Now on to some very exciting news! We have purchased our BRAND NEW polytunnel. Now we just need an inspired and hardworking gang of people to help us put it up so we can begin to grow those luscious veggies that we all want to be eating now that spring is finally happening…

To this end, we are going to be on the plot putting up the polytunnel on the following dates from 10 am to 5 pm:

Saturday 4th May

Saturday 11th May

Sunday 19th May

Saturday 25th May

You are free to show up on any or all of the dates above, but we just ask that you let the gang boss Tim Lawrence know in advance at urbanvegtim@yahoo.co.uk if you are coming so he can plan ahead.

Thanks so much!

Feed Bristol and Sims Hill sit on the delicious, rare, grade 1 soil of the Blue Finger (about 1000 hecatres running from Bristol into South Glos that used to be Bristol’s Market Gardens). At this Saturday’s Big Dig and Seed Swap at Feed Bristol, you can help to create a food growing vision for the whole Blue Finger and find out why Bristol needs to urgently protect this amazing land for food growing projects and enterprises and not lose it to damaging development. Find out about the new Blue Finger Alliance and, whatever your skills, experience or interest, you can bring your skills and enthusiasm to this pro-soil, local food campaign.

Find out more and watch the film by going to http://www.bluefingeralliance.org.uk or http://www.bluefingerfood.wordpress.com (blog)

The Blue Finger from Joe Evans on Vimeo.

The Big Dig is a nationwide campaign to get people out to support their local community projects. For more information and other projects taking part check their website: www.bigdig.org.uk, and for Bristol-based activities, go here.

What’s on…

Check out Sims Hill and Feed Bristol: This is a chance to take a look around and to meet the growers.

Hedge planting will be going on at Sims Hill all day until 3 pm. Volunteers to help with this are most welcome!

Bristol’s annual Seed Swap – the most delightfully fruitful event of the season is back. This year we have teamed up with Feed Bristol, Avon Wildlife’s thriving community food growing project and Sims Hill Shared Harvest. Taking place at Feed Bristol on 16 March (11am–4pm), as part of Sustain’s urban food growing campaign The Big Dig. See website for details and directions: www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/feedbristol

Or check the Seed Swap Facebook page www.facebook.com/bristol.seedswap

The Seed Swap is a fun-filled family event and is open to anyone interested in seeds, food growing and organic gardening. A fantastic opportunity to pick up or swap a diverse selection of seeds including unusual and tasty varieties, meet some fellow gardeners and exchange growing tips, experiences and resources. At the same time the event offers a chance to participate in building and strengthening local food security, reclaiming seed sovereignty, supporting organic practices, developing local connections and sharing local knowledge and skills.

If you’re up for learning, discussing and sharing ideas, there will be a range of talks focussing on various earthly and food growing issues. There will also be fun activities for kids, a range of stalls with information about local growing and environmental groups, plants, fruit trees, local produce and local craftwork. All served with a large helping of deliciously fruity live music, freshly prepared cakes, a hearty soup and your finest teas and healthy juices! Sowing and swapping seeds for a healthy community.

If you have surplus seeds to share/swap, please bring them along in a labelled envelope or other container. A large selection of seeds have also been very kindly donated by Chiltern Seeds, Edwin Tucker and Thompson Morgan.

The Bristol 2013 Seed Swap Event offers a great opportunity to visit and support these pioneering food growing initiatives located on the infamous and endangered Blue Finger in Stapleton, some of the most fertile land in the country, listed as grade 1 agricultural land. A beautiful green field site, buzzing with wildlife and a hive of community food growing activity. As part of The Big Dig both Feed Bristol and Sims Hill CSA will also be putting on a range of engaging food growing and land based activities.  Keep watching our websites for further details. One for the diary!

Directions to site: Feed Bristol is located on the junction of Frenchay Park Rd and Stoke Lane in Stapleton (BS16 1HB). The entrance is by the traffic lights on Frenchay Park Road. Please cycle or use public transport if you can. There is a great cycle route through Eastville Park to nearby Snuff Mills. Local buses stop right outside the site.

