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Spring / Summer Newsletter

July 2010 Email: fromthegroundupcoop@gmail.com

elcome to the Transition Town Kingston Inside this newsletter


Food Group’s Spring/Summer Newsletter, Kingston Orchard Project 1
covering our activities since April. We Reskilling – Jam Making 1
have been busy so there is plenty to share- Reclaiming Land 1
Food Co-op
Kingston Orchard Project Current Status 1
Vision 2015 2
In April 2010, when an offer of an available allotment
Enhancements 3
was made to Anna Kwilecka of the TTK Food Group,
Future Plans 3
she jumped at the chance to start the Kingston
Orchard Project (KOP) using the agroforestry model of Featured Supplier 4
long term food production with minimal Calendar of activities 5
maintenance. With a team of 11 volunteers the land is
being cleared to cultivate trees, shrubs, canes, ground Further sessions will be offered in the autumn for those
covering soft fruit, perennial herbs and vegetables. A wishing to make their own marmalade, pickles and
fruit tree nursery has been started for producing chutney. For further information or to book a place,
grafting material while plans are in place to propagate either phone Toni at 07749 633973 or email Toni
different local and exotic trees to supply the orchard at baizard@hotmail.co.uk
and other projects. Viewed as
an educational opportunity to
promote various propagation
Reclaiming Land
Brian Mulley and Lucy Harrison
methods, a workshop is planned
have reclaimed some land
for July 25th focusing on fig
under the Garden Sharing
trees.
scheme whereby someone
who has a garden that is too
The KOP also intends to become
big offers it to someone in
one of Kingston’s Urban Farms, furnishing the From the
exchange for some of the grown food. Brian is
Ground Up Food Co-op with an annual supply of
pictured working the new compost heap.
vegetables and salad greens. It has already delivered
its first shipment of salad greens to the Co-op on 10 July
and will continue to do so throughout the summer. From the Ground Up Food Co-op
Current Status
As always volunteers are needed. For more Since May, two key changes have occurred for the
information, please contact Anna at From the Ground Up Food Co-op: introducing a bi-
either kingstonorchard@gmail.com or weekly schedule and the new venue for sorting,
hogsmillorchard@gmail.com packing and collecting food – The Kingston
Environment Centre http://kingstonec.wordpress.com/.
Reskilling – Jam Making With an enthusiastic team of volunteers and a larger
From the Ground Up is now offering the opportunity to space to accommodate growth, the bi-weekly cycles
learn about food preservation – a dormant skill that is have been running smoothly.
having a resurgence. Tony Izard, a member of the
Food Group, is holding informal jam making sessions We currently boast 60 names on our mailing list. To
with plenty of hands on experience in her kitchen in justify future enhancements, such as on-line purchasing
Long Ditton. Each session will last approximately 4 hours system, we need to receive more orders per bi-weekly
and costs £5 / person, covering materials, refreshments, cycle – we are currently averaging 11.4 orders and
etc. aspire to about 20 orders on a steady basis.

The suggested calendar of jam making sessions is: To achieve the desired levels we have introduced
Blackberry and Apple Jam - Saturday 24th and 31st July some new features to our service and ramped up our
efforts to market the Co-op to a wider audience --
Plum or Greenage Jam - Saturday 7th August
spreading the message
Bramble Jam- Saturday 21st August
Damson Jam - Friday 27th August The From the Ground Up Food Co-op is
open for business

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Spring / Summer Newsletter
July 2010 Email: fromthegroundupcoop@gmail.com

 Share the newsletters with friends and family


 Dean and Steph were at the Transition Town  Ask people to send an email to
Launch in April, raffling a fruit fromthegroundupcoop@gmail.com for more
and veg box. At 10p a information
ticket, we sold about 200
tickets, acquired For copies of any or all of the above materials, just send
approximately 40 names for us an email
our distribution list and
earned a few coins for the Vision 2015
‘tin’. And Dean was able to When asked what does the
disentangle himself from the Food Co-op look like in
bamboo...eventually 2015? a group of members
suggested...
 A welcome information email has been
drafted and will be sent to the entire TTK In 2015 the From the Ground Up Co-op is a CIC legal
community (over 400 names) entity that is open daily and employing 5 part time staff

