Transition Brockley

Orchard Planting in Mayow Park

2012-01-23T22:19:00.002Z

Hilly Fields Orchard - June 2011

Alona has written to tell us of a new orchard being planted in Mayow Park at the end of January. Many of you will recall that we planted our orchard in Hilly Fields around the same time last year and had a fantastic turn out. This orchard will be the third one in our borough planted in partnership with London Orchard Project Details below:

Come along and help plant 10 fruit trees in Mayow Park, Sydenham, with the London Orchard Project.

DATE: Saturday 28th January 2012 .

Time 12 - 3pm.

The orchard will be on the southern side of the park, very near the tennis courts. The London Orchard Project will bring the trees, stakes, tree guards and tools. Their staff will guide volunteers on how to plant and look after the trees.

If you live near the park, you could be involved with the care of the orchard. The trees will need regular watering, weeds removed from around the trees plus occasional mulching. In time they will need some pruning. Training will be given on care of the orchard. For more information about tree planting or becoming an orchard carer email: friendsofmayowpark@ymail.com

It's time to wassail again!

2012-01-15T14:25:00.002Z

Wassailing on Hilly Fields - January 2010

It's time to wassail (wish good health to) our fruit trees on Hilly Fields for 2012, so with this in mind, we are meeting at the orchard site next to the Stone Circle on

Sunday 5 February from 4.00 to 5.00pm

(earlier this year to make it more child-friendly).

Each tree will be wassailed with our Hilly Fields Wassail Song, a sprinkling of cider or ale and a piece of toast. We then need to make lots of noise to make the evil spirits go away. Please bring the necessary goodies for your tree. The words for the Wassail Song are copied below for you to print and bring along, and whistles, rattles or pots and pans will do a great job for despatching any tree-unfriendly spirits!

A bowl of warm mulled apple-juice has been promised as per last year - very welcome, thanks!

Although this is addressed to the orchard carer group, everyone is welcome to come along and celebrate the first successful year of growth (thanks to their committed 'carers') of our very young fruit trees.

Words to the Wassail Song - to the tune of 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas':

We wish you much bud and blossom,
We wish you much bud and blossom,
We wish you much bud and blossom,
And a healthy root growth.

We wassail to you, may you prosper and thrive,
We wassail and toast thee, our fair young apple tree. (You have to say fair and young quite quickly together)

See you there!

'appy New Year!

2012-01-06T13:13:00.001Z

So as we enter the new year we have plenty to discuss and do for the forthcoming year. The first event coming up is our next meeting which will be on Thursday 19th January. Please note the venue is Mr Lawrence Wine Bar in Crofton Park. Meeting starts prompt at 7:30pm. This is a change from the previously advertised date of Wednesday 11th Jan.

As a reminder of some of the things we get up to one of our members kindly sent us some images of her granddaughters picking apples from last Autumn at one of our fruit harvesting events. With so many apples there was more than enough to be able to offer some free to passers by which brings us nicely onto something related which will be happening soon...wassailing! Following last years successful 'wassail' at the new orchard on Hilly Fields we are planning a repeat of the event sometime towards the end of January. More details soon.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T21:27:00.001Z

Wishing all of our members and supporters a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Once again we've had a busy year from the planting of the orchard in Hilly Fields at the start to harvesting and juicing apples in the Autumn and of course the ongoing work at Brockley Station on the community garden.

We leave you with a couple of images of the last session of the year at the community garden to rake and cut the wildflower meadow.

We hope to see you in the New Year.

Notes from the last meeting...

2011-11-20T19:38:00.000Z

Community Garden

We discussed applying for a London Micro Grant (up to £1000) and Valerie has agreed to pursue the application despite the very short timescale (bid in by 14th Nov). Suggestions for the bid were to get a professionally made, but from recycled materials if possible, display board for the community garden so that we could better advertise the garden and transition events. In addition to ask for funding for soft fruit bushes for the garden.

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Spinach now ready to eat at Transition Town Brockley plot, please pick as you wish.

Disclaimer: Eating food grown at the Transition Town Brockley plot is at your own risk.

