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Charlbury Sharecroppers

Last updated 30 September 2009

Apple trees wanted - don't let your spare apples go to waste - there are definitely people who would love to eat them - please contact info@cwag.org.uk

More and more people are wanting to grow their own fruit and vegetables. This is the time to plan your garden for next year - sow your Broad Beans in November to avoid blackfly next year and plant your garlic and shallots in the autumn for harvest in June.  If you've thought of it but not yet started - the best advice is just get stuck in there and make a start - you will learn heaps from the experience and get something to eat too! Even with a tiny space or using pots you will be able to grow something sucessfully but if you would like more space then register with us for help in finding a site you could use. Do you know someone who might feel generous enough to let you use their garden for your veggies? Ask them if you could use it or suggest they make it available through Charlbury Sharecroppers. They would be in good company - the National Trust are making land available all over the country for people to grow more food themselves; there is also Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's national Landshare scheme.

Catch our interview on Radio Oxford's Breakfast Show on Thursday 11 September 2008.

In June 2008, CAWAG launched Charlbury Sharecroppers to help put people in touch with each other so that locally grown food does not go to waste and so that as many local people as possible can be involved with growing, picking and eating fresh, healthy food. This will reduce food miles, reduce packaging and reduce food ending up in landfill. If you want inspiration about growing food look at Carol Klein's Grow Your Own Veg website which gives background and info from the 2008 TV series. Currently you could watch Gardeners Word on BBC2 on Friday evenings. With 60% of food being imported, the Soil Association recognise that food security is a key issue for the nation and that more people need to grow their own food. In August 2009 BBC2 showed Future of Food on Monday nights at 9pm.  Look at Hugh Fearnley–Whittingstall's River Cottage website for why to grow vegetables and for ideas about what to grow in your vegetable garden. Also try the Seed To Plate website which helps you plan what to grow according to what you like to eat and what space you have available.


Charlbury Sharecroppers picking blackcurrants July 2008  Discovery Apples

Glut of lettuces  Kestrel Second Early Potatoes

In 2008 we held four Big Apple Take-Aways on the Playing Close on Sunday afternoons between 14 September and 2 November - they were a great success. Well over a tonne of apples were redistributed and hundreds of people came along to enjoy the harvest, taste the apples and take away as many away as they wanted. On 12 October we took our unknown apple varieties to the Apple Day at Waterperry Gardens for identification and since then have been able to tell people about the qualities of the different apples. Many thanks to all those who contributed either by picking fruit, giving their spare fruit away, or indeed by taking it away and giving it a good home! Even people with plenty of their own apples were pleased to take other varieties and enjoy a different flavour. We are recording all the varieties we have found in the town so, if you have old apple trees, please let us know if you know the variety. . . and if you don't then next year we can help identify them for you.

We will be doing this again in 2009, so if you have more apples/pears than you know what to do with, then they won't have to go to waste again - bring them along to the Big Apple Take-Aways for others to share.  If you have apples/pears that need picking then please ask us to pick them for you.  Also contact us if you want to join in with the picking. We can also make windfalls into cider so don't put them in your green waste - but better still, please contact us BEFORE they drop off the trees, they will be much more useful to other people!

  Basket of Conference pears  Apple Bring & Take 14 September 

   

Boxes of Howgate Wonder cooking apples  The last Big Apple Take-Away


Have you got a garden that is too much for you and you’d love to find someone to make use of part of it?

Is your garden too small for growing vegetables and you’d love to find somewhere in Charlbury to grow them?

Do you grow lots of fruit or vegetables and have more than you can eat?

Do you ever find that you’re away on holiday just when the fruit or veg need picking?

Do you ever have a glut of lettuce you can't use?

Do you have rhubarb you don't pick?

Do you ever have more soft fruit than you can deal with?

Do you have fruit trees which you can't manage to pick?

Would you love to help someone out by picking their fruit or veg?

Would you be prepared to let someone pick & keep your spare produce rather than let it go to waste?

Does your freezer have space that someone else could use?

By the way, have you thought of taking your excess produce to the Good Food Shop to sell for you? Please phone Lynne (811157) to discuss first.

Does any of this sound interesting to you?
Register with Charlbury Sharecroppers who will put you in touch with each other.

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Further details e.g. roughly what & when (or any helpful suggestions)


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