Bisley Allotments
See our Community Orchard and catch our wicked caterpillar that is eating our trees!!
The Chestergate Allotments are leased to the Parish Council from the Ancient Charities of Bisley. We have a thriving allotment holders group, a Children's Allotment, and two allotment holders keep chickens.
In 2003 the Parish Council Allotment Warden proposed a long-term strategy to revitalise the allotment site. It started with a small band of volunteers clearing disused allotments of rubbish and dividing huge allotments into smaller more manageable plots. A small grant from the District Council's Rural Investment Fund helped to support the professional aspect of this project - making and mowing paths, ploughing unused plots, creating new accessible water tanks, etc (this fund has just been abolished and we feel it is a great loss for small community initiatives of this kind - giving them the encouragement needed to get going). There are now 36 allotments being worked; many by families with children. Some allotment holders have a half sized plot. We also have a dedicated Children's Allotment that will start this summer, supported by the Parish Council.
The allotment holders hold a meeting during National Allotments Week in August at which issues are discussed. As a result of requests, the Parish Council now mows the 3m paths between the allotments, keeping the site looking fairly neat. The four tanks supply easily accessible water. As a result of another suggestion we held a 'Seed Swap' during Bisley's Zero Waste Challenge Week in January 2009. This was supported by Go Organic's Heritage Seed Scheme, which supplied some amazing and unusual varieties of seed for us to swap and try.
The second stage of the revitalisation strategy was the now very successful Bisley Community Composting Scheme.
The third stage of the revitalization of the allotment's site is our Community Orchard of local Gloucestershire fruit trees. This project is supported by Bisley village residents who voted to give the money won as a result of Bisley's Calor Gas 'Gloucestershire Environment Village of the Year' Award 2008 to this idea, and by the C02 Fund. An orchard workshop led by Dave Kaspar of Days Orchard (Apple Juice) during Bisley's Zero Waste Week was well attended.
If you want to get healthy (Bisley's own 'green gym'), grow your own fruit and vegetables, keep chickens or rabbits, then there is nothing better than to rent an allotment. For ideas on how to cook all the potatoes you grow, there is a new Stroud Potato Recipe Book.
To discuss things with fellow allotment holders, why not join the forum on the Bisley Village website?
Rent is £12 a year per allotment as from 1 April 2012.
Contact me on:
tel 01452 770018
email
Lesley Greene
Allotment Warden
For allotments in Eastcombe and Oakridge, see our Parish Directory.
Bisley Community Composting Scheme
To discuss things with fellow composters, why not join the forum on the Bisley Village website?
Bisley Community Composting Scheme was delighted to receive the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. The Award was presented to the BCCS management committee in the presence of over 100 members and villagers on the evening of 27 July 2010 by the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire Sir Henry Elwes.
The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award for volunteers in the country. It is the community equivalent of the MBE. This year there were 103 Awards made from 345 nominations across the UK.
Bisley Community Composting Scheme is a Members only scheme to take garden waste, 'hot compost' it and return it as useable compost to members. It is located on the Bisley Allotments. Join for £15 pa to save that long journey (and the CO2) to the Horsley tip.
We ask everyone to renew their membership by the beginning of May – membership renewal letters are sent out to existing members.
Membership is a very good deal. It will save any keen gardener the petrol costs alone for travelling to Horsley; with increased fuel costs this is estimated at about £15 for three trips for the average motorist. We will have a large amount of high-quality, organic, peat-free compost, plus mulch quality compost, to give free to our members. If you would like to join, please contact our secretary. Income has helped pay for our new bins improving the safety and quality of the whole site. We are still looking at the possibility of recycling cardboard although it is not a simple issue. This year we plan to set up a Compost Demonstration area to show how you can grow even higher quality food from your own compost. We hope everyone will celebrate Compost Awareness Week in May.
See our new website: www.BisleyCommunityCompostScheme.org.uk designed and made by young students at Thomas Keble School.
Volunteers are always wanted and we are especially seeking a new Treasurer. Contact our secretary if you can help. Management Committee: Richard Alcock, Nicola Blight, Lesley Greene, Elizabeth Howlett, Ian Plewis, Hazel Saunders.
Bisley Community Orchard
Bisley Community Orchard Group announces the Award of Edible Hedgerow Trees from the Woodland Trust and will be holding a Planting and Wassail afternoon Sunday February 26th at 2pm on the Chestergate Allotments Bisley.
