and then the cuttings will be raked up so that there's no mulching down of the dead plants (this gives too  much nutrient which meadow flowers don't need).

Apart from that, I'd just like to say that you've all done a great job, and after the meadow management there shouldn't be anything to do until next Spring, but we will be Wassailing the trees in the New Year to help them grow!  

24 Hours of Reality

Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth was a massive success in bringing the issue of climate change to the forefront of world cinema a few years ago and spawned similar films looking at different aspects of climate change. For those of you that enjoyed it Al is back with a 24 hour marathon of questions and answers all from the comfort of your own home or even witness it at a live event if you wish. 


The event is called '24 hours of reality' and here's the lowdown on what it's all about courtesy of http://climaterealityproject.org/the-event/ You can also find out more about what part London is playing in this event by clicking on this link.

WHAT IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

24 Presenters. 24 Time Zones. 13 Languages. 1 Message. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event to broadcast the reality of the climate crisis. It will consist of a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, representing every time zone around the globe. Each hour people living with the reality of climate change will connect the dots between recent extreme weather events — including floods, droughts and storms — and the manmade pollution that is changing our climate. We will offer a round-the-clock, round-the-globe snapshot of the climate crisis in real time. The deniers may have millions of dollars to spend, but we have a powerful advantage. We have reality.

WHEN IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

24 Hours of Reality will be broadcast live online from September 14 to 15, over 24 hours, representing 24 time zones and 13 languages.

WHERE IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. You can experience as much as you like without even leaving your home. Click here to find the location — or locations — where you would like to watch a presentation. Due to logistical considerations, three of the presentations will be broadcast remotely from New York — Tonga, the Solomon Islands and French Polynesia — but will include local footage and information. All other presentations will be filmed on location around the world.

Transition Brockley feature on Time Out website

Last year we were featured in Time Out's website feature on fruit harvesting in London and they've updated their article to include more groups which just goes to show that the fruit harvesting movement is gaining strength as people become more aware of the abundance of fruit that is available to them without handing over a penny!

Transition Snippets...

Here's a round up of things happening and events coming up locally...

Lewisham green drinks


A monthly event for those interested in engaging in topics such as environmental issues, climate, politics, local news and of course the transition town movement whilst indulging in a beverage or two! First Monday of every month with the next one happening on Monday 5th September. Come along from 7:30pm to Mr Lawrence Wine Bar on Brockley Rd just past Crofton Park Rail Station.


Brockley Common Community Garden

The garden at Brockley Station has been producing lots of delicious food throughout the summer. Garden co-ordinator Caroline writes:

In case you have a moment to go and pick some home grown food at the Transition Town Brockley garden, please see below what's up for grabs!

- tomatoes, will be ready a week from now

- spinach, doing well, and responds well to regular picking

- squash, still ripening

- runner beans, still producing 

Please feel free to pop to the plot and pick anything that looks ready!

We will be preparing the plot for winter on Saturday 15th October, 2-4pm. Do drop me a line if you have any suggestions, or indeed green contributions! 

Brockley Cross Action Group AGM - Saturday 24th Sept 11-12:30pm @ John Stainer School, Mantle Rd, Brockley

Transition Brockley will have a stall at our neighbours' annual AGM where we'll hopefully have some information on the projects we've been working on throughout the year so far and beyond. Come along and engage with your local community!

Hilly Fields Orchard

The orchard has produced some apples this year however it's best to pick them early to encourage them to produce better and more substantial fruit in the coming years. The mini meadow has been very successful and we hope this could lead to a bigger meadow around the orchard in the future.

Fruit Harvesting

Once again we have been out and about harvesting fallen fruit and fruit from trees which the owners have no need for. We're looking at another harvesting event within the next couple of weeks. More details soon. In the meantime if you wish to be kept up to date with the latest news on harvesting then please contact brockleyharvest@yahoo.co.uk 

We're also looking ahead to October when Ian from the One Tree Hill allotments will hold his annual apple pressing day at the allotments on One Tree Hill from 1-6pm. We're hoping to be able to contribute some fruit from our harvesting and it promises to be a fun day for all the family whether you want to exercise your muscles or just enjoy the fruit juices being made!