For further information on the Bristol 2013 Seed Swap: bristolseedswap@gmail.com

Or see our Facebook page www.facebook.com/bristol.seedswap

As a member-owned co-operative, Sims Hill can only survive and thrive with the active support and participation of all of its members. We plan on being done as close to 9:30 pm as possible, and we hope to see all of you there! (Non-members are also very welcome!)

The Agenda is as follows:

Election of the Board:

The current Board comprises Chris Sunderland, Bobbie Sunderland, James Adamson, Tim Lawrence, Alison Crowther and Kristin Sponsler. Per our Articles of Incorporation, the two members of the Board who are standing down this year are Kristin Sponsler and Tim Lawrence. However, they will both be standing again for re-election. Also, Simone Osborn and Kate  Whittle will be standing for the Board as well. The bios for Kristin, Tim, Simone and Kate are below:

Tim Lawrence is a community development worker, a community gardener with ASAP (Asylum Seekers Allotment Project) and is also one of the two staff growers at Sims Hill Shared Harvest. Tim wants to see more land available for community based food growing in Bristol.

Kristin Sponsler is an active member of Transition Bristol, Bristol Food Network and the Bristol Food Policy Council. Kristin was raised on a farm and has a passionate interest in sustainable food systems and permaculture. She has a background in desktop publishing and website editing. She also serves as the current Secretary.

Simone Osborn has a background in project managing different kinds of printed and web content from a career spent largely in the publishing and translation industries. Simone has worked in the nonprofit sector since 2007. She is active in Transition Bristol and wrote the Bristol peak oil report. Simone is interested in using her project management skills to help community projects become and remain viable.

Kate Whittle has been working in the social economy for over 25 years, both in the UK and overseas. She has provided support and training to co-operatives of all kinds, social enterprises and voluntary organisations. Kate is founder member of www.cooperantics.coop set up to improve, promote and develop co-operative skills in co-operatives and throughout all sectors of the economy. Kate has been a member of Sims Hill for two years.

Approval of the accounts presented by Roberta Sunderland

Growers’ update from James Adamson and Tim Lawrence

Exercise in “how co-operatives work” by co-operative expert and Sims Hill member Kate Whittle

Presentation of draft Members’ Handbook, written by Kate Whittle, by Alison Crowther

Outreach and recruitment plan by Sims Hill member Jack Phillips

We continue to very much appreciate the support of all our members, and we hope to see you there!

New Year Workday – Timber Decking Removal

Sunday 13th January

10am-3pm

Eastside Roots, Stapleton Road Station, Easton

Eastside Roots is losing half of its site, so they generously offered us their timber-framed shelter and decking.

The plan is to rebuild it at Sims Hill as a packing shed/tea shed, using the decking for cladding.

A gang of volunteers and James’n’ Tim have taken down the shelter and some of the decking.

We need to get the rest out by the end of the month, and could do with some help.

Please bring a cordless drill with phillips screwdriver bits and/or a saw and/or crowbar, if you have them.

(N.B. this workday is not suitable for small children)

New Year Celebration – Big Bake, Stew’n'Roast

Sunday 13th January

5pm-8pm

Easton Community Centre, Kilburn Street, Easton, Bristol, BS5 6AW (see map here)

To welcome in the new year we are celebrating with a bring and share meal at Easton Community Centre.

Bring a big bake, stew or roast to share and any homebrew or left over goodies from Christmas!

Emmy is coming along with her harp and some musical friends to add to the ambience.

(N.B. this celebration is definately suitable for small children!!!)

Request: If you live near Easton Community Centre and are happy to bring along easily recognisable cutlery and crockery etc., please let me know Thanks (Tim 07973 256572)

Happy Christmas from the Hill!

Hello everyone, and thanks so much for your support this year. As a community supported project, Sims Hills Shared Harvest wouldn’t exist but for the support and belief of its members. 2012 has been a tough year, but we are still standing, and with your help have put together some exciting ideas and plans for 2013!

Perhaps the most important decision made at the last member’s meeting is that we need each member to recruit a half or full veg share member over the next few months to ensure that we meet our financial commitments for 2013. Please help us meet this target by using the flyer you will be receiving in your Christmas veg share this week, or if you are a supporter member and/or missed the flyer, it is attached here for you to download and print out. (The flyer bit is below the cut lines on the front and back pages.)

