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Events, News

Seedy Sunday is tomorrow!

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It runs from 10.30 to 4.00, at BHASVIC, 205 Dyke Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 6EG. See the map here. Please note there is NO parking for the public on site. For information on public transport click here.

Check out the brilliant programme this year, with details of the great line-up of speakers, including the local author of The Wildlife Gardener, Kate Bradbury; and a local Gardeners’ Question time.

There are fun children’s activities, lots of brilliant exhibitors selling and telling about all things horticultural and wild, and the lovely Infinity Foods will be upstairs with their café selling lunch and cakes.

At the heart of Seedy Sunday are the wonderful seed swap tables – here’s some more information about how it works. Come and have a browse whether you have seeds to swap or not – you can make a donation of 50p per packet if you don’t have anything to exchange. We’re also happy to have Betsy’s Bakes providing refreshments in the seed swap room.

Have fun and see you there!

Events, News, Seedy Sunday

One week until Seedy Sunday!

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A big shout out to our fantastic range of exhibitors and stall holders this year:   All your familiar favourites will be there, including our lovely sponsors Infinity Foods with their organic seed potatoes and shallot sets, The Heritage Seed Library, The Seed Co-operative, Thomas Etty, Pennard Plants and Edulis Nursery.  

They are joined by some newcomers to Seedy Sunday 2019 including Solseed Landscapes, who offer organic edible and ecological landscaping services using permaculture design as their guiding principle;  the Sussex National Garden Scheme, who will be telling us about the Open Garden Scheme for 2019; and Vital Seeds, an independent seed company based in Devon selling open-pollinated vegetable, herb and flower seed for home-gardeners and small scale market growers.

We also have a wonderful line-up of speakers, with a great range of talks including Kate Bradbury, author of “The Wildlife Gardener” and our very own local Gardeners’ Question Time. The speaker line-up is here:

There’ll be some great activities for children with their parents or caregivers, including a fun new activity making Ecobricks; decorating seed envelopes, and face-painting.

Seedy Sunday is Sunday February 3rd and runs from 10.30 to 4.00pm. It’s at BHASVIC, 205 Dyke Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 6EG. See the map here. Please note there is NO parking for the public on site. See www.seedysunday.org for information on public transport.

Events, News, Seedy Sunday

Seedy Sunday is two weeks away! Here’s some more information about what’s happening on the 3rd of February.

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Venue: BHASVIC, 205 Dyke Rd, Hove, BN3 6EG. £3 entry, kids free!  10:30am-4pm

Who’s speaking at Seedy Sunday this year?

We have a mix of old and new faces in the Copper Café at BHASVIC covering some fascinating topics associated with plants and growing:

  • Opening our speaker programme are local herbalists Alice Bettany and Jessie Martelhof. Learn about the medicinal values of numerous common weeds and cottage garden herbs that you will no doubt already be familiar with. They will be talking about the history of their use, how to safely identify, dry and make them into herbal preparations. Take home a few simple recipe ideas which you can make yourself as food, medicine or cosmetics
  • The wonderful Kate Bradbury, author of The Bumblebee Flies Anyway, a story about Kate’s experience creating a wildlife garden in her Brighton backyard. Kate will discuss foodchains and habitat creation, especially in urban areas like Brighton
  • Our local Gardeners’ Question Time, with a panel of experts ready to take your questions
  • Adrian Ely from the University of Sussex, who spoke last year, is back again this year presenting the development of Bioleft, an open and collaborative system for seed innovation that has been developed by a group of organisations in Argentina.  Against a background of increasing patenting of seeds and genetic resources, Adrian outlines one of the responses that is emerging around the world: open source seed systems.
  • Our closing speakers, Pesticide Action Network UK will be launching their campaign to address the use of pesticides used right here on our doorstep in Brighton and Hove. These pesticides are unnecessary and there are plenty of non-chemical alternatives. Lots of councils have already banned these harmful chemicals and it’s time that Brighton & Hove did the same. Nick Mole, Policy Officer, Josie Cohen, Head of Policy and Campaigns, PAN UK, will be joined by Steve Peters, the award-winning gardener at The Level to discuss the ways in which he has managed to maintain this very public, green space without pesticides for a number of years now. Come and find out more about the campaign to end the use of pesticides in Brighton & Hove and how you can get involved.

What’s going on in the Children’s area?

We have some fun and creative activities for children to enjoy with their parents or caregivers, such as pebble painting, making seed packets and ‘seedy’ bookmarks. There will also be facepainting, and the chance to learn about and make Ecobricks, the new craze to hit Brighton! This brilliant idea involves packing non-recyclable plastic waste into plastic bottles including bags, labels, cling film, tape, sweet wrappers, yoghurt pots, etc. When it is cut small and packed tight it becomes weighty and can then be used to build small home and garden constructions with.

Be inspired for the gardening year at Seedy Sunday!

Events, News, organic, Our community allotment, Seedy Sunday

A round up of what’s happening @ Seedy Sunday, 3rd February

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Seedy Sunday is less than a month away! Here’s a summary of what’s happening on the 3rd of February.

Venue: BHASVIC, 205 Dyke Rd, Hove, BN3 6EG. £3 entry, kids free!

The Seed Swap

At the heart of Seedy Sunday is the giant seed swap table. Bring seeds to swap saved from last year’s crops. Seed saving experts and gardeners will be on hand to offer all the advice you need to choose and grow your seeds. You can collect Seedy Sunday envelopes from Infinity Foods in Brighton.

No seeds to swap? Simply make a 50p donation at the seed table. We have already prepared over 2500 packets of seeds to get us started on the day!