Draughtbusting

We've been talking about organsing a draught-busting session locally for some time now and we've  finally got someone to help us out by using one of members' houses as an example for the day on how we help cut down on energy use and save some money!

We're looking at Saturday 29th October, possibly in the morning to run a session. Numbers will be limited on a first come, first served basis but if the event is heavily over-subscribed then we'll look to organise more. The demonstration property will be the Hilly Fields area of Brockley. If you're interested then please email us at
transitionbrockley@hotmail.co.uk and we'll let you know further details.

TT New Cross - Food Group

Our friends from New Cross have recently launched a food group and are looking at lots of different aspects of local food from production to distribution to landsharing schemes and more. The next meeting will take place on September 8th from 7:30 - 9:30pm at the Hill Station Cafe in Kitto Road, Telegraph Hill. There are two presentations taking place at the meeting including one from Transition Brockley member, Fran who will talk about Brockley Gardenshare which aims to match up landowners with people who have no land and want to grow food. There will also be a presentation from Amina who is the new manager of local cafe 'Come the Revolution' which has just opened in New Cross and seeks to use locally produced food.

Mini Meadow in Hilly Fields

Fran has emailed some pictures of the mini-meadow that we planted as a test bed for future meadow expansion at Hilly Fields and also as part of the River of Flowers project. Judging by the photos it looks like the meadow has thrived.

Fruit Harvesting & Gardening - Sat 20th August

Harvesting in action 2010

Last year we successfully harvested unwanted fruit in the local area and this year we're intending to do this again. The details of this year's first event which combines both harvesting and gardening are below:

Once again, we're planning to organise some local fruit harvesting. We're emailing you as someone who expressed an interest last year or has more recently found out about Brockley fruit harvesting. We'll be in touch separately with those who donated part of their tree's crop last year to see if you're interested in doing the same again this year.

As a reminder, the main aim is to highlight the contribution that food makes to our carbon footprint (around 20%) and ensure that the harvest from local fruit trees doesn't go to waste by organising groups of volunteers to go and pick from people's back gardens or trees overhanging the pavement.

• If you've got a fruit tree, donate part of your tree's harvest for distribution to the local community (you get first share).
• Or volunteer to be an urban harvester and have fun getting involved with picking, distributing and / or processing the fruit.

We expect our first picking afternoon to be sat 20^th August (fruit availability permitting!). We plan to combine this with being at the Brockley Common Community garden (see below), as follows:

1 - 2.30pm : Harvesting
2.30pm - 4pm : Gardening
4-5pm : Winter garden planning (in a local cafe)

Last year fruit was distributed amongst volunteers and handed out at the community garden by the station and some went to a local refugee group.

If you have a fruit tree you would like picked or would like to volunteer to pick, please email: Brockleyharvest@yahoo.co.uk

Other projects you might be interested in include:

Garden Share – Are you looking for a plot of land to grow fruit and veg on? Or do you have a garden which is neglected and would be happy for someone to use part (or all) of, to grow food? Transition Brockley are investigating matching up available plots with growers. If this might suit you, please contact Fran: fr2rogers@gmail.com

Brockley Common Community Garden, next to the Station – planted with a mixture of edibles and flowers. If you're interested in getting involved please contact: joynerca@googlemail.com

Brockley Common Community Garden

This year's garden is looking very colourful and people and already finding food to pick!

The latest plan is now available for perusal.

Brockley Assembly Funding Secured!

Proposed trees opposite the Brockley Barge

This morning the local assembly voting event saw a plethora of very worthy local projects bidding for funding, one of which was our project to plant 6 new trees along a pretty bleak stretch of Brockley Road. The good news is that we were successful in our bid and the project will now continue with further consultations with local stakeholders and consultation with the relevant authorities. This project is great example of the good work that local groups can do when working in partnership with the Brockley Cross Action Group and the Brockley Society all involved in the planning of this project.