 Dean and Lucy have attended the June TT There will be a restaurant/café where organic meals
open meeting to see how it can be leveraged are prepared to eat-in or take away
to promote the Food Group
We have several distribution hubs across the Kingston
 Brian has been distributing the From the area making collection more convenient. We also
Ground Up flyer to various local groups offer a delivery service for a fee, using volunteers'
bicycles and cars.
 Information has been distributed to the
Kingston voluntary managed allotment group The Co-op’s website has a state-of-the-art online
(www.akimdal.com) ordering and payment system we now sell to other start
up co-ops for a nominal consulting fee (all monies
 The Food Group has a dedicated From the returning to the).
Ground Up Food Group space in the bi-weekly
TT Kingston newsletter We formed alliances with schools, offering students an
active role in the Co-op’s operation as work experience
 The TT Wimbledon food group steering group
has been approached and invited to join the We host food exchanges for growers to ‘swap’ their
Co-op surplus produce and/or offer to sell it to the Co-op’s
members
 A reference to our Co-op was made in the
May 2010, issue #10 Foodcoops.org newsletter We offer a marketplace for local producers of non fresh
http://www.sustainweb.org/foodcoops/news/ goods (e.g. honey, jams) and crafts to sell their
products
 We are also listed in the foodcoops.org food
co-op database and finder We are a source of educational workshops in basic
http://www.sustainweb.org/foodcoops/finder/ nutrition, healthy cooking, ethnic cooking and
?outlet=835 preserving foods

We created an alliance with a local farm and buy


shares of its production
But more help is needed... things you
can do to recruit new members... And we bulk buy on behalf of smaller start-up Co-ops
 Email or give a From the Ground Up Food Co- to get a better price on goods
op Welcome Letter to interested people,
explaining who we are and what we are trying Not too outlandish and all in the realm of possibility...
to accomplish
 Distribute a From the Ground Up Food Co-op
flyer to your friends, churches, allotments, etc

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Spring / Summer Newsletter
July 2010 Email: fromthegroundupcoop@gmail.com

Enhancements since April... ensures customers are receiving the weight they are
paying for.
Our New Look
Julia and Steven Williams of
http://www.williamsgraphicdesign.com/ have B.Y.O.
responded to our cries for help and The Food Co-op also offers its members to
donated their creative magic to bring your own to sell during collection
design our brand. Everyone agrees Saturdays. Sue Moller was the first to take
the logo and email banners capture us up on this offer and sold her home
the spirit of the TTK Food Group – grown posies and homemade elderflower cordial at
upgrading the ‘eye appeal’ of our the 26 June collection. This offer is open to anyone who
communications. In gratitude, the Food Co-op is wishes to sell their pesticide free, homemade products
providing a complementary fruit and veg box to Julia at the Co-op.
and Steven as small tokens of our deep appreciation
for their support. Urban Farming
In our quest to be locavores urban farming is key. The
Volunteers Kingston Orchard project aims to fill that role and
Each collection Saturday, supply the Food Co-op with its own grown vegetables.
a team of volunteers have
been preparing the orders. Future Plans
To kick off the bi-weekly
service a training session
Online Ordering System
was led by Dean to teach
An application has been submitted to the Kingston
the ABC’s of sorting and
Council Environmental Grants programme for funding
packing food.
the new scale (£295) and the development of an
As always, we are looking for more volunteers to help
online food ordering system to eliminate the need for
us with the Saturday packing for the autumn. We are
spreadsheets. Dean will be managing this project.
not asking for more than a few hours, every few
months….

Standing Orders Hot off the Press!!! We have been


We now offer standing orders to those who are willing informed that funding for our scale
to commit to a pre-defined order each cycle without has been approved...
needing to use the order form.

