Food Group Meeting - Monday 21st September 7.30pm Black Horse Pub

For those that missed the Transition Shipston Food Open Space meeting there was great enthusiasm and ideas/suggestions. The ideas are being discussed further at the meeting on Monday when hopefully we can start some more food initiatives. Notes from the Open Space:


Orchards:


Community

Needs a project leader

Cooperative concept

One village or several?

Density – 400 trees per hectare (non-intensive)

Mapping existing orchards

Resurrecting old orchards + enriching habitats

Identify existing varieties

Products – surplus to needy & elderly. Also sell for income

£15 per tree and guard

Choose variety carefully

Food miles awareness

Involve school children (eg. Grafting)

Finding land may be difficult

Excess production sharing

Sharing knowledge

Land:

We need to find out who owns land – what is available and quality

Who wants land

How to we match the two? “Landshare”

Aquaculture – ponds & lakes

Encourage individuals vs “Community” project

Develop a community group to develop their own land / garden

Ask Keith F who is offering him land

Map unused land

Bee Keeping:

Apiaries need to be isolated (ideally)

Costs – Hive £100, Bees £50, Clothing £100, Miscellaneous £50 Total = £300

Honey sells for £3.50 a pound

If someone is interested but does not have a large enough garden the hive can be kept on someone else’s land.

Bees are important for pollination of many crops.

Bee keeping could be part of a “Permaculture” garden

There is a problem with “colony collapse disorder” so we need more beekeepers

There are 6 or 7 Bee-Keeping Associations in Warwickshire

Shipston-on-Stour Beekeepers Association Douglas Nethercleft 01295 680041 or Boylan 01608 682218

Local Meat and Fish / Production:

1st step get land. How?

There are lots of small areas – how do we coordinate

Long Compton abattoir is a hub – could be used

How do we promote the idea of a CSA?

Shares in a pig scheme

Fish farming is problematic - intensive & a huge investment + ecologically damaging

“Permaculture” pools are a sustainable alternative

Possible produce:

- North American crayfish – invasive species, but very tasty!

- Trout

- Watercress

Sally is interested in Landshare

Sorting things – need to organise a day visit