Alongside our project we were also supporting a bid from the Brockley Cross Action Group to install a new set of steps on Brockley Common alongside the earthy bank that has become a highly-used access point to the station from the northern end of the site and this also received full funding. There were other projects with food growing and planting at the core of their aims which received funding too so in summary a great success for those with green fingers!

Set out below is a description of the proposal and some conceptual images of the proposed trees (please note the trees shown are conceptual! Some ideas on the different tree varieties can can be viewed on our Flickr site which also has other images of the project alongside our other work.

The proposal

The council’s recent work to widen the pavement and provide a parking bay along the parade of shops situated on Brockley Road between Cranfield and just beyond Harefield Roads sadly did not include the provision for any trees. As a result there is now a vast expanse of pavement which looks bleak and desolate. 

This project aims to enhance the new pedestrian pavement adjacent to the shops by planting an area of 4 trees along the eastern side of Brockley Road (2 each side of the pedestrian crossing), one tree outside the Post Office sorting office towards the corner with Harefield Road  and one tree on the western side of Brockley Road on the new widened pavement on the corner of Coulgate and Brockley Road.

Tree planting is a priority of the London Mayor's office as well as the government and is in  line with Ward residents’ Assembly priorities. The effects of global warming make the planting of new trees in the capital all the more imperative. Although street tree management is the responsibility of Lewisham Council, the resources available for planting new trees are unfortunately very limited. Most of Lewisham Council’s ‘Green Scene’ tree budget has to be spent on risk management and maintenance of existing stock, consequently there is little left to satisfy the increasing community demand for new trees.

Members of Transition Brockley and Brockley Cross Action Group have already greatly improved and enhanced the area around Brockley station.  The aim of this project is to achieve a further enhancement of the Brockley Road retail area which will benefit all local residents. 

We will liaise with Lewisham Council's 'Tree Department at Green Scene' who  have agreed to acquire, plant and maintain the trees. We will work together in subsequent years with other interested groups mentioned above  to further enhance the tree pits by underplanting  bulbs, perennials and small shrubs.

In consultation with Lewisham council’s Green Scene department, the precise planting location and type  of the 6 trees will be agreed. The work will then be scheduled by Green Scene with onsite co-operation from local volunteers.

Initial indications are that the suitable sites are:  1 tree outside Toad’s Mouth café.1 tree to be sited to continue the line of trees outside the Post Office sorting office towards the corner of Harefied and Brockley Road. 2 trees to be sited on the wide  section of pavement beyond the pedestrian crossing towards Cranfield Road and 2 trees to be planted before the pedestrian crossing on the new widened section of pavement. In consultation with Green Scene the tree pits will of a large enough area to allow for shrub and perennial plantings.

Site Plan of the Proposed Sites

With help from committed local environment groups, the area adjacent to the Station has been transformed from a run down, neglected and unwelcoming part of Brockley to a pleasant green environment. The new pavement area is not yet welcoming or green.  It is crying out for trees.  Brockley residents who have already expressed their appreciation of the greener environment around the station will all benefit from the addition of trees along this stretch of somewhat desolate pavement. At present cars can and often do mount the pavement to park.  Trees with guards will have the added benefit of protecting children and disabled pedestrians from such inconsiderate parking.

Trees opposite the Brockley Barge

Proposed tree on the corner of the Royal Mail sorting office

Proposed tree outside Toads Mouth Too

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

At the recent Hilly Fields Fayre we took the opportunity to go and visit the orchard at Hilly Fields and see how the trees are progressing. We're happy to report that all is well and there are even apples on some of the trees. The apple trees have also been supplemented by a couple of pear trees organised by the Friends of Hilly Fields.

Brockley Assembly Voting Event

Just a reminder that Saturday 16th July sees the Brockley Assembly Voting Event where we will presenting our Brockley Road Pavement Enhancement Project.

The event takes place at the Leander Community Centre on Ship St. from 11:30am - 1:30pm. To vote you must live in the Brockley Ward and you must arrive before 11:30am.

