May 26, 2010
Our visitors from Trevalon Organic Co-operative set to work on Sunday and gave us some very welcome assistance on the veg plot.
It’s amazing what a team of dedicated vegetable growers can do in a short time. They helped us get through all our weeding, watering, planting and sowing chores.
In the blazing sunshine we sowed plenty of carrot seed and planted out bee borage. But we decided not to risk planting out the celery in such hot, dry conditions.
At the same time we exchanged news and views about organic cultivation methods, how to make local food work and the growing number of community supported agriculture schemes here in the south-west.
Many thanks to all five members of the Trevalon group who’d travelled from Herodsfoot, led by landowner Mark Simon.
Camel CSA’s expert growers Jane, Jeremy B and Mark N organised our own volunteer growing team of Charlotte, Danny, Kitty, Mark M, Mike S, Rebecca and Tess.
We deserved our al fresco lunch, when we were all joined by fellow Camel CSA volunteers Dan, Kate, Penny, Robert and Theresa. Plus members of our junior wing – Brooke, Carla, Finn, Keira and Seth along with babes-in-arms Daisy and Hollie.
May 19, 2010
Cornwall’s first solar farm could be right next door to us – just across the A39 from Camel CSA’s veg plot.
Our community supported agriculture scheme rents its two-acre field from the Brown family of Benbole Farm, St Kew Highway, near Wadebridge.
The family are part of the Benbole Energy Farm consortium which plans to erect photovoltaic panels on a 15-acre site between St Kew Highway and St Mabyn. These would generate enough electricity for 600 homes.
Public consultation evenings are being held at St Kew Golf Club on Tuesday 8 June and Tuesday 15 June from 6 pm.
Cornwall’s ‘Silicon Vineyards’ aim to triple solar capacity in UK – Guardian
Massive solar farms planned to treble energy generated from sun in UK – Western Morning News
At long last we have a shed to shelter our volunteer picking and packing team from the Cornish elements.
We’re marking the occasion with an informal picnic at the veg plot this Sunday 23 May. This will start to happen as the volunteer growers finish work about 12.30 pm.
It’ll be a chance to get together and celebrate the season, plus anything else that comes to mind…
Everyone’s welcome. All ages of course. Please bring your own food and drink and be prepared to share it! I expect we’ll be on site until around 3pm.
According to a rumour from the Met Office it promises to be sunny and warm, so keep your fingers crossed.
May 18, 2010
The number of community supported agriculture projects like ours is increasing all the time, notably in other parts of the far south-west of England.
Members of the newly-formed Trevalon Organic Co-operative at Herodsfoot near Liskeard in east Cornwall are coming to see us during our volunteer growing session next Sunday.
They’re hoping to get a perspective on how we’ve achieved our 50-strong membership and and built up a list of more than 30 weekly veg boxes in just over a year.
St Just Allotment and Growers Association and Lands End Peninsula Community Land Trust have just secured an 18-month land lease from Cornwall Council to set up Bosavern Community Farm at St Just in west Cornwall. They want to set up a CSA to prevent this 36-acre organic farm from going into private ownership and to keep it in perpetuity for the benefit of the local community.
In Devon, Chagford Community Agriculture members have got planning permission from the Dartmoor National Park Authority for three polytunnels and two sheds. This means the project is now eligible for £38,600 of funding from the Lottery Local Food Fund.
The newly-formed Broadclyst Community Farm is based on 32 acres of National Trust land on the Killerton estate near Exeter in east Devon.
Occombe Farm, which is run by Torbay Coast & Countryside Trust, is setting up a 4-acre smallholding as a CSA scheme. It’s been awarded £475,000 from the Lottery Food Fund for its One Planet Food project.
These new CSA schemes in the south-west join the already up-and-running Harrowbarrow and Metherill Agricultural Society (known as Hamas) in east Cornwall, Lowarth Brogh (Badger’s Garden CSA) near Penzance in west Cornwall, and Exeter Community Agriculture in Devon.
And of course us – Camel CSA at St Kew Highway in north Cornwall.
May 15, 2010
We’ve got carrot and parsnip seeds to sow this Sunday in the new growing beds. The broad beans need hoeing and we’ve also got more planting out to do on our plot at St Kew Highway.
Last weekend we managed to get the remaining growing beds spread with compost. We planted out some celeriac and weeded the rest of the onions.
Expert grower Jeremy B has now put the rotovator over the new beds to get them ready for sowing.
Thanks to last week’s team of volunteers led by expert growers Jeremy B and Mark N. It included Charlotte, Danny, Mark M, Mike S and Rebecca. Our younger helpers, Keira and Finn, especially enjoyed the homemade Great Ormond Street carrot cake.
May 8, 2010
Feeling energetic in the spring weather? The growing team has lots of jobs on the veg plot this Sunday.
We need to spread barrowloads of compost on some newly-formed beds and dig out a base for our new shed. We’ve also more sowing, weeding and planting out to get done.
We’ll be on the site between 10am and 1pm on Sunday. If you’re able to come, please bring an assortment of spades, rakes, hoes, hand tools and, if possible, a wheelbarrow for the compost shifting. And don’t forget to include gloves and a snack!
Last weekend expert grower Jeremy got the tractor out and formed several new growing beds for us to spread with the compost. We have carrot, parsnip and spinach seed to sow.
Kitty, Mark M, Penny, Rebecca, Robert and Charlotte performed some painstaking tasks. We dug out thistles from the garlic and onion beds, weeded beetroot and pricked out celery seedlings.
May 7, 2010
Our Twitter feed – GrowingOwnFood – has led me to some interesting discoveries in the world of food.
Three Cornish foodies have come to my particular notice. They all have food-related blogs. They all tweet about food. They are all based here in Cornwall. They are all female. And they are all young.
Jam and Clotted Cream is Beth Sachs’ Cornish food blog. It’s full of interesting food tips and recipes. Beth calls herself “The Cornish Foodie”. She lives near the coast in north Cornwall and tweets as jamandcream.
Clotted Cream Diaries is Issy Taylor’s blog. She also likes to share her experience of cooking and eating Cornish food. Issy’s based near Falmouth but comes from the Isles of Scilly. Follow her on Twitter @clottedcreamd
The pasties + cream cornwall blog comes from Ismay Atkins. It’s all about Cornish food, drink, pubs and “a little of whatever takes my fancy”. Ismay’s home is on the western tip of Cornwall. Her Twitter feed is pastiesandcream.
April 30, 2010
There’s plenty to do on our community veg growing plot at St Kew Highway this Mayday weekend.
We’ll be on the site on Sunday morning between 10am and 1pm as usual. Do come and join us.
We must sow more salad spinach leaves, weed the onions, garlic and beetroot, and prick out the celery seedlings. The boysenberry plants also need tidying.
Please bring hoes, rakes and small forks. Don’t forget waterproof jackets and boots as rain is forecast.
See you there!
April 26, 2010
Our pioneering work as a community supported agriculture project in north Cornwall makes a feature in the Western Morning News today.
There haven’t been many opportunities to post to the blog recently. Events in Iceland meant my visit to southern Spain was longer than planned.
Bliss – lots of fresh local vegetables on the stalls in Cadiz market and not much sign of a hungry gap!