Winter gardening at the Transition Town Brockley plot

Saturday 3rd December, 2-4pm

Please bring gardening gloves and tools

Followed by trip to a local cafe for Transition catch up

Disclaimer: Gardening with Transition Town Brockley is at your own risk. Please come along with health and safety in mind.

Draughtbusting Session

On Saturday 29 October, Transition Town Brixton Draughtbusters gave a demonstration of insulating sash windows and doors in a Victorian house, as well as showing foil panels to put behind radiators on exterior walls, brushes to exclude draughts under doors, and a magnetic/acrylic system of secondary glazing. Draughtproofing strip and radiator panels were then available to buy and take away, and the householder had a sash window draughtproofed for free! Everyone felt they had learnt and/or acquired something useful in the comfort of someone's home with a welcoming cup of tea or coffee.

Next Meeting - Wednesday 11th January 2012

It was agreed that the latest Transition Town updates would be circulated (to the regular or recent attendees at meetings) for people to browse through before the next meeting with a view to discussing how, with a vision of the whole spectrum of sustainability in the community, our group can develop activities and increase participation next year.

Events coming up...

2011-10-23T15:03:00.000+01:00

Saturday 29th October - DraughtBusting Session from 11 am onwards.

Do you want to save energy in your home? Transition Brockley is offering the opportunity to learn how to install some basic home insulation.

Drop in between 11am and 1pm to see a demo (in a private house near to Hilly Fields) of how to draughtproof doors and windows easily and neatly. Then buy the materials and - DIY!

LOCATION: 22 Eastern Road, SE4

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Thursday 17 November 7.30pm, at Cafe Crema, New Cross Road:

The Mysterious Bee - an instructive documentary about one man's fascination with the bees he's keeping in his back garden.

See here for some info and also, a five minute clip on YouTube

£3 charge at the door.

**********************************

Saturday 3 December, 2 - 4pm

Winter gardening at the Transition Brockley plot.

Please bring your own gloves and tools.

Gardening is at your own risk, please come with health and safety in mind.

Meeting Update

2011-10-23T14:52:00.001+01:00

In a concerted effort to keep people up to date with what's happening at meetings should members not be able to attend we will try and publish a brief resume of what was discussed alongside the date of the next meeting and events coming up.

Outcomes from Meeting 11.10.11 at Browns of Brockley

Local Timebank

Discussion around possibility of engaging with local timebanking community, to help source participants for activities but also to help to increase diversity of the transition town. Maria to investigate further.

Fruit Harvesting 2011

Background

Brockley has an abundance of fruit trees and a lot of fruit goes to waste because the fruit isn't picked. We're following on the heels of others. See:http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/nov/18/fruit-abundance-picking

The main aim is to highlight the contribution that food makes to our carbon footprint (around 20%) and ensure that the harvest from local fruit trees doesn't go to waste, by organising groups of volunteers to go and pick from people's back gardens or trees overhanging the pavement.

Transition Brockley has organised several picking outings over the course of August, September and October. A dozen volunteers have picked from half a dozen back gardens in the Brockley area. There's no doubt that walking around the area with a fruit picker does invite questions and perhaps we have inspired some people to pick their own fruit. (we certainly had questions about where to buy pickers). In early October, we did our final picking session and took some of our pickings along to a juicing event at Honor Oak Park allotments where a large group was engaged in chopping, mashing and juicing apples and pears. The end product was delicious.

Reflecting on the fruit harvesting at the October meeting we noted that difficulties were:

-not knowing how many volunteers were going to turn up

-making sure fruit trees were going to be ripe at the time of proposed harvesting. This in effect means that much has to be organised at the last minute, at a time when the tree owner can be around.

Suggestions for the future were:

-start earlier to catch the plums! Some were picked this year but there were more.

-alongside organising occasional groups of volunteers to pick, we could encourage people to advertise excess fruit on freecycle

-such advertising could be done using posters on trees on roads where we know there are lots of fruit trees.

-if we wanted to get more people we could make use of the Rushey Green time bank which is very active.

As well as sharing out fruit, we also hope to stimulate discussion about other ways in which resources can be shared.e.g. Do you know of others to add to this list? If so, please email us.