We are bidding for funds to plant 6 new trees along a short stretch of Brockley Rd from the Royal Mail Sorting Office down to the parade of shops opposite the Brockley Barge pub. The project has been developed with the Brockley Cross Action Group and the Brockley Society.

There are many other worthwhile projects being presented tomorrow including the Brockley Cross Action Group's bid for funds to build some steps in adjacent to the wildflower meadow / community garden at the station which we are of course in support of!

If you wish to have your say and make your vote count then please do pop along tomorrow!

Hilly Fields Mini-Meadow Update

Fran has emailed us some photos of the mini meadow at the orchard site on Hilly Fields which includes a couple of poppies and is generally looking very healthy which bodes well for a potentially larger meadow area in the future.

The meadow was planted in early May and is part of Transition Brockley's own contribution to the River of Flowers project which aims to increase biodiversity and improve wildlife corridors. For more information on the overall project go to the River of Flowers website. Transition Brockley have been mapping the existing meadows within the borough of Lewisham as part of a much larger project within London and nationwide.

TT New Cross to launch Food Group

Our friends from Transition New Cross are co-ordinating a meeting to discuss the possibility of a 'people's supermarket' type project alongside the creation of a new food group. More details can be found here

Adrian writes:

Hi All,

We all need to eat and wholesome affordable food is getting harder to
find. What can we do?

How about growing your own food or helping with a People's
Supermarket? Come along to the Transition New Cross Food Group and
find out more!

Launch meeting: June 21st at The Hill Station cafe (Kitto Road by
Telegraph Hill Park), SE14 5TY - 7.15pm (7:30pm sharp start) until 9.00 pm.

Explore ideas for how our community can make our food more
sustainable, local, healthy and fair for all. Promoting local food
growing, food Co-ops and a Peoples Supermarket for New Cross are just
a few of the ideas we'll be exploring. Join us and help make it
happen! Everyone welcome!

Web: http://transitionnewcross.org
Twitter: @TT_NewCross

Best wishes,
Adrian

The BIG Lewisham Grow It Day @ Mayow Park

Our friends from Sydenham, Grow Mayow have been in touch with regard to community gardening. They are hosting The BIG Lewisham Grow It Day on Saturday 18th June 12 noon - 4pm. So if you fancy going to both the Hilly Fields Fayre and this event please see more details below:


Including community garden funding workshops,

( If you like to attend a workshop please book your place as space is limited)

'Further to the notification of the Big Lewisham Grow It Day, to ensure a place, please could you register your interest in attending the Community Gardens funding workshops direct with Katy Delaney -katy.delaney@lewisham.gov.uk   

Tel: 020 8314 2277
The funding workshops will take place at 12.30 and 2pm

Please give your full name and state which session you would like to attend
 

Composting workshop outside 1pm

Also Master gardeners advice, Capital Growth information, School gardening advice, Plant stall or bring one to swap. Growing in small spaces, kids activities, refreshments & raffle.

Community Gardening down at the Common

Brockley Cross Action Group chair, Rupert has been in touch to tell us of the next planned gardening session down at the station which is happening on Sunday 12th June from 2-6pm. We've recently been discussing details of watering and maintenance going forward for both our garden and the adjacent beds and it looks like we'll be helping out with their watering and vice versa. Details below:
The planting beds and the edible garden are looking very well and appreciated the recent rainfall. The new meadow is only just beginning to shows signs of life and will need a lot more work to get it established. We are due another community planting day to carry out the following activities:
 
1. WATERING. As from next week we will be organising a weekly watering rota to water the main planting beds, the 2 new Cherry trees, the edible garden and the new meadow. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! Watering equipment will now be stored at Turning Point on Coulgate Street and the proposal is for a pair of nominated volunteers to carry out watering in each week up to the end of August. The watering will take about 3 hours to complete each time BUT with a load of volunteers (we have about 20 already!) I doubt volunteers will be asked to water more than twice in the summer. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER FOR THE WATERING ROTA PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I will be preparing a list of volunteers this week to let Turning Point know (for security reasons etc). We will go through the watering arrangements this Sunday so if you want to know the score come along!
 
