Bringing In The Sheaves

Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness

Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve

Waiting for the harvest and the time of reaping

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves


When I was a kid, I used to love singing this in Sunday School,…I had no idea what “the sheaves” were but nevertheless I used to enjoy singing it with gusto and eyeing up the harvest produce display on the front altar. Back then, in the early 70s the sights of all that fruit was heaven to me! Unfortunately and a sign of the times, but it would probably generate rows of churned up faces of terror in a lot of kids.

My allotment this year has been rather bountiful in its yield, more so than we normally have and it’s been a hard job eating through what we had! A lot has been given away or frozen and we still have the butternut squash the cabbages and sprouts plus the parsnips to come too. We had none of any last year. I think I am one of the few people who squeals with delight when I see the arrival of sprouts on the shops! If I tell you I love you more than sprouts, then you know I really do!

The desire to get allotment space or garden space for growing produce still remains high and thankfully with Spareground and schemes such as Landshare, there are now options other than notoriously long waiting lists available for people to find this space. Lots of schools, churches and community groups are also seeking growing space as a way of educating both children and adults in growing food and appreciating it that bit more. My own nieces and nephews are involved in such schemes and whereas before, a lot of vegetables were considered to be the devil’s deeds, they are now far more open to at least trying what they have helped grow from seeds to something steaming in a pot on the cooker.
Long may it continue I say.

Spareground has also through this year seen adverts for people seeking land for other uses such as keeping chickens or bees or other livestock, for grazing of horses etc and we have been surprised by the generous offers of free or very cheaply available land.
We have also had offers of land for camping, and for storage of large vehicles, boats, caravans etc so hopefully we will see the website continue to grow year upon year.
Now we are in the harvest season and the time for clearing space is on us, the time is probably right to list that piece of land you don’t use. Let someone help clear it for you and get some plans in place for growing season 2010.

My land clearing time is now intertwined with my 10K training. My legs seem to be permanently aching at the moment but I am sure it’s doing me some good! I will be running my first 10k in just over 2 weeks time for cancer research, so feel free to check my sponsor page if you so wish.
http://www.run10ksponsorme.org/annejones

Until next time….

http://www.spareground.co.uk/

Norfolk and Landshare

I didn’t make it to France. An accident on the M11 and an airline with a customer service policy leaving much to be desired put paid to any roamings in the streets of Poitiers. Instead, the coastline of Norfolk beckoned. This area has to be one of the nicest places in the UK for soothing the soul. The villages on that coast remain unspoilt by the lure of the fast food establishments, widened roads and horrendous pub singers provided ‘solely’ for your entertainment. If you want to hear nothing and see some amazing scenery, it’s the place for you. (There is also some great mackerel to be caught in the summer months, contact me and I may tell you where,…. ).

Back to the working week of promoting Spareground, I have emailed a number of UK allotment and vegetable growing forums who have given a lot of positive feedback on the Spareground project. What has been interesting from this is realising that the Landshare project has yet to officially be launched, so as we move quickly into March, there are people signed to this scheme who have no idea if they will be ‘matched’ with a landowner or not. March is the time when windowsills should be heaving with chitting potatoes and plant seedlings.
One wonders if the scheme which promises so much will be able to deliver in equal measure and within time scales reflective of the course of nature.

Spareground has signed up to the Landshare project as a group having similar aims and philosophy so I don’t mean to sound critical of what is ideally a great scheme. I just feel that a lot of people may have missed the growing opportunity for 2009. With the high volume of media coverage it has received, perhaps in hindsight its initial autumn 2008 campaign was a little too late.

At Spareground, our way of working is to leave people list their land or find their land requirements and sort themselves out. There are simple ‘guidance notes’ under the FAQ section on the website which should help people establish their arrangements with each other and essentially, keep it simple. We don’t want to over complicate the Spareground website or the way it is used; simplicity is indeed the key.

http://www.spareground.com/


Until next time……

We plough the fields and scatter

The spring is fast approaching and thoughts are turning to the lighter nights, the arrival of lent and no doubt to the new seeds and plants and the preparative digging for the garden and allotments.
Being an allotment holder myself, I know it’s a back breaking time, especially if you have clay soil like mine, more suited to modelling pots from than growing things in. Even so, I know I am a lucky one.
The number of people desperately seeking allotment space is at a record high. The Allotment Society reports conclusively show the demand completely outstrips the supply of allotment space throughout the country. Not really surprising with the current economical climate and a renewed desire to go back to basics, a cause championed by a number of celebrity chefs. The phrase of “knowing where our food comes from” is one bandied about with such frequency; one begins to wonder if there is anyone in the country who doesn’t know where their food comes from!
It is a welcome change however, and nice to know that more and more people are keen to buy something that was grown two miles up the road more than something grown in Kenya, flown here, stored for x weeks and then sent out the shops (no doubt with any flavour or nutritional content long since depleted).
As part of this change in thought, the desire to grow your own has taken over and the resources for such are few and far between.
Today’s news report by the National Trust further backs this up with the Trust reporting a collaborative effort with Landshare to provide up to 1000 new allotment plots by 2012, an initiative to be commended and supported.
Spareground also offers opportunities for advertising or seeking land or unused gardens for such purposes and hopefully one day, we can collaborate with the bigger groups such as Landshare and the National Trust to promote this.
For now, we can at least provide an additional source for such listings and keep our fingers crossed that it too will generate its own momentum and interest.

www.spareground.com

I am off to France tomorrow so no blog entries for a few days.

Until next time,……