Garden Share
Are you looking for a plot of land to grow fruit and veg on? Or do you have a garden which is neglected and would be happy for someone to use part (or all) of, to grow food? Transition Brockley are investigating matching up available plots with growers. If this might suit you, please email us.

At a national level see http://www.landshare.net/

Freecycle
Online facility to dispose of items you no longer need to someone who can make use of them. Please see here for details.

Hire your neighbours car (fully insured). See: http://www.whipcar.com/

Lend and borrow everyday objects, skills and spaces. See: http://www.ecomodo.com/

e.g. borrow a power tool - Apparently the average productive time of a drill in its entire lifetime is about 12-13 minutes. http://www.nesta.org.uk/blogs/assets/blog_entries/do_you_own_a_drill

Community Garden at Brockley Station

Volunteers met on Saturday 15th October to prepare the plot for the winter. The new sign is almost ready and will show what we have planted during the winter. The next session down at the garden is on Saturday 3rd December from 2-4pm. Please bring your own gloves and tools and remember that gardening is of course at your own risk so please bear this mind.

Draughtbusting Session
Going ahead on Sat 29 October from 11 to 1.00pm. Address details to follow.

Mini-Meadow
Meadow at the orchard plot on Hilly Fields to be cut then raked up within next week. Orchard carers to be contacted.

London Lead on Low Carbon Economic Growth
Event being organised at City Hall discussed and details forwarded to those in group interested in attending.

South East London Transition
Members of different South East London transition town groups met on Saturday 22nd October to share thoughts. Feedback soon!

Apple Days

2011-10-09T19:30:00.000+01:00

Our friends at the London Orchard Project are hosting 3 apple days across London later this month with one of them at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening in the Peckham/East Dulwich which is a fantastic facility in our area which we advise you to check out! Details below:

The London Orchard Project will be hosting 3 Apple Days in partnership with The London Wildlife Trust

11-4 at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening in East Dulwich/ Peckam on the 16th October

11-9 at Camley Street Reserve in King's Cross on the 22nd October and
11-4 at Camley Street Reserve in King's Cross on the 23rd October.

All the events are family focused and friendly, and there will be some live bans from 3 pm- 9pm on Saturday 22nd, thanks to the lovely folk at Seventeen Events.

What to expect on the day:
- The London Orchard Project will be hosting beginners' workshops on how to plant and look after fruit trees throughout the day at these events (up to 5 on 22nd). Participants will get expert advice on which fruit trees would be most suitable for their gardens, after which participants will get the opportunity to order a starter pack and fruit tree for £5 (which will be ready for collection in early December). This is an initiative supported by the Mayor of London's RE-LEAF Partnership.
- The London Orchard Project will be exhibiting a wide number of different apple varieties, with opportunities to taste them all. We will also be exhibiting fruit that have been harvested throughout London
- There will also be juicing on site, which people will be able to join in with- including a pedal powered fruit crusher, designed for us by our competition winner Peter Clarke!

- There will be preserving demonstrations throughout the day, run by Pickling Peckam on the 16th October, and Clippy from Clippy's Apple on 22nd and 23rd October
- Ian White from the Campaign for Real Ale will be running cider making and tasting workshops
- The London Wildlife Trust will be organising apple related games and activities for children
- Apple related foods will be prepared and drinks will be on sale
- There will be 6 acoustic bands playing from 3 onwards on the 22nd, organised by Seventeen Events

All the events will be free, but we will be accepting donations for The London Orchard Project and The London Wildlife Trust.

We're in the process of putting together some lovely flyers...so watch this space and save the date for the time being!

Winter gardening session at Brockley Common

2011-10-09T19:23:00.000+01:00

The summer has seen the community garden at the station flourish once again with much picking and eating done however gardening is a neverending if rewarding task and Saturday 15th October 2-4pm will see Transitioners and friends descend upon the plot to prepare for the winter with general maintenance tasks alongside the planting of winter crops.

Transition town member, Caroline has done an excellant job of co-ordinating the garden activities this year and writes:

Many thanks for your offers of plants for the winter garden.