We are sorry but the ground is too hard (plus snow is forecast) to have our community planting of the Woodland Trust Golden Jubilee Trees and wassail on Sunday 5th as orginally planned. The new date is Sunday February 26th at 2pm when the moon is in the right aspect and it is perfect timing, biodynamically speaking, for planting our little trees. Look forward to seeing you on the Chestergate Allotments Bisley then.
The third stage of the revitalization of the Bisley Allotment's site is our community orchard of local Gloucestershire fruit trees. The idea was to celebrate Gloucestershire’s varieties, provide a community fruit resource for the village, and help enhance biodiversity by creating new habitat for bees and other wildlife.
Bisley village residents voted to give the £400 money won as a result of Bisley's Calor Gas 'Gloucestershire Environment Village of the Year' Award 2008 to this project. A further £600 grant was raised from the 02 Fund.
To start the project, Dave Kaspar of Days Orchard (Day's Apple Juice) led a well attended orchard workshop during Bisley's Zero Waste Week in January 2009. A plan for the new community orchard was devised by Jilly Cobbe with the help of the Trustees of the Charity of the Ancient Parish of Bisley who own the Chestergate Allotment site and lease it to the Parish Council.
The Community Orchard Group bought 17 indigenous Gloucestershire Apple varieties and two perry pears. Planting was delayed by the terrible winter of 2009-10 but finally 25 people came together and the little trees were planted on 7 February 2010. We celebrated with home made apple cakes and apple juice and a wonderful song written specially for our Orchard by Bairbre McAteer. We sang the song and celebrated our orchard:
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A blessing on our trees For our Bisley community. May you grow up strong And give us fruit all harvest long. We'll plant you firm and true May it rain and shine on you. Here's wishing us good cheer And see you back again next year. |
 Planting the trees – Lyn Hemming, Kate, Michael and Clare Garrett, Rob Wheeler, Susie Bromley in the background. Photo by Lesley Greene |
An audit of Bisley's garden fruit trees is under way – let us know if you have fruit trees in your garden on our Parish Council feedback form.
To discuss things with other members of the Bisley Comunity Orchard Group, why not join the forum on the Bisley Village website?
For more information on orchards and orchard conservation see the Orchard Network website.
For more information on the Cotswold Tree Wardens see their website.
Launch of TS Stroud Potato Recipe Book
A collection of local potato recipes have been brought together in a new book to be launched Saturday 11th December.
The new book 'Pan-Fried, Peeled and Proud - Potatoes from Stroud. A Recipe Book' is being launched to advertise Stroud's first ever celebration of Potato Day on 5th February 2011.
The book is a Transition Stroud initiative and is edited by the aptly named Maris Piper and Desirée de Romano. Desirée said: "Bringing the different elements of the book together has been a joy. Stroud provided suitably gifted people just when they were needed; Dennis Gould stepped forward to do the cover, photographer Fred Chance heroically offered to do the design and layout, poet and artist Jeff Cloves (AKA Edward Rex) was inspired to write a Potato Pie Poem and to create the beautiful illustrations that bring the book to life.
The recipes have all come from local people, some professional cooks and some who are experts at creating delicious meals for their friends and family. Woodruffs, J Rool, Mill's Cafe and Guisseppe of Guisseppe's gourmet restaurant all shared their own favourite potato recipes. We even have a recipe from Matthew Fort, food writer in the Guardian and potato fan. It really has been a collaborative effort that has shown the generosity and enthusiasm of the people of the Stroud Valleys. Thanks go to all of them as well as to Stroud Valleys Eco Shop on Threadneedle Street and Stroud Book Shop for selling the book on behalf of Transition Stroud.
Philip Booth, organiser of the Stroud Potato celebrations said: 'This recipe book is part of our celebration of the many different varieties of potato and how they can be used. Supermarkets don't offer much choice of potatoes, but growing your own opens up all sorts of opportunities. On Saturday 5th February in Merrywalks we will be selling over half a tonne of different seed potatoes. This is about encouraging folk to grow different varieties and encouraging people who have never grown veg to give it a try.'
Philip Booth added: 'There is an issue of food security that we will be hearing more about as oil prices climb, harvests suffer from the changing climate and demand increases from countries like China. 40% of the food we eat is imported: if more people grow their own then we can be less reliant on food imports from other countries.'
The book will sell for £4 (or £3 Stroud Pounds) with all proceeds going to Transition Stroud to support local, low carbon projects. Make Christmas shopping easy and buy one for everyone you know, safe in the knowledge that you are supporting your local community and the environment.
Stroud Potato Day has launched a new website with details of the event and more at: stroudpotatoday.blogspot.com.
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16 January 2012
Bisley with Lypiatt Parish Council