[Hazelhurst-Newsletter] Newsletter #10

[Hazelhurst Admin]

 Newsletter #10

 A beautiful and printable version of the newsletter is attached to this 
 email.

 New Newsletter Editor
 My name is Ben Hastie, and I’m a 32-year-old sometime artist and 
 full-time freelance journalist, currently residing on Cherry Bank Road 
 in Norton Woodseats.
 Some months back I wrote an article about Hazelhurst for the Postcode 
 Gazette; after becoming acquainted with some of the group members at 
 various farmers markets and environmental events I’ve been enlisted to 
 take over the editing of the newsletter from Bardy, who’s moved on to 
 pastures new.
 Hopefully I’ll be seeing some of you over the coming weeks and months 
 in my quest to document the specific workings of the CSA for an upgraded 
 and expanded website.

 Transition Sheffield Award Nomination
 Hazelhurst is among the nominees for the upcoming 2012 Transition 
 Sheffield Awards, in recognition of the hard-work that has gone into 
 developing a sustainable, community-focused source of organic produce.
 The ceremony will be taking place from 7pm – 11pm on Thursday, November 
 29th at the Burton Street Function Suite in Hillsborough.  It would be 
 great to see a few of you there in celebration of similar projects 
 across the city.
 Tickets are available for £5, £8 and £12, depending on income, and can 
 be purchased by following the web-link:
 http://www.transitionsheffield.org.uk/node/114
 Leaving do for Matt
 Organic Grower Matt Holborrow will be leaving the project at the end of 
 the year.  Hazelhurst Chair Joan Miller said:
 “I am very sad to report that Matt, our grower, has decided to leave at 
 the end of December.  He has done a tremendous job in getting Hazelhurst 
 growing off to a good a start in our first full growing season.  We had 
 delicious and plentiful crops despite the extremely wet summer 
 conditions.  His knowledge is wide and deep and I have always valued his 
 opinion on any subject.  He has worked very hard including putting in 
 many extra hours in the spring to get a completely empty field and 
 poly-tunnel producing a full set of vegetables by July.  We tried to 
 persuade him to stay and he will be missed.  We have advertised the post 
 and hope to interview at the end of November.
 Hazelhurst has been holding regular monthly socials at the Rutland Arms 
 on Brown Street, providing a forum for people to find out more about the 
 project, meet some like-minded characters and renew acquaintances with 
 old friends.  It seems fitting to combine the next one, scheduled for 
 7pm on Friday, December 14th, with a leaving do for Matt, giving group 
 members the chance to thank him for his contribution and wish him well 
 for the future.
 Hope to see some of you there…



 New Project Manager
 Naomi Hinch was recently appointed as Hazelhurst’s Project Manager, 
 quickly immersing herself in the varying stages of the journey from seed 
 to veg bag.
 Naomi will be working on Thursdays and Fridays to develop and expand 
 the various strands of the project, overseeing the communications group 
 and managing the twitter and face-book accounts.
 She was also be behind the Hazelhurst stall at the upcoming Carfield 
 Primary School Festive Fair, taking place from 12noon – 3pm on Saturday, 
 November 24th, giving members a chance to pop along and say hello.
 Annual Report Delivered to the AGM
 The Hazelhurst AGM took place at the Quaker Meeting House on Wednesday, 
 October 3rd.
 The Annual Report for 2012 highlighted the £18,000 raised by the share 
 offer and detailed the success of the veg bag scheme, currently 
 supplying fresh produce to 35 customers.

 Hazelhurst has this year been used as a model for a case study by the 
 Co-op’s Start-Up advice kit, featured in a presentation on CSAs in 
 Ireland as well as appearing in the pages of the Sheffield Telegraph and 
 on Radio Sheffield.

 The profile of the project has also been raised with a continued 
 presence at community festivals and local farmers markets.

 The report also focused on the continued expansion and development of 
 the volunteers, with 70 individuals on the land as well as 30 regulars 
 taking part in harvesting, packing, delivery, administration and 
 marketing.  Over 2,500 hours have been done by the land volunteers 
 alone.