Please remember that this week’s veg box share is a double one so there will not be a veg share to collect next week.

Items that were agreed by members for 2013 were:

• Members agreed on a 5% price increase to cover rising costs. This takes full shares to £44/month (including the £3 membership fee), and half share memberships to £25/month (including the £3 membership fee). Please help us by adjusting your standing orders accordingly ready for January.
• All of our 2013 trainings/workshops will be free to members. The first one of these will be a “living landscape” walk with national permaculture expert Patrick Whitefield in February 2013. Details tbc shortly.
• For more exciting plans for 2013, please see below.

Since the meeting we have received planning permission for our polytunnels and will update you on this shortly.

The full meeting notes are accessible on the website at: http://bit.ly/Yk1OVt

Sims Hill Shared Harvest 2013 Plan:

• Implementing a cutting edge swale water management system to address the challenge of a changing climate. We are currently seeking funding to finance this.
• Sims Hill will become a Permaculture Land centre (http://www.permaculture.org.uk/land)
• We are planning a 2 year apprenticeship scheme that will help develop the educational and commercial sides of the project. We are seeking funding for this initiative.

Come celebrate with us and find out more!

Our next Community Celebration (including music and shared meal) will be 13th January at the Easton Community Centre from 5 to 8 pm following on from a “barn-raising” come and help us build our packing shed work day! More details will be appearing on the blog soon http://simshillsharedharvest.wordpress.com/events/

We are also planning a “living landscape walk” event with national permaculture expert Patrick Whitefield sometime in February. Keep an eye on the blog for details about this to appear soon also.

A very Merry Holiday season to all from Sims Hill Shared Harvest!

Please take note of the following dates for Board meetings and Members’ meetings for 2013. The first Community Celebration date has also been confirmed (more details on that following shortly). Dates for the remaining Community Celebrations tbc.

Should any dates need to change, members will be notified by email and this will also be noted on the blog.

Board meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of every month:

• January 8
• February 12
• March 12
• April 9
• May 14
• June 11
• July 9
• August 13
• September 10
• October 8
• November 12
• December 10

Board meetings are hosted in turn by members of the Board and start at 7:30 pm. Members are always welcome at Board meetings also. Should you wish to come to a Board meeting please email us at simshillsharedharvest@googlemail.com so we can make extra tea!

Members meetings will be held on the last Tuesday of February, April, June, September, and November.

• February 26: Annual General Meeting
• April 30
• June 25
• September 24
• November 26: Adoption of 2013 budget

Please note that February 26 is the AGM when the Board will be elected and that November 26 is when the 2014 budget will be adopted. Members’ Meetings will be at Horfield Meeting House, 300 Gloucester Road, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 8PD and start at 7:30 pm.

and last but by no means least, the 2012 Sims Hill Shared Harvest Saturday Community Celebrations! (names subject to change):

• January 13: Decking construction work day/Winter celebration

Details for the celebrations will be published on the blog nearer the time.

Photo credit: Annie Mole


]]> http://simshill.co.uk/2012/12/16/2012-dates-for-your-diary/feed/ 0 kristinsponsler http://simshill.co.uk/2012/11/14/next-open-members-meeting-27th-november/ http://simshill.co.uk/2012/11/14/next-open-members-meeting-27th-november/#comments Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:14:44 +0000 kristinsponsler http://simshillsharedharvest.wordpress.com/?p=1021 ]]> The next members’ meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 27th, at 7.30pm at Horfield Meeting House, 300 Gloucester Road, BS7 8PD. See map.

This is an open members' meeting, so please bring along any of your friends and neighbours who might be interested in learning more about Sims Hill. This is the meeting where we will be adopting the budget for 2013, so we need input from as many of our members as possible. The papers for the meeting will be sent out on Friday, 16 November.