Learn something new with a diverse range of speakers and talks

This year we have herbalists, gardeners, authors, university lecturers, and an international NGO speaking about weeds as medicine, wildlife gardening, sustainable food production, and pesticides.

We are also hosting a Local Gardeners’ Question Time featuring:

Joshua the Gardener – after the popularity of his ‘no dig’ talk last year and the queue of people waiting to ask him questions, we are delighted to have Joshua join the panel.  He has lots of advice to share about no dig gardening, organic gardening and design.

Chris Smith from Pennard Plants – another Seedy Sunday favourite. Pennard plants specialise in heritage and heirloom seeds and Chris is a gold medal Chelsea flower show winner, accomplished speaker and potato expert.

Ros Loftin is our seed saving expert and is the heart and soul of the seed swap since 2012.  A trained horticulturist, she has been saving seeds for the past 10 years, and each year brings between 20-30 different varieties of open-pollinated heritage tomatoes to swap on the seed table.

The panel with be chaired by our very own Alan Phillips!  He has been involved with Seedy Sunday since the beginning (back in 2002!), including serving 5 years as the Chair.  He is an integral part of Brighton & Hove’s vibrant organic gardening community, providing expert advice to many novice organic gardeners on our Community allotment.

A world of discovery in the Market Place

Visit more than 50 stalls from specialist growers, seed merchants, charities and community groups and more.

Children’s activities galore!

As ever we have some fun and inspiring activities for children and their parents or caregivers. Making decorations, planting seeds and discovering how to make an ‘ecobrick’ from plastic waste, there’ll be plenty to keep young people interested on the day.

Infinity Foods and Cafe

A special thanks to Infinity Foods who generously sponsor us every year, display our posters and give away our seed envelopes in their shop on North Road, Brighton.  They run a fantastic stall on the day selling organic seed potatoes, and the award winning Infinity Cafe will be upstairs to serve teas, coffees, cakes and lunches.

Be inspired for the gardening year at Seedy Sunday!

Events, News, Seedy Sunday

Save the date for Seedy Sunday! 3rd February 2019

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Plans are underway for Seedy Sunday 2019!

Here’s a selection of some of the exciting things the Seedy Sunday team are working on:

  • Seed swap area with a huge variety of seeds
  • Seed saving experts offering advice
  • Market Place stalls with a range of plants, produce and community connections
  • Fascinating speakers from around the world
  • Tasty food and drink
  • Fun kids’ activities.

Venue: BHASVIC, 205 Dyke Rd, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 6EG

Events, News

Autumn Wild Knowledge Walk led by Vera Zakharov

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Toadstool

Sunday 21st October, 12pm to 2pm, Stanmer Park, meet outside of Stanmer House at 12 noon.

Come and discover the diverse and beautiful ecosystems thriving on our city’s doorstep at Stanmer Park. We will focus on edible mushrooms and plants, but will consider more broadly how species work together in a woodland setting, and explore foraging as a mindful practice and entry into caring for our natural environment.

Please note that due to the size and sensitivity of the woodland we will abstain from picking mushrooms, focusing instead on identification and broader knowledge development. Foraging is weather-dependent; please dress suitably for all eventualities. Children and dogs welcomed.

Free to BHOGG members; £10 for non-members or join for £10 on the day.

Events, News, Resources, Seedy Sunday

Urban Gardening Course 15th September: Seed Saving

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Saturday 15th September, 2pm-4pm at the Phoenix Community Centre

We have been pleased with the good attendance and enthusiasm at the Urban Organic Gardening Course this year.

Our seed saving session this autumn will cover the basics of simple flower & vegetable seed collection, care & storage (including tomatoes).

Free to paid up BHOGG members and local Phoenix area residents, £3 donation for non-members.

Allotment, Events, News

Save TOAST in your diary: The Organic Apple Sharing Treat

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Sunday 2nd September, 11.00am at plot 182, Weald Allotment Site, Hove

We plan to pick apples from Alan’s heritage mini-orchard on the Weald allotment site, giving most of them to Fareshare, taking some home to sample, and juicing many of the ‘not quite perfect apples’ to make our own delicious drink. It will be a real treat.

We will also share Viv’s recipe for apple chutney and show you the ingredients so that you can make delicious chutney in your own kitchen and have it with cheese/ fake cheese on toast.

Bring your own organic apples if you have any to share; a press will be available on the day.

BHOGG members only event or join on the day.

Events, News

Walk & Talk led by Geoff Mead: History of Gardening & Food Production in Brighton. 18th July, 7pm

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Geoff Mead will reveal to us the history of gardening & food production in Brighton as we take a leisurely stroll from the Palace Pier around the city.

Please wear suitable shoes/ clothing, remembering to bring water, hat, sun cream, waterproofs, etc as the weather dictates for this outdoor event.

Meet at Palace Pier, July 18, 7pm.

Free to BHOGG members; £10/£5 non-members or join on the night.

Allotment, Events, News, Our community allotment

Solstice Pick & Cook with Caroline

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Those long sweet summer days have arrived; we enjoyed one of those on 24 June when we celebrated the summer solstice on the Community Allotment. It was too hot for most people to do any gardening, so chilling out, chatting, drinking Sarah’s cool, homemade, elderflower pressé and the fabulous food prepared by the evergreen Caroline.

 

Caroline was excellent as ever, working hard and chatting sociably with everyone as she cooked delicious food.  It was difficult to find seasonal food on site for cooking in June but Caroline rustled up a feast seemingly out of nothing.

Gorgeous vegetable pakoras and frittatas, garlic bread, salad with nasturtiums and home baked treats were the reward for the hard working gardeners (Jenni and Steve mainly!)on a beautiful summer’s afternoon.

Freshly picked allotment raspberries

 

Review by Jenni and Alan