So far we have offers of: broad beans, lambs lettuce, oregano, wild rocket, spinach, field beans, and possibly some strawberry plants (although it may be too late in the year to plant these.)

Please let me know before next Tuesday whether you will be bringing anything to plant. The list of possibles is: rainbow chard, spinach, broad beans, thyme, spring cabbages, rosemary, oregano, kale, garlic, lambs lettuce, onions, mustard, wild rocket, mizuna, chicory, chervil, leaf celery, parsley, peas, kale, mizuna, mibuna, winter lettuce, rhubarb, onion

And indeed you may know of other suitable plants for this time of year!

We would also be really happy to see you without plants as many hands make light work! And of course coffee and cake is always a great reward!

Gardening with Transition town Brockley is at your own risk. Please come with health and safety in mind.

So if you fancy a spot of gardening before the cold really sets in then please do drop by and we'll be more than happy to see you! A reminder of the date again: Saturday 15th October 2-4pm at the community garden outside Brockley Station. We shall no doubt drop in to the Broca for a hot drink and cake at some point!

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

2011-10-02T19:34:00.001+01:00

Fran has been in touch with an update on the orchard at Hilly Fields which by all accounts appears to have been a great success this year with the addition of a couple of pear and mulberry trees and the mini meadow.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR LOOKING AFTER
THE APPLE, PEAR AND MULBERRY TREES ON HILLY FIELDS!

All the trees are looking very healthy - well watered and free of weeds. New laminated labels have been attached to replace the worn-out ones. In our usual weather pattern there would be lots of rain now and much cooler temperatures, and we wouldn't need to water any more until next April. However, given the high temperatures and dry spell we are having, if you aren't already doing so, it would be a good idea to give the trees a soak until autumn proper sets in!

The mini-meadow has been really colourful and there are still poppies and ox-eye daisies in flower, but once they all stop flowering, they will need to be cut down, left for the seeds to set for 4-5 days and then the cuttings will be raked up so that there's no mulching down of the dead plants (this gives too much nutrient which meadow flowers don't need).

Apart from that, I'd just like to say that you've all done a great job, and after the meadow management there shouldn't be anything to do until next Spring, but we will be Wassailing the trees in the New Year to help them grow!

24 Hours of Reality

2011-09-12T21:44:00.004+01:00

Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth was a massive success in bringing the issue of climate change to the forefront of world cinema a few years ago and spawned similar films looking at different aspects of climate change. For those of you that enjoyed it Al is back with a 24 hour marathon of questions and answers all from the comfort of your own home or even witness it at a live event if you wish.

The event is called '24 hours of reality' and here's the lowdown on what it's all about courtesy of http://climaterealityproject.org/the-event/ You can also find out more about what part London is playing in this event by clicking on this link.

WHAT IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

24 Presenters. 24 Time Zones. 13 Languages. 1 Message. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event to broadcast the reality of the climate crisis. It will consist of a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, representing every time zone around the globe. Each hour people living with the reality of climate change will connect the dots between recent extreme weather events — including floods, droughts and storms — and the manmade pollution that is changing our climate. We will offer a round-the-clock, round-the-globe snapshot of the climate crisis in real time. The deniers may have millions of dollars to spend, but we have a powerful advantage. We have reality.

WHEN IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

24 Hours of Reality will be broadcast live online from September 14 to 15, over 24 hours, representing 24 time zones and 13 languages.

WHERE IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. You can experience as much as you like without even leaving your home. Click here to find the location — or locations — where you would like to watch a presentation. Due to logistical considerations, three of the presentations will be broadcast remotely from New York — Tonga, the Solomon Islands and French Polynesia — but will include local footage and information. All other presentations will be filmed on location around the world.

Transition Brockley feature on Time Out website

2011-09-09T19:09:00.000+01:00

Last year we were featured in Time Out's website feature on fruit harvesting in London and they've updated their article to include more groups which just goes to show that the fruit harvesting movement is gaining strength as people become more aware of the abundance of fruit that is available to them without handing over a penny!

Transition Snippets...