Please find the headline agenda items below:

1. Update on drainage and landscaping from James Adamson

2. Update on plans for becoming a Permaculture LAND centre from Chris Sunderland and Alison Crowther.



3. Update on apprenticeship scheme planning from Tim Lawrence

4. Plans for new member recruitment from Chris Sunderland and James Adamson

5. Financial update and budget proposal from Bobbie Sunderland

6. Decision to be taken on budget for 2013

7. Winter celebration planning discussion led by Tim Lawrence

We look forward to seeing you there!


]]> http://simshill.co.uk/2012/11/14/next-open-members-meeting-27th-november/feed/ 0 kristinsponsler http://simshill.co.uk/2012/11/10/scaling-up-urban-agriculture-report-from-nicole-vosper/ http://simshill.co.uk/2012/11/10/scaling-up-urban-agriculture-report-from-nicole-vosper/#comments Sat, 10 Nov 2012 10:41:11 +0000 kristinsponsler http://simshillsharedharvest.wordpress.com/?p=1006 ]]> From Nicole Vosper of Somerset Community Food:

On Wednesday October 3rd, I joined a group of others to focus on answering the question, “How can we scale up urban agriculture in Bristol?”. Organised by Bristol Food Policy Council, the event took place at Co-exist in Bristol and brought together urban growers, community organisers and local foodies in Bristol who all care about how the city gets fed.

I went with interest as a rural grower that is soon to be feeding into the city and also to raise awareness that if Somerset was to feed itself that would impact on Bristol’s chances! Unfortunately cities aren’t the best model of human habitat patterns and would ultimately need to be fed by counties like Somerset that surround the city.

However urban agriculture will certainly play a role in keeping the city fed and help people to re-connect with the land, learn skills and building community.

The night started with five speakers to inspire with different perspectives and experiences in urban agriculture. Misty Tunks of Knowle West Media Centre and the Elm project started the ball rolling and introduced the Edible Landscapes Movement’s use of smart phones to link producers and retailers, where people can upload what they are planting, harvesting and more. They also have things like virtual fruit tree maps of the Knowle West. It was a really interesting concept and one that made me think about what more we could do in Somerset to link up retailers and producers.

Keith Cowling then spoke. Keith was from the Ashley Vale Allotment Association and told us about the 4000 allotments in Bristol distributed over 100 sites across the city. However he reminded us that allotments are not generally designed to produce a surplus – not more so than for one family and their friends and so if we think we can feed a city on allotments alone this is unlikely indeed. He said that we will need a strategic approach if lots of different small sites are to feed people e.g. transport systems, ways to move soil, nutrients, a shared marketing system and so forth. He talked about recent developments near Bristol Temple Meads and that that the vision of a temporary growing project became unfeasible when they costed out how much organic matter would be needed to grow, so Keith’s call to action was about a soil building social enterprise. A challenge for all your designers out there.

Tim Lawrence from Sims Hill Shared Harvest then spoke passionately about the historical agricultural and social changes experienced through industrialisation, such as mechanisation and the decline of market gardens and smallholdings. He also talked about issues such as access to land and ownership.

Support for start up costs and the challenges of finding the people with the skills and experience to get a project going were also identified. Another challenge highlighted are the community organising and project management skills needed by growers, such as building that community interaction into projects and recruiting and communicating with volunteers. Tim also talked about the impacts of climate change and the need for more design support due to our changing climate and weather that presents challenges to any grower, which will need more resilience than perhaps traditional market gardens of the past.

Another point raised was that of power, where do we get our power from? People? Machines? How do we meet these needs in the descent of oil? Tim also talked about fertility in the city – where does our fertility come from? The climate has presented challenges even for green manures and so how we meet our needs is really important.

Finally Tim’s calls to action where that opportunities need to be created for young people to learn all the skills necessary to genuinely manage land, like the apprenticeships starting at Sims Hill in the coming year. His second call to action was infrastructure, detailing all the above and the relationships between them.

Mike Lloyd-Jones then introduced the Bristol Pound, the complementary currency for the city that aims to strengthen the local economy and keep money within the city. He talked about the Farm Link Initiative that offers a 0% redemption rate (its basically like getting paid in traditional currency) for primary producers based within 50 miles of Bristol. That includes you, Somerset growers! Check it out here: http://bristolpound.org/farmlink

Finally, Rebecca Marshall from the Community Land Advisory Service talked about the lack of technical expertise to negotiate access to land and how CLAS had been developed to meet that community need. She reminded everyone that the support is there and this aspect of getting started should not put anyone off!