2. REPLACEMENT PLANTING. BXAG have purchased some replacement plants to fill in the spaces where we lost a few plants last winter. I have been waiting to put these in but needed the weather to break first - it looks like it has for now.
 
3. WEEDING. The weeds never rest despite all the mulch!
 
I therefore propose we meet up at 2.00 this coming SUNDAY 12th JUNE to carry out another afternoon of community gardening. We will be on site from 2.00-6.00.
 
As before just bring stout footwear. BXAG will provide tools, gloves and refreshments at the Broca Cafe.
 
Hope to see you on Sunday! 

Bank Holiday Gardening

Brockley Common Community Garden co-ordinator, Caroline has been in touch to tell us about the planned session on Bank Holiday Monday. She writes:


Hi All

You may be heading to the coast for bank holiday, but in case you have a spare morning, we are down at the Transition Brockley plot to finish planting, do some weeding/clearing, and hopefully some picking!  

The plot is looking good and we already have Batavia lettuce, Salad leaves and spring onions for people to pick if you are at the plot with suitable tools ! Peas will also be available soon.

We hope to see you down there on Monday 30th May from 10 - 12pm

Please bring your own tools, including hoes, any final things you want to plant, and we also need some sticks to label plants 

Thanks to all those who have been watering. The ground is still very dry so do please pop along and water the plot if you have the time. We are sorting out storage of a nearby hose but for now we are relying on bringing our own watering cans / water bottles 

Going forward we will be arranging for a weekly weed / water / picking rota, to maintain the garden come rain or shine ! Let me know if you would like to be one of the team.

Alex will finalise the map after the 30th so we can put up a sign showing people what's growing where. We hope to stick pins on the map where things are ready to pick!

See you on the 30th !

Local gardening events coming up...

Those of you with green fingers who fancy a spot of gardening outside of the confines of your own home will be pleased to know that are 2 events coming up where you can get your fingernails dirty. The first event is this weekend at Brockley Common and BXAG chair Rupert has been in touch, he writes:


Dear BXAG members and volunteers,
 
Well the weather has been very kind to us humans, especially with the passing of two gloriously sunny bank holiday weekends, but alas this weather is no good at all for our beloved plants! The main planting down at Brockley Common is looking rather wonderful at the moment but the ground is very dry and we need to do a thorough watering, along with some weeding. The new meadow is also looking rather sad. But just add water - and a change of weather please - and who knows what might happen!?
 
I therefore propose we meet up at 1.00 this coming SUNDAY 15th MAY to carry out another afternoon of community gardening and general horticultural TLC. We will be on site from 1.00-5.00.
 
As before just bring stout footwear. BXAG will provide tools, gloves and refreshments.
 
Hope to see you on Sunday!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile Ruth who set up the community garden at St. Saviours Church has this to say:
St.Saviour's permaculture gardening session & plant sale - Saturday 21st May 
Please drop by from 10-11:30am for light gardening, maybe harvesting and if you have a plant or two to sell then please bring along!
Leyla will be selling a few home grown offerings too (tomatoes, cucumber, melons, sugar snap peas) with a portion of the proceeds to Christian Aid...
Hope to see you there!  
Gloves and tea provided!

Open Garden - Sunday 22nd May 1-5pm

A quick plug for friend of Transition Brockley and regular Lewisham green drinks participant, Jon, who is hosting an open garden in aid of a good cause with the promise of many delights both floral and sugary. Jon writes:

Scrumptious home made cakes, fair trade tea and coffee all for a small donation of £1 in aid of the Able Child Africa Charity. 

Jon also has this disclaimer for any potential visitors:

Please take care! narrow side alley, uneven paths, steps,overhanging branches, high calorie cakes!

The address of the event is: 9 Brockley View SE23 1SN - white house on hill, entrance via side alley

Mini Meadow in Hilly Fields

Saturday saw the planting of small test area of wildflower seeds at the site of the orchard in Hilly Fields. We have planted this area as a tester to see how this area of the park takes to wildflowers. If it is successful then there are plans to plant a much larger area of wildflowers which will become part of Lewisham's 'River of Flowers' which we talked about here.