2011-09-04T14:45:00.002+01:00

Here's a round up of things happening and events coming up locally...

Lewisham green drinks

A monthly event for those interested in engaging in topics such as environmental issues, climate, politics, local news and of course the transition town movement whilst indulging in a beverage or two! First Monday of every month with the next one happening on Monday 5th September. Come along from 7:30pm to Mr Lawrence Wine Bar on Brockley Rd just past Crofton Park Rail Station.

Brockley Common Community Garden

The garden at Brockley Station has been producing lots of delicious food throughout the summer. Garden co-ordinator Caroline writes:

In case you have a moment to go and pick some home grown food at the Transition Town Brockley garden, please see below what's up for grabs!

- tomatoes, will be ready a week from now

- spinach, doing well, and responds well to regular picking

- squash, still ripening

- runner beans, still producing

Please feel free to pop to the plot and pick anything that looks ready!

We will be preparing the plot for winter on Saturday 15th October, 2-4pm. Do drop me a line if you have any suggestions, or indeed green contributions!

Brockley Cross Action Group AGM - Saturday 24th Sept 11-12:30pm @ John Stainer School, Mantle Rd, Brockley

Transition Brockley will have a stall at our neighbours' annual AGM where we'll hopefully have some information on the projects we've been working on throughout the year so far and beyond. Come along and engage with your local community!

Hilly Fields Orchard

The orchard has produced some apples this year however it's best to pick them early to encourage them to produce better and more substantial fruit in the coming years. The mini meadow has been very successful and we hope this could lead to a bigger meadow around the orchard in the future.

Fruit Harvesting

Once again we have been out and about harvesting fallen fruit and fruit from trees which the owners have no need for. We're looking at another harvesting event within the next couple of weeks. More details soon. In the meantime if you wish to be kept up to date with the latest news on harvesting then please contact brockleyharvest@yahoo.co.uk

We're also looking ahead to October when Ian from the One Tree Hill allotments will hold his annual apple pressing day at the allotments on One Tree Hill from 1-6pm. We're hoping to be able to contribute some fruit from our harvesting and it promises to be a fun day for all the family whether you want to exercise your muscles or just enjoy the fruit juices being made!

Draughtbusting

We've been talking about organsing a draught-busting session locally for some time now and we've finally got someone to help us out by using one of members' houses as an example for the day on how we help cut down on energy use and save some money!

We're looking at Saturday 29th October, possibly in the morning to run a session. Numbers will be limited on a first come, first served basis but if the event is heavily over-subscribed then we'll look to organise more. The demonstration property will be the Hilly Fields area of Brockley. If you're interested then please email us at
transitionbrockley@hotmail.co.uk and we'll let you know further details.

TT New Cross - Food Group

Our friends from New Cross have recently launched a food group and are looking at lots of different aspects of local food from production to distribution to landsharing schemes and more. The next meeting will take place on September 8th from 7:30 - 9:30pm at the Hill Station Cafe in Kitto Road, Telegraph Hill. There are two presentations taking place at the meeting including one from Transition Brockley member, Fran who will talk about Brockley Gardenshare which aims to match up landowners with people who have no land and want to grow food. There will also be a presentation from Amina who is the new manager of local cafe 'Come the Revolution' which has just opened in New Cross and seeks to use locally produced food.

Mini Meadow in Hilly Fields

2011-08-09T19:07:00.000+01:00

Fran has emailed some pictures of the mini-meadow that we planted as a test bed for future meadow expansion at Hilly Fields and also as part of the River of Flowers project. Judging by the photos it looks like the meadow has thrived.

Fruit Harvesting & Gardening - Sat 20th August

2011-08-06T08:08:00.001+01:00

Harvesting in action 2010

Last year we successfully harvested unwanted fruit in the local area and this year we're intending to do this again. The details of this year's first event which combines both harvesting and gardening are below:

Once again, we're planning to organise some local fruit harvesting. We're emailing you as someone who expressed an interest last year or has more recently found out about Brockley fruit harvesting. We'll be in touch separately with those who donated part of their tree's crop last year to see if you're interested in doing the same again this year.

As a reminder, the main aim is to highