[Hazelhurst-Newsletter] Hazelhurst July newsletter

Tue Jul 10 22:38:50 GMT 2012

 Hello. Here is Hazelhurst's newsletter for July. Great things are 
 happening, with our vegbag scheme about to go live! Please note the 
 invitation to all to a 'Hoochie Couchie Weeding Day' with live music 
 next Sunday. Fun and hard work! All welcome.
 Please also note our search for a new volunteer treasurer, some 
 volunteers for watering and a repeat opportunity to buy shares in 
 Hazelhurst.

 And don't miss 'Hazlehurst at the Rutland' our monthly 
 relaxed-evening-drink=and=chat. The next one is July 18th.

 The pretty and easy-to-read version is attached, but if for some reason 
 your computer cannot cope with this then the text is below. (Please let 
 me know if you can't open the attachment - it would really help me to 
 make sure it is accessible if I know who can't get it)

  Newsletter no 10, July 2012

 http://www.hazelhurst.coop

 http://www.facebook.com/HazelhurstCSA      Find us on Twitter 
 @HazelhurstCSA
 This e-newsletter brings you a regular update on Hazelhurst Community 
 Supported Agriculture Co-operative. To subscribe, email 
 admin at hazelhurst.coop

 Events

 A Hoochie Couchie Weeding Day
 on Sunday 15th July, 10am onwards.
 Come and help us dig out couch grass while local musicians play. Shared 
 lunch, evening food and bonfire. All welcome for digging, music making 
 or both
 Bring your own garden fork (if you have one) and some food and drink

 Hazelhurst at the Rutland

 There will be a Hazelhurst social meet-up on Wednesday  18th July at 
 the Rutland Arms    (86 Brown St,  S1 2BS) This is now a regular event 
 on the 3rd Wednesday of the month

 It’s for anyone who is involved and/or interested in Hazelhurst to get 
 together for a drink and a chat.  If it’s sunny (ha!) we’ll be in the 
 beer garden; if there are lots of us we may retire to the upstairs room; 
 otherwise we’ll be in the downstairs bar. Food is available, and any 
 time from 7pm is likely to find some of us there. Come and join us!

 News
 Hazelhurst Share offer
 The share offer, which we launched last February, raised £18,000. This 
 is short of our £30,000 target but has gone a long way towards helping 
 Hazelhurst get established as a viable enterprise. It has provided 
 much-needed capital to get things underway, paying for equipment, inputs 
 for the land, rent, our grower’s salary, administrative and publicity 
 costs and the countless other things that you need to start up such an 
 enterprise.
 More funding is still needed to keep us going until the business 
 becomes self-sustaining; shares are still available and if you would 
 like to buy shares (of any value between £50 and £5000) please do! You 
 can find details on our website.

 The vegbox – oh no, it’s a vegbag! – scheme
 We’ve been overwhelmed with subscribers to the vegbag scheme! We now 
 have 30 people signed up to start receiving a weekly vegbag on 26th July 
 and we have a waiting list.  This year 30 is the most we expect to be 
 able to supply. In future years there will be more.
 We have a ‘marketing team’ hard at work getting it all set up and 
 arranging for selling any produce surplus to the vegbag scheme. This is 
 a very exciting time.

 Grower’s news
 We've had some challenges this month with all the heavy rain, high 
 winds and hungry wildlife, but the long 70 metre beds are getting 
 established. The courgettes and squashes outside are all doing well 
 under fleece for protection from the worst of the weather.

 The supports for runner beans and peas are all in place, along with 
 fleece cover to stop the birds. About 200 leek plants were badly nibbled 
 when we first planted them out - we think by the local hares, but 
 fortunately we had spares to fill the gaps. Again, we've used fleece, 
 held up by hoops, to form a tunnel for protection.

 The courgette plants in the polytunnel have begun fruiting - we're 
 currently getting about 40 courgettes a week. We've also had crops of 
 spinach, red mustard leaves and autumn sown broad beans outside. The 
 leaf beet and chard are also starting to crop. The tomatoes and climbing 
 french beans in the tunnel are also looking good and should be ready to 
 pick at the end of the month.

 We've got some cosmos flowers to plant out, to encourage aphid eating 
 insects and we've started to sow salads for autumn and winter, so as 
 ever, looking ahead as well as enjoying the beginning of the harvest.

