Brighton Permaculture Trust News
'Tis the season to plant orchards
We will helping schools and communities across Brighton & Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex to plant many more fruit trees this winter. We have been working hard with our partners Action in rural Sussex and Brighton and Hove Food Partnership to enable a number of exciting projects and are using a increasingly complex funding arrangements to make them happen!
Some of the orchards we will be planting include:
New scrumping, orchard and local food premises at Stanmer?
Last week it was confirmed that 'The Tractor Shed' at Stanmer Park will be marketed for rent by Brighton and Hove City Council, and we are pleased to announce that we will be making a bid for it.
If we are successful, we want to make a £40,000 investment in a kitchen and juice bottling equipment which will allow us to expand our processing of fruit from the scrumping project, enabling us to make much more juice, chutneys, etc.
Orchard partnership with Normandy planned
Action in rural Sussex and Brighton Permaculture Trust are currently putting together plans to work with partners in the Orne area of Normandy on ways of making orchard fruits a cornerstone of a sustainable food system.
We have a shared history of orchards but there are many ways in which we differ and could learn from each other.
Scrumping project featured in the Argus
Our scrumping project was recently featured in The Argus. Read the full article here and see if you can spot Stephan and Bryn in the group photo!
Scrumping project may receive a boost
We will be pitching this Thursday 29 November for money to get the equipment needed to make our scrumping project viable. The Dragons Den style event will be attended by ‘Business Angels’. We should then be able to secure funding to go with this. We hope that we will continue to be located at Stanmer Park. Wish us luck!
Got juice?
Come visit us at our Orchard Barn at Stanmer every Saturday and Sunday up to Christmas, weather permitting. Taste our wholesome local fresh apple juice, which is unpasteurised and packed full of vitamins, enzymes and other phytonutrients. You can also see the juice being made, buy our chutneys, sauces, etc, and find out about our various projects and courses. Find out more and get directions.
Orchard planting this winter
We will be helping schools and communities to plant a lot more orchards this winter. For example, we will be planting 32 more fruit trees with Craven Vale residents in East Brighton this winter, the first being planted at their Christmas fair. We will be able to announce the details of more exciting projects in Brighton & Hove and across Sussex soon, so watch this space. If you would like us to help your school or community to plant an orchard this winter, then click here to learn more. We also have some limited lottery funds to help with the costs of some orchards. If you are interested in volunteering to help us plant, care for and prune orchards, then please sign up for volunteer mailings. We run these projects in partnership with Action in rural Sussex and Brighton and Hove Food Partnership.
Eco houses throw open their doors
Eco Open Houses 2012 has been another great success. This year showcased seven new houses, ranging from a creative new house built on a tiny plot at Hartington Road to a work in progress at Balfour Road, with all the measures and materials readily visible. Several stunning retrofits opened their doors this year, showing how they have managed to increase house size yet significantly reduce energy costs. In addition, many householders described how they have made simple but very effective small changes to their homes or behaviour which has led to big reductions in energy and water use.
Scrumping project receives recognition
Brighton Permaculture Trust's scrumping project recently received recognition from Caroline Lucas MP, whose Brighton Pavilion ward includes Stanmer.
Apple day 2012 a great success
For those of you unlucky people that missed Apple Day this year, it was again a massive success, with thousands of visitors enjoying hundreds of litres of juice and apple crumbles. Many children as well as adults enjoyed the various games and activities, storytelling, traditional apple pressing and the Sussex Apple Play by the Brighton Mummers. There was plenty to keep the grown-ups busy with information stalls, apple identification, orchard tours, talks and numerous stalls, including Black Pig cider, FareShares, Infinity foods, and Fork and Dig It, to name just a few.
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