SHG AND TRANSITION TOWN CELEBRATE NEW APPLE TREES WITH A FAMILY CEILIDH

Shaftesbury Home Grown is the community farm that grew out of the Transition Town Shaftesbury initiative. SHG has completed its first year of growing of vegetables and rearing animals.

Both organisations thought it was time to celebrate the success of their ventures by having a winter ceilidh to dance the cold weather blues away and marking the occasion with planting 3 standard apple trees, Ashmead's Kernel, Egremont Russet and Maston Pine Apple all selected for their distinctive flavour.

The next season's seeds have arrived and preparations for 2011 are well under way.

There will be plenty of information on SHG and TTS, as well as produce, available at the ceilidh.
All welcome, new comers and old to have a fun time on Fri. 18th Feb.

The well known ceilidh band, Hambledon Hopstep will play for the evening and dancing is a great sociable way to keep warm.
Bring your own food and drink to share and make a party of it.
Venue is Abbey School Hall, St James', Shaftesbury SP7 8HQ doors open at 7.00pm

Ring 01747 850978 for tickets or visit www.shaftesburyhomegrown.org.uk or www.transitiontownshaftesbury.org.uk

Jobs for next few sessions that I can think of, but you may find more, some of them you would have done anyway, but hope this acts as reminder too.

sheep all well, check water and few nuts for mothers
pigs, freshen up and fill blue water tank, fill mud bath water too, feed old potatoes, check electric fence not earthing cos of their digging

Dig potatoes for orders? pick broad beans biggest only, harvest garlic and lay out in long touching rows in poly tunnel, cut biggest lettuce to order, water newly planted brassicas (nearest top 2 beds) under enviro mesh, leave fleece on beans for now, hoeing and re-marking out 2 empty beds above enviro mesh ready for leek planting following week, hoeing in amongst onions, scything area I just started (cut as low as you can) between duck house and compost bins ready for chicken arrival, scything area up from ladies loo to young chestnut trees for hay, carry on glass fitting to glasshouse (John Leece and Mike Brookman know). Scythe sharpening see Dave.
Cut (leave roots in ground to benefit the soil) and remove old broad bean stalks that are finished to compost heap.
Water tomatoes, fit more poly tunnel u-shape fittings on hoop to base poles (will need cordless drill and adjustable spanner or socket set, Robin knows)

Check list on leaving the field: turn off water at mains tap on corner of stable, turn off water of water butts, check electric fence correctly joined up and switched on tortoise setting, potato store lid down and front piece in, lock up doors/gate etc.