 The Hazelhurst Lane site is on track to be certified organic in March 
 2013, and partnerships have been established with Valley Park School and 
 the Gleadless Valley Community Forum.

 After the presentation of the report group members voted in Heather 
 Hunt to Outreach, Education and Environmental Justice, Alison Hilton as 
 Governance Advisor and Tony Constantino as the Treasurer.
 Huw Evans spoke about his plans for the site and there was an 
 illustrated talk by Nick Weir on a similar project in Stroud.
 “It was refreshing and inspiring to see how dynamically a CSA can grow 
 and support the community it springs from” said Volunteer Co-Ordinator 
 Stella Hunt.
 “He showed us innovative ways in which day by day problems can be 
 overcome”.

 Volunteering Update by Stella Hunt
 October the season of seed saving, weeding, clearing beds and compost 
 heap making…
 Nice weather for the time of year; thankfully most volunteer days have 
 been sunny and dry.
 Following the AGM we had loads of cakes left over, including C’s 
 delicious courgette muffins. While weeding the strawberry patch someone 
 looked up and said:
 “Looks like a rain cloud overhead”
 “But oh no, there’s a bit of blue sky behind the dark cloud”
 “Must be something Carolyn put in the muffins!”

 There have been lots of children on the field this Month. Joe came with 
 his wife and 3-year-old twins Billy and Lucas who had a great time being 
 pushed around in the wheelbarrow time after time, and climbing up the 
 compost heap. And eating all the cookies!
 Dominic came on Sunday with his mother Lisa, helping to plant out the 
 strawberry runners and pegging down the mypex.  Some of the other 
 volunteers took turns playing ball with Dominic, giving mum a chance to 
 help out in the field as well.
 And there were School visits!
 On Wednesday, October 10th some boys from Carfield Primary School 
 harvested potatoes and leeks and made soup on the field, supervised by 
 Heather and Tim Hirst - great fun was had by everyone.
 We clear away the gone to seed lettuces, harvesting seed from those 
 that have set seed. One small handful goes a long way.
 Composting them on the next hot heap no 3, we now have a fine row of 
 heaps. Patrick and Connor started the first heap with a 1foot layer of 
 weeds and planting debris in a 7ft square on the mypex. This was 
 followed by a layer of wood chip 1inch thick and then a layer of green 
 waste compost 1inch thick, keeping the whole thing wet with the hose 
 constantly. The heap is built up layer upon layer until it is the height 
 of a man, then covered by a plastic tarpaulin and weighed down with 
 wood.
 Pat and Conner are now keen compost heap makers and made another the 
 next day, and two more with the help of Maureen and Nick and Leaf on 
 Sunday.
 On the same day we also had a huge delivery of green waste compost in 
 an enormous lorry. The lorry could not make it up the hill so had to let 
 out its cargo, where it was, all over the driveway! This meant we spent 
 nearly the whole day shovelling green waste compost off the driveway. 
 Phew!

 Growers Report by Sarah Dance
 With the onset of autumn we've started harvesting leeks and cabbages 
 from the field, both of which have done well, despite a battle with 
 hares (eating the young leeks in the spring) and slugs (enjoying the 
 cabbages). In the tunnel now we're harvesting mizuna, chard and lettuce 
 which should go through until the end of the year.
 
 The turn of the season has also meant digging up all the root crops to 
 prevent damage from frost and rot. Swede, celeriac and beetroot have all 
 been stored in a straw clamp, made from a palette base and straw bales. 
 This clamp will provide enough insulation to keep the crops cool and dry 
 through the winter.
 
 We've continued to improve soil structure and fertility with green 
 manures. Wild white clover has been undersown in the tomato bed in the 
 tunnel. The tomato plants are now out, leaving the clover to grow on and 
 be dug back into the bed before spring planting. In the field we've sown 
 rye grass on the area without crops to protect the soil from erosion 
 over the winter. This will be ploughed back into the soil in early 
 spring.

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