Fran, who co-ordinated yesterday's event had this to say to the volunteers who helped out:

A huge thank you to all who worked so hard today - it was really tough going but you managed it and I attach some photos (see above and on Flickr) of the digging, seeding and enjoyment of the job completed!  Just as well it was only a small area...let's hope we have a good display.  


If the weeds encroaching are a problem I'll either mulch round the plot or pin down some membrane.  Any help with watering and picking out the odd weed would be great.

Permaculture Kids Club @ Mayow Park

Ruth has been in touch to tell us about the Permaculture Kids Club that she helps to run in Mayow Park. She writes:

Bored of being indoors on a Sunday morning? Come and learn about your world, grow things, make stuff without waste and have fun at Permaculture Kids Club.
Hosted by Ruth, Matthew and Suriya at Grow Mayow Community Garden, Mayow Park, behind the pavillion.
For kids aged 8 to 12 - only £2 each (to cover cost of materials).
Parents welcome to stay and relax in the gardens , drink tea and buy plants.
Booking for workshops essential, maximum number 15 children.
Fourth Sunday of the month (except June 19th) from 10.30 to 12pm.

We look forward to seeing you there!

River of Flowers

We've briefly mentioned the River of Flowers project before as something we have been discussing at our meetings so here's a bit more information about it and what we're doing locally:

The 'river' in River of Flowers is an evocative way of describing the planting of urban meadows in 'pollination streams' or 'green corridors' in order to help our pollinators, bees, butterflies and hoverflies, find forage in the city. It describes the flight path of the pollinators as much as it does the flow of wildflowers. Having started in north London, River of Flowers is expanding rapidly through London. It has contacts in east London via its connections with the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and The Golden Company, with west London via the Kensington& Chelsea Meanwhile Wildlife Garden and Living Medicine and with south London via the Walworth Community Farm and Roots and Shoots.

Our transition group is mapping the current wildlife areas in the borough and we have signed up to join the London branch of the River of Flowers. This is part of a nationwide campaign supported by The Co-operative who state that "the UK has lost an alarming 97 per cent of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s and this has had a major impact on pollinator numbers. The number of honeybees in the UK has halved in the last 25 years, and three quarters of butterfly species and two thirds of moths have seen population declines since the 1970s".   Unless this habitat is reinstated there could be disastrous consequences on our production of food.

Here in Brockley we're running a sample wildflower meadow at the orchard site on Hilly Fields which we're planning to plant later in May (more details below) - something which, if successful will be of benefit to both the orchard and the parks diversity. There is also the recently planted wildflower meadow adjacent to the community garden at Brockley Station. These projects will be included in a mapping of Lewisham's wildflower sites which we are undertaking which will be added to the London wildflower map and is effectively a new 'stream' to the 'river'.


Meadow Flower Pilot
Would you like to join us to plant a very small area of the orchard site with wildflowers?  

This is the background....Our Transition Group, Friends of Hilly Fields and a couple of orchard 'carers' have been discussing how we can help to increase the planting of wildflower meadows in order to provide more habitat for pollinating insects, and thought a good way to start would be to pilot a small area at the orchard site. 

This is the plan.......

1.  Time and venue:  Sat 7 May 2.00 to 3.00 at Orchard Site on Hilly Fields.

2.  Remove turf from an area approx 6' x 5' (site agreed with Glendale).  Rake ground and scatter meadow flower seed.  Cover with chicken wire (pegged down well) to avoid disturbance from foxes and dogs (and to be taken up once plants start to grow through and cover the ground).

3.  'Plant' small sign to tell people what's growing.

4.  Water plot at regular intervals as needed.

5.  In the autumn, cut the flowers to let seeds set and after 4- 5 days rake up the cuttings to compost elsewhere (meadow flowers thrive on poor soil).

All hands will be welcome!  Bring gloves and (if you have one) a spade.  Can you join us?