Hello from Harvest! Please read on for your fortnightly update on food growing in Brighton & Hove...

Harvest update: Hey all you growers, cookers and eaters of local food! Harvest is looking to write a couple of case studies about residents’ local food experiences. We have a photographer working with us on 8 & 9 February to get a ‘day in the life of’ sense of the way you grow, cook and buy local food – you and your gardens or growing projects, preserves, tasty meals, trips to the farmers’ market, etc. If you’re interested in getting involved please contact Jess on 01273 431 714 or jess@bhfood.org.uk.

 What’s on: Many great events & training courses coming up soon – here are just a few:

- Pruning workshop, 6 February, 1-5pm, Moulsecoomb Forest Garden: Learn how to prune fruit bushes like red, black and white currants, gooseberries, raspberries and apple trees. The course costs £10 and there are some discounted places for people on low incomes. Gates will be open at 12 noon for people to look round the garden and get a cup of tea, and the course will start prompt at 1pm. Please bring secateurs and pruning saw if possible. To book email info@seedybusiness.org. For directions to the garden visit http://www.seedybusiness.org/directions.shtml.

- Seedy Sunday, 7 February, 10:00 – 4:30, Hove Town Hall: The country’s biggest community seed swap! Come stock up on seeds for the new growing season, plus there talks, demonstrations, second hand books, and sorts of other fun things. www.seedysunday.org.

- Charles Dowding workshop, 6 March, 11:00 – 4:00: This workshop on no-dig gardening promises to be an inspiring and interesting event. Bookings being taken on the Harvest website now.

- Build a wood fired clay oven, 10 – 11 April, 11:00 – 4:00, Moulsecoomb Forest Garden: Come prepared to get stuck in and dirty! Mix clay with your feet and use your hands to build an oven from start to finish. This course is particularly relevant to organisations that want to build a clay oven at their project.  The course will run by Russell Pountney, who teaches building, carpentry and woodland skills at the Forest Garden. The price of £80 includes refreshments and a hot meal each day cooked over our open fire. Book your place!  

- Harvest training programme – various dates. Come on a course led by one of our very knowledgeable trainers and learn more about food growing! Upcoming courses include 'planning the productive plot', 'sowing and growing' and 'how to grow fruit'. Book your place on the Harvest website, where you can also find out about  lots of other courses and events.

 Get involved: The Adult Learning Festival in Brighton & Hove is going on from January – March with lots of opportunities to get involved and learn something new about science, digital techonology, culture, art, health, nature, food growing and much more. Read the programme of events to find out what’s going on. 

 Funding & project support: Are you involved in a community or school food growing project that could do with a bit of advice and support about what to grow, when, and how? The Harvest Mentoring programme can help by providing up to 6 hours of mentoring time with an experienced grower. Read more…

All the best

The Harvest Team

To find out more and keep in touch with Harvest, you can find us at www.harvest-bh.org.uk or become a fan of Harvest on Facebook.

Harvest is a city-wide project, delivered by a wide range of partners and led by Brighton & Hove Food Partnership and Food Matters. The Food Partnership is a membership organisation, and membership is free to anyone who lives or works in Brighton & Hove. For benefits of membership and to join go to: www.bhfood.org.uk

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