[Hazelhurst-Newsletter] January Newsletter

[Hazelhurst Admin]

 Hazelhurst newsletter 5

 www.hazelhurst.coop
  Newsletter January 2012

 A printable version of the newsletter with photographs  is attached in 
 PDF form to this email.

 This e-newsletter brings you a regular update on Hazelhurst Community 
 Supported Agriculture and how to get involved. To subscribe, email our 
 mailing list on admin at hazelhurst.coop
 
 Happy New Year, everyone!
 Launch event for Hazelhurst share offer
 We are about to launch our new share offer, which we hope will raise 
 substantial funding to advance the work. We are planning an event on 
 Thursday 2nd February to launch this offer. It will be a public showcase 
 for Hazelhurst with talks about the project and a presentation from 
 Rebecca Laughton, who wrote Surviving and thriving on the land. Do have 
 a look at her book if you can, and if not, look at this: 
 http://transitionnetworknews.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/review-surviving-and-thriving-on-the-land/
 Rebecca has extensive personal and research experience of organic, 
 sustainable cultivation and I think her talk with give us both 
 inspiration and sound ideas for a successful project.
 There will also be a presentation of the Hazelhurst Oral History 
 project – work that has been done over many months to find out the 
 history of the land at Hazelhurst and the Moss Valley. This includes the 
 experiences of the local farmers – knowledge from which we have much to 
 learn.
 The evening will be an opportunity to find out about what is involved 
 in investing in Hazelhurst CSA Cooperative, and we hope lots of people 
 will! But please come along to find out about what is happening, even if 
 you have no plans to buy shares at present.
 Please put this date in your diary:
 Thursday 2nd February
 Quaker Meeting House, St James St, S1 2EW
 
 (time to be announced)
 
 
 Recruiting the Grower
 
 We have just recruited a part-time grower. Shortlisiting and interviews 
 have been done, so there will probably be somebody starting work very 
 soon! This recruitment is being done in conjunction with Heeley City 
 Farm, which is helping the management committee and will provide support 
 for the grower when he/she is in post.
 
 
 Volunteer days: report from Stella, volunteer coordinator
 
 The next volunteering date for your diary is Sunday January 15th and 
 every Wednesday during the week.
 
 The volunteering days we have had so far were good fun. On Sunday16th 
 October there were 10 volunteers, who worked 35 hours in total. We raked 
 in the hay, dug out the rest of the potatoes, and prepared wood for 
 kindling. We each took turns at different tasks so that no one was 
 bored. We then had the job of sorting all the potatoes, and trying to 
 identify their variety, some were huge! We took home the potatoes which 
 were unfit for sale, as a reward for volunteers for all the hard work.
 
 We enjoyed another successful work day on the 20th of November, with 
 one or two new faces appearing through the mist. We forked up the 
 remaining onions, covered over the green waste compost heaps with hay, 
 and spot-weeded the docks, dandelions, thistles, and twitch. It was very 
 misty. We stopped and had a cup of tea and cake and meditated about the 
 field, visualising the wonderful vegetables we will be growing in the 
 near future. Marion arrived at lunchtime and brought some organic broad 
 beans. We dug and weeded a square of land at the top, added some green 
 waste compost and sowed some of the beans that may or may not survive 
 the winter. The mist cleared by 2pm and the sun shone for a while 
 creating a magical atmosphere, as the sun went down.
 Marion said on Sunday that Huw needed volunteers to help wheelbarrow 
 cement for the polytunnels on Wednesday. When we got there Huw, James 
 and Danny were very busy digging out deep holes to prepare the 
 foundations of the polytunnels. This was hard work as the soil is very 
 heavy clay and full of rocks. The cement lorry arrived while we were 
 eating, and we had to grunt up and down the field with wheelbarrow loads 
 of wet cement. We took turns barrowing and digging, barrowing and 
 digging until all the cement was used and the poles were secured firmly, 
 and in line with the strings, before the sun went down.
 The volunteering days during the week have now changed to Wednesdays. 
 We have plenty to do: there is cultivation of the polytunnels, more spot 
 weeding and leaf collecting. Rainy day tasks include tool sharpening, 
 making plant labels and marking out the beds. There are now two lock-ups 
 to provide storage for tools on the site, (and shelter in changing 
 weather cycles) with a gas stove to make tea or soup. And a wonderful 
 composting toilet that separates poo from wee. So come on along. Working 
 the land is exhilarating and joyous, it opens your heart and helps you 
 lose your inhibitions and it de-stresses and creates sense of purpose, 
 in being part of the beginning of this exciting community enterprise. So 
 get digging, come on along, volunteer!
 
 
 Other kinds of volunteering
 More volunteers are always needed on the land, but this is not the only 
 way to be involved in Hazelhurst. We need more people to help with many 
 aspects of the project. In particular at present we need people to begin 
 planning for marketing our produce and to help with fundraising and 
 publicity. While of course we welcome people with skills and experience, 
 it doesn’t necessarily matter if you have no experience – we are all 
 learning and sharing what we know. It is the essence of a co-operative 
 to share and learn from each other. Enthusiasm and a little time are the 
 important things. Please get in touch either via admin at hazelhurst.coop 
 or by phoning Joan, Chair of the Management Committee, on 0114 249 8613
 
 The committee will next meet on Wed 1st February. Please get in touch 
 if you have any comments, queries or things you think the committee 
 should be discussing. And don’t forget to come to the launch on 2nd Feb!
 
 

 Who are we?
 The Hazelhurst Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Co-operative 
 project is based on a nine acre field on Hazelhurst Lane, in the Moss 
 Valley, S8 8BG.  Our aims are to grow and distribute organically grown, 
 affordable food for the benefit of the community, using ecologically 
 sustainable methods to protect and enhance biodiversity.
 
 What’s your inspiration? Tell us about your ideas for Hazelhurst CSA by 
 emailing admin at hazelhurst.coop. Have a look at the website 
 www.hazelhurst.coop
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