After the speakers was an open space type session to harvest the collective experiences and ideas from the room.

Overall it was an interesting evening and I continue to be inspired by everything happening in our local city. My favourite quote of the night was Joy Carey, who said, “Scaling up is about smartening up”.

October 19, 2012 by Nicole Vosper, Somerset Community Food


]]> http://simshill.co.uk/2012/11/10/scaling-up-urban-agriculture-report-from-nicole-vosper/feed/ 0 kristinsponsler http://simshill.co.uk/2012/10/26/green-tomato-recipes/ http://simshill.co.uk/2012/10/26/green-tomato-recipes/#comments Fri, 26 Oct 2012 08:38:52 +0000 kristinsponsler http://simshillsharedharvest.wordpress.com/?p=998 ]]> Hello! Because of the need to bring the tomato season to a close, we will all be receiving green tomatoes in our veg share this week. To help us deal with this sudden glut of the green stuff, Sims Hill member Naomi Woodspring provides us with the following recipes. Enjoy!

In the States, one of the joys of the end of harvest season is green tomatoes, especially in the South. Below are some of my favorite preserving recipes. Jars should be sterile, etc but I’m not going to go into those instructions – they are easily found online. These recipes are all in American measurements (cups, teaspoons, etc) again, equivalents are easily found online.

Green Tomato Relish
Grind:
1 quart (about a half kilo)
3 to 6 stalks celery
1 to 2 each green and red peppers
1 small hot pepper
1 to 2 large onions
Add to them:
3 cups apple cider vinegar
½ to 1- ½ soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon allspice, cloves, and celery seeds
¼ cup mustard seeds

Simmer all together for 10 minutes or so, then seal hot in hot jars, leaving ¼ inch head space.

Genuine Classic Sour Dill Green Tomatoes
Combine the following a nonmetallic vessel:
1 quart vinegar (I mix apple cider with white vinegar but you can use all apple cider or whatever)
2 cups water
2 to 3 tablespoons sea salt
Soak overnight in this liquid small whole tomatoes, well washed, as many as can be covered by brine (they can be quartered if they are too big to be used whole). The tomatoes should remain submerged in the pickling liquid which done by setting a plate on top of the bowl and then putting a brick or other heavy object on the plate.

In the morning drain the liquid from the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes and only cook for a moment (long enough for the tomatoes to heat up not to be cooked). At the bottom of each jar place:
1 clove of garlic, split in two
1 piece bay leaf
1 chunk red pepper
1 head fresh dill
1 tablespoon dill seeds
Now fork the tomatoes into hot jars then make sure the soaking liquid is boiling fairly briskly, add enough to cover the tomatoes leaving ¼ inch or so of head space. Put the same assortment on top as you put in the bottom of the jar. Remember these get mellower with age. One of my favorite uses is a small one in a martini.

Green Tomato Mincemeat
½ + quarts each chopped green tomatoes and chopped tart apples with skins
¼ pound raisins
½ pound prunes, halved
¼ to ½ pound soft brown sugar
¼ cup molasses or treacle
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground cloves
½ teaspoon allspice, nutmeg, ginger and salt.
Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer until thick. Seal in hot jars, leaving ¼ inch head space.

Ok, then there are fried green tomatoes which aren’t the healthiest but are very yummy. The best recipe is found here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fried-green-tomatoes-10000000461220/ (you can’t get cornmeal in this country so use polenta)

And finally, green tomato pie is excellent. There are lots of recipes on the web to choose from, depending on how spicy you like things.

Update: Tip from Sims Hill member Cristina Crossingham:
I have been ripening my green tomatoes for several weeks in a large box, each tom separated by newspaper so they don’t touch and with the lid on tight so they are in the total dark. Every few days I open it up to find more red toms. They are much less delicious than ripe from the bush but good to cook with.

Photo credit: flickr/3Liz4/


]]> http://simshill.co.uk/2012/10/26/green-tomato-recipes/feed/ 0 kristinsponsler