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East Suffolk Permaculture Group Newsletter
Open Day at The Old Hall Barsham, BecclesAugust 8th 01502 714661
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G.M/G.M free foodsFor anyone wanting upto date information on G.M/G.M free foods you can visit http:\\wkweb4.cableinet.co.uk\pbrown on the internet, which gives lots of information on the latest news/ availability/how to avoid G.M etc. Linda
Earth Care * People Care * Surplus ShareWhat an amazing bunch of people the permaculture group are! As the years go by, my natural predisposition for cynicism and despair fall further and further into the wayside. Here are people who really do commit themselves to positive change - to finding solutions to the big questions of sustainability we face today.On the wettest June Saturday I can remember, 28 adults and 13 children gathered in an open-sided barn with freshly baked cakes, puddings and salads to have a picnic at Wakelyns Agroforestry. Ann Wolfe had provided a wonderful spread to get us going and Martin Wolfe gave us an inspirational tour of the experimental farm for the future. What they are doing at Wakelyns is actually putting in to practise the sensible down to earth principles of polyculture, diversity, time stacking, use of perennials, and careful design to minimise energy input. All used in permaculture design. The emphasis being diversity, diversity and diversity. The results they get will (yes, ‘will’ not should) change small and medium-size farming completely. Being able to show farmers real figures rather than theories and ideas will be the final push needed to make the changes. Martin is a pioneer in Agroforestry and we are lucky to have this project on our patch. I’m convinced that what happens here will be the way of future farming in the UK. Over the years the group has been meeting, I have been surprised by it’s solidity. There have been times when a key person has left and moved on; times when collapse of the group, would have been likely. Anna who first formed the group left and went to Ireland, Thomas, who I often thought provided the energy for the group left and went to Wales, and then this year, I had to hand over the newsletter due to time demands. Each time, the group has simply reorganised and continued as if nothing had happened. And the social gatherings get more and more popular. This force is unstoppable it
seems! It is bigger than one person, or one set of people. Cindy
TOP The Sunny ‘Sunny Wind Fair’On the 26th June Lucietta and I carried the LETS banner to the Sunny Wind Fair at Stonham Barns. Unfortunately we hadn’t sussed out the seating and table arrangements and ended up sacrificing the two remaining plastic chairs to support our stand which left ourselves standing around all day. Sitting back down in the van on the way back was bliss! This having been said, Peter Jeffries and his Solarcentric crew had really put in a tremendous amount of work to turn the dog training marquee into an environment in which alternative energy and life-styles could be promoted. There was a good range of stalls including Rob & Will’s ‘Eco-Build’, Adam’s ‘Water Dynamics’ and compost-making thrones, ‘green’ architects, the EcoTech centre from Swaffham (didn’t know it existed), Greenpeace, basket making, Solar Energy Alliance (thanks to Chris Goodins for repairing my solar fountain), Otley College (very interesting man, Bernard Rose) and more besides. My only disappointment was that there were no battery operated bikes this year – with Thomas K out of sight I fancy a bit of peddle-less cycling, heresy though it might be! It was difficult to say whether numbers of the Great British Public were up or down on last year – though Nigel and Hilary came to swing the calculation in favour of more! What did work well was our Agenda 21 map for the east Suffolk area. Some people contributed new names and addresses of sustainable living projects and even more came and had a look. Everyone to whom we spoke thought that it was a good idea so please bring more information of your own to the next Permaculture meeting at Cindy & Rick’s. All in all a worthwhile day. And the sun shone too! Simon
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News from Poplar Farm.
With a little help from my friends, the Poplar Farm vegetable garden has reached new hights. I’d rashly sowed a long row of climbing beans and realised my usual flimsy bamboo wigwams just weren’t going to do the job. Lured by a modest financial incentive, I got Amanda ‘round to weave a structure. The result is not only magnificent but it inspired us to experiment too, so Paul and I (well, mainly Paul) made a tunnel of connected arches for my winter greens and covered it in netting. It’s such a satisfying material to work with – I might even have to plant a row of a good variety somewhere, to have sustainable supports in the future! The garden is suddenly bursting with tender young vegetables; courgettes, potatoes, carrots, cabbage and lettuce, cucumbers in the tunnel, and strawberries and gooseberries. This is a good time to think about seed saving. (rather than the accidental kind we all indulge in – oops the Rocket or Parsley has gone to seed lets save them.) If you notice a particular crop has grown especially well why not mark it with a stick and save it for seed. Different crops require different treatment - if anyone is interested in knowing more both Ann Woolfe and I have books on the subject or we could form a little seed saving group? Marion
Local Genetic Engineering TrialStreet Farm, Denham, Nr Eye, Suffolk, IP21 at 5EX TM1872By AgrEvo UK Crop Protection Ltd., East Winch Hall, East Winch, King s Lynn, Norfolk PE32 1HNSugar beet modified by the insertion of pat (Phosphinothricin Acetyl Transferase) gene to express tolerance to phosphinothricin(the alternative older chemical name for glufosinate, the active principle of the total herbicide glufosinate-ammonium) and nptl To enable residue, efficiency, variety performance and variety registration studies to be conducted tosupport the development of the herbicide glufosinate-ammonium as a selective herbicide From The Source http://www.gn.apc.org/pmhp/dc/index.htm
Network DiaryIt is now 2 years since I took over from Simon as the Editor of the Network Diary. Even though Nigel has helped me with it a great deal, I no longer have the time to undertake the work involved. It takes about 5 hours to actually produce it, plus a day or so to get copies and distribute, and good organisation to keep track of the telephone calls and correspondence. Since letting people know I would be stopping as Editor after the November issue, several people have commented that they find ND very useful and hope that someone else takes it on. If you are interested in taking it on and would like to find out more, please call me network.diary@BTInternet.com for a chat. Hilary
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RecipesCarrot Leaf Tea Steamed Beetroot Greens and Chard
Wash and coarsely chop greens. Sweet but Not Sugar
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