 Volunteering on the land
 Report from Stella, Volunteer co-ordinator
 The 23rd of June was our first Open Day. There was a steady flow of 
 visitors throughout the day, some familiar faces and some new. Huw gave 
 guided tours of the fruitery, talking about how it was designed, showing 
 us the layout, and telling us about the varieties of soft fruit and tree 
 fruit.  He has planted a little garden of Eden for everyone in years to 
 come. Meanwhile, his wife, Vicky, made scarecrows with the children 
 underneath the gazebo because it did rain a bit. I served cream teas at 
 the lock up.
  Matt worked on the field with Sarah and his team, planting out the 
 sweetcorn, talking to visitors and showing them round the growing area. 
 Collette painted faces beautifully, children’s and adults’ too: green 
 man, tiger, bear to go hunting in the long grass. And last but not least 
 the Katharina and partner Freddy showed the children how to dig rain 
 worms which they really loved, especially a young lad who had a bandage 
 on his head and was feeling sorry for himself, until he found he could 
 dig worms. Then he was happy, especially when given a gummy worm as a 
 reward.
 We are harvesting vegetables now: salad greens, broad beans, 
 courgettes, spinach and chard. There is so much more on the way. The 
 trouble is, so are the weeds. The beetroot responded well to being 
 weeded by doubling its height and now some are nearly the size of golf 
 balls. We have started weeding the peas which Ro likes to do standing 
 up, hacking into the couch with his pronged cultivator. Maureen and I 
 weed more delicately round the peas themselves. Sometimes we have to 
 replant a few after disentangling them from the ever-encroaching 
 tentacles of the demon couch grass.
 Ros tackled the intricacies of weeding the spring onion bed, the tiny 
 little things hardly visible among the couch and thistles. When weeded 
 you can see the rows; they too responded well to the lack of threatening 
 competition from weeds and are now thriving - a third  bigger in size 
 since last week.
 The chard is lovely, although a little nibbled by slugs, and needs 
 harvesting regularly. The broad beans we sowed in November are just 
 finishing themselves off, and more are on the way already. Matt’s 
 courgettes are being harvested every day and are very delicious too.  
 Our veg is now on sale at Beanies and New Roots as `in conversion' local 
 organic produce.
 Volunteers have been doing wonderful work and conversation is 
 interesting too. One comment: ‘Earthships are the training shoes of 
 eco-building’. ?

 Volunteer’s quote of the month
 Discussing if we should finish weeding the beetroot or have lunch: one 
 gallant volunteer says,  "No, we must work to the bottom so we sort of 
 have a feeling of triumph".

 Getting involved

 We need a treasurer! If you have skills with money, get in touch. You 
 can find more details at www.do-it.org

 Could you offer a little time on a regular day a week to water the 
 polytunnel crops? Contact Stella on 07541209661 stellah231 at gmail.com

 Do you have any tools you no longer need? Forks and trowels 
 particularly welcome. Any wellies you don’t need? We can use them!

 Hazelhurst needs lots of help and there are lots of different ways you 
 can be involved.
 Volunteering on the land – the days are every Wednesday and Thursday 
 and 2 Sundays per month. Contact stellah231 at gmail.com or phone Stella on 
 07541209661 for details.

 The next volunteering Sundays are:
  15th July (Hoochie Couchie Day) and 29th July

 Or you can help with administration, committee work, finance, IT, 
 planning, publicity, marketing, distribution, fundraising, organising 
 events, training, giving talks, writing newsletters, or just joining in. 
 Contact admin at hazelhurst.coop  to discuss. We’d love to hear from you!

 CSA Management Committee

 The CSA Management Committee will next meet on 8th August. Please get 
 in touch if you have any comments, queries or things you think we should 
 be discussing.
 ________________________________________
  Who are we?
 Hazelhurst Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Co-operative is based 
 on a field in the Moss Valley, just beyond the ring road. Our aim is to 
 grow and distribute organically grown, affordable food for the benefit 
 of the community, using ecologically sustainable methods and 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

 If you want to unsubscribe from this list, and no longer receive 
 updates about Hazelhurst CSA, you can do so by sending email to: 
 admin at hazelhurst.coop
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