New Scale Whole Foods – Lucy Harrison is taking the lead in


The ol’ workhorse kitchen scale organising bulk buying from the Suma Wholesale Shop
has been put to pasture and of organic dry or whole foods and co-ordinating its
replaced by a new commercial delivery with our fresh food orders. Expected launch is
scale. It is larger and stronger to this autumn. http://www.sumawholesale.coop/
accommodate the increase in
orders and variety of items. And, Referral and Volunteering Incentives
calibrated to comply with the Sue and Toni demonstrating Plans are underway to introduce incentive schemes
Weights & Measures Law, it the new scale for volunteering and referring new members who
have ordered from the Co-op. All ideas are
welcomed and we hope to start offering them in the
early autumn.

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Spring / Summer Newsletter
July 2010 Email: fromthegroundupcoop@gmail.com

Featured Supplier supported on their farm, where animals are


encouraged to co-exist with their crops, not deterred.
Riverdale Organic Farm
Currently Riverdale Farm is producing a total of about
Edwin and Karen Broad have been involved with the 75 different crops each year. This includes a wide range
organics industry since 1985, working and living in the of protected crops using modern polytunnels - cherry
heart of the Norfolk fenland. With this experience they tomatoes, aubergines, and herbs, early carrots, spring
set up an organics business in their living room in 1992 cabbage, and salad crops to name but a few. The
where they pioneered ancient orchards are being renovated and
organic box home rejuvenated to once again
delivery services for produce old favourites such as
individuals and Did you know that 98%
Bramley, Worcester and Lord
represented Lamborne as well as the new of British vegetables
independent organic varieties that are specially and cereals are
farmers for supplying industry and supermarkets. selected for their flavour and sprayed many times
disease resistance, making them during their ‘growing’
Three years later they were given the opportunity to ideal candidates for organic life with several of the
buy a few acres of Victorian orchard that adjoins the growing. Specialist crops such as five hundred
back garden of their house. This first plot of land was to runner beans, spring onions, and permitted pesticides?
become the very beginning of Riverdale Farm. Over chard are grown on site. New
the next two years, the small overgrown orchard was varieties and experimental systems are also trialled on
tidied and converted to organic land, and piece by site. All products are sold through the Organic
piece, over the last 10 years the farm has expanded to Connections side of their business.
25 acres. Riverdale farm aims to continue to grow
organically on grade 1, fenland siltland, and to help After one of the most demanding growing seasons they
more land become organic in the surrounding area. have had in several years, they found juggling the
demands of running the box scheme and growing a
As a small, family run organic fruit and vegetable farm, wide range of vegetables increasingly difficult. Since
chemicals or artificialities are never used, relying on their heart is in growing the vegetables they are now
nature’s own remedies and focusing on their farm and passing on the box scheme.
rhythms to grow healthy, full
flavoured fruit and vegetables. www.riverdaleorganicfarms.co.uk
Karen and Edwin believe that
www.organic-connections.co.uk
farmers should work with
nature, not against it, to
produce the freshest, most
delicious local produce
possible. All their produce and systems are inspected
annually by the Soil Association and the Farm is certified
not only as a grower of organic produce but also as an
organic packer to ensure all the produce supply is
packed to organic standards. Biodiversity is also

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Spring / Summer Newsletter
July 2010 Email: fromthegroundupcoop@gmail.com

Calendar of From the Ground Up Food Group Activities

Sunday Monday Tues Wed Thursday Friday Saturday


August 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 Order Forms Order Forms Order
Emailed Returned Collection
Jam Making
Session
August 9 10 11 12 13 14
8 Food Co-op
Meeting at
Steph’s
August 16 17 18 19 20 21
15 Order Forms Order Forms Order
Emailed Returned Collection
Jam Making
Session
August 23 24 25 26 27 28
22 Jam Making
Session

August 30 31 Sept ember 2 3 4


29 BANK Order Forms 1 Order Forms Order
HOLIDAY Emailed Returned Collection

Sept 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Kingston
Carnival

Sept 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Order Forms Order Forms Order
Emailed Returned Collection

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