Brockley Common - A Celebration

Rupert from the Brockley Cross Action Group has emailed to let us know about an event taking place soon to celebrate the fine work that has been done and ongoing at Brockley Station. It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun!

Click on the image above to find out about all the main event details but in addition to this Transition Brockley will be there too. We'll be available to chat to any interested visitors about the community garden we created at the end of the ramp where hopefully a performance space will one day materialise.

Transition Snippets...*UPDATED*

Tomorrow night (Weds 25th August) members of the group will be meeting up to carry on the maintenance work at the Brockley Common community garden followed by a meeting at The Orchard bar to discuss the fruit harvesting.

If you're interested then just turn up! We'll be at the end of the ramp up to the station amongst the leaves!

There will be a further update with some photos after tomorrows meeting.

*UPDATE*

Unfortunately owing to the terrible weather we had to postpone a session of weeding however the watering was well taken care of!

Here's an image to show you how the garden is progressing though! Fran has now installed a temporary sign showing visitors what you can find in the garden.

Summer fruits [updated]

Transition Brockley and now founding member of Transition Sydenham, Alona sent us this link to an interesting article in the Guardian which looks at the potential for foraging in the streets and land that surrounds us. This ties in nicely with our proposed harvesting of Brockley's currently unharvested fruit trees this autumn.

A particularly useful link in the article is this one which takes you to a 2 page supplement illustrating the 'food' year and when certain fruits and salads are available.

To illustrate just how much free fruit is available to us if we look at our bushes and hedgerows a little more closely a friend of Transition Brockley picked two bowls of blackberries last week (see above) and there is still more available so get out there, take a walk around and see what you can find! If you do find something let us know via the comments section or email this address and we'll add it to our edible foraging map which will be something a bit like this but for Brockley.

*UPDATE*

One TB member took upon himself to seek out Brockley's bounty and the fruits of his labour are shown below in the form of a Blackberry Crumble!

9 Carrots help Mr Lawrence see the light

9 Carrots reports that Mr Lawrence Wine Bar in Crofton Park has managed to hit its target of changing its light bulbs from old style incandescent bulbs to energy efficient ones in just 3 months!

Mr Lawrence said: “We all want to do our bit to help the planet, of course, but this scheme is a great incentive to really look at how we can save energy. I'm delighted to be the first business to reach the target and make a green upgrade. We're proof that the scheme really works!”

Transition Brockley member, Fran Rogers who helped sign the wine bar up to the 9carrots scheme, said: “We're always hearing advice about how we should save energy as individuals, but we need to get businesses interested in sustainability too. Transition Brockley sees the 9carrots scheme as a great way to get businesses involved.”

Mr.Lawrence has asked 9carrots to advise him on how else he can save energy, and is now looking at installing solar panels. Hear about his new target and how other businesses are going green by signing up for updates.

Transition Brockley bumped into Annesley from 9 Carrots last week before the monthly Lewisham Green Drinks held at Mr Lawrence Wine Bar. Annesley had been trialling some of the new light bulbs with Mr Lawrence but unfortunately there are a few teething problems as the current dimmer switch system doesn't support the bulbs they were hoping to install however they are hoping to overcome these fairly soon.

To find out more about what 9 Carrots is and how they are working with local businesses see here. Other local businesses signed up to 9 Carrots include:

The Shop on the Hill
EXP Chinese Takeaway
Royal Tandoori Indian Takeaway
Cafe Crema (New Cross)
Marquis of Granby pub (New Cross)

Brockley Fruit Harvesting

Have you got a fruit tree? Donate part of your tree's harvest for distribution to the local community (you get first share, of course). 

Or volunteer to be an urban harvester (September and October) and have fun getting involved with picking, distributing and / or processing the fruit. 

Then.... come along to a harvest celebration

Further info:

 

Brockley has an abundance of fruit trees and a lot of fruit goes to waste because the fruit isn't picked.

 

As a preliminary to the fruit orchard planting in Hilly Fields Park in November, and also as an independent project, Transition Brockley is organising some local fruit harvesting in the autumn. The aim of harvesting is to benefit from our local produce, raise awareness of the fruit bounty on our doorsteps, help people harvest their fruit and redistribute the surplus amongst the community on a non-profit basis.

 

We will need lots of volunteers for the actual harvesting and distribution, but to start with we'd like to map what fruit trees there are in the area. Most of them are in gardens, so if you know of any, we'd love it if you could tell us the type of fruit tree (ie apple, pear, plum etc) and the address. If you know approximately when the fruit is ready for picking that would be helpful too.

If you'd like to be involved in any way, please let us know. Some of the things that need doing are:

• Mapping the trees (with details of address, cropping time, owner's contact details)
• Contacting owners of fruit trees by knocking on the door, talking to them and leaving a leaflet.
• Identifying sources of, and collecting boxes and crates for carrying fruit.
• Harvesting (tree climbers, tarpaulin holders and sorters).
• Loan of equipment e.g. fruit picker, bike trailer, large juicer / crusher
• Helping with an event to celebrate with juicing and sampling of other uses of fruits (possibly on Hilly Fields).

This is an exciting project very much in tune with Transition priorities for working as a community to reduce our carbon footprint and we hope that you will be inspired to assist in some way.

If you can help please contact: Brockleyharvest@yahoo.co.uk by the 11th September, if possible (after that date also ok)