Events

[Return to the Harvest Homepage]

Seed Swap and Potato Day 2012

For many gardeners the best thing about winter is having the time to pore over seed catalogues and plan next year’s growing. But buying seeds can be costly and wasteful, with seeds sometimes sold in larger quantities than are useful (after all, how many of us have space to grow 25 pumpkins or 1,000 carrots?!). Seed potatoes come in bags that assume you’re growing on field scale rather than in an ordinary suburban garden or allotment. So, all over the country, more and more gardeners are going to Seed Swaps.

These are community events where gardeners can come together and exchange their surplus seeds and seed potatoes for items they don’t have. Some people bring along seed they have saved from last year’s plants, others bring half packs of good quality in-date seeds that are surplus to requirements. “It’s not only seeds that can be swapped,” says Seed Swap organiser Ellie Parker. “Anything home grown, baked, picked, preserved or pickled can be brought along to a Seed Swap. They are a great way to meet other gardeners, share tips and experience over a cup of tea and cake, and come away with different seeds and the chance to try growing new things without having to fork out a lot of money.”

Tuckers Seeds have donated a generous supply of seeds for the event, so even people who don’t have any to exchange can still get growing. Plus local growers Shillingford Organics and Exeter Community Agriculture will be supplying a range of seed potatoes, as well as advice about which varieties to choose for the perfect roastie.

Harvest’s Seed Swap and Potato Day will be on:

Sat 11 February
11.00am – 2.00pm
at St Matthews Church Hall
Lower Summerlands
(by the triangle car park)

Everyone is welcome and admission is free. As well as a seed exchange there will be stalls from local food and environmental organisations, children’s activities, live music, beautiful reconditioned tools for sale from Men in Sheds, and a delicious café run by Love Local Food. Local gardening experts will be holding a “Gardeners’ Question Time”, so burning questions about growing conundrums can be answered.

Exeter Garden Match

• Do you have a large garden you can’t fully use?
• Or perhaps you have no garden, but would really like to grow some food?
• And do you live in or close to Newtown?

Well, Harvest may be able to help!

Garden Match connects would-be food growers with neighbours who have surplus space in their gardens. In exchange for use of an agreed area, garden owners receive a share of the produce and the satisfaction of seeing their garden become productive. So everyone wins!

We are inviting interested Newtown residents to come along to the Community Hut in Belmont Park on Wednesday 29 February from 5pm – 7pm, find out more about the project and who knows, perhaps make a match?!

For more info please contact the Harvest team on 01392 205800 ellie@eci.org.uk or visit www.eci.org.uk/HarvestExeter-Garden-Match

Get Growing with Harvest!

The first two of Harvest’s ‘Get Growing’ sessions in 2011 were a big success and loads of fun – at the beginning of November we learned how to make raised beds and compost bins, using recycled materials and a bit of ingenuity; and at the end of the month Robin Rawle of the Carbon Compost Company led a fantastic session on soil care and improvement.

We’re now taking a bit of a break but will be back on 17 March with ‘Starting from Seed’, led by expert local grower Greg Towning. Places are filling up already so you’ll need to book soon if you’d like to attend – it’s FREE if you meet certain criteria, otherwise it’s £5 per session. You can attend as many workshops as you like - for more details and to book please contact Harvest on 01392 205800 or email andit@eci.org.uk

Saturdays 10am - 3pm  at Cowick Lane Allotments

17th March 2012

• Starting from Seed: Early sowing and planting out techniques for successful food growing

12th May 2012  

• Caring for your Garden: What to do about pests and diseases, keeping it growing

21st July 2012

• Harvesting & Feasting: Last but not least - enjoying the fruits of your labour!

City Fruit Harvest

This year Harvest will be collecting unwanted fruit from Exeter’s gardens and taking it to where it is needed. We need loads of people to get involved and help out. Fruit picking is due to start towards the end of August and will carry on till mid October. Watch this space for more specific times and dates for harvesting and juice, jam and chutney making sessions. We’re looking for lots of people to come along and help, so if you think you might be interested sign up now: andit@eci.org.uk (and tell your friends).

There's more info on the City Fruit Harvest page.

If you have more fruit than you need, don’t let it go to waste, give us a ring and we’ll come and pick it, give you the first pick, and take the rest to organisations that work with people in need. Call 01392 205800 for more information or to register your tree.

Check out our City Fruit Harvest page on Facebook!

Workshops

The Harvest team can offer tailor-made workshops to groups whose members would like to learn more about growing or cooking food. Workshops can last from one hour to half a day and are available for all ages. Example activities include themed seasonal cooking and craft sessions; planting “living salad” gardens; making bird feeders; storytelling; fruit juicing and preserving. Workshops are completely free including all materials, provided your group meets our criteria – please contact the Harvest team for more details and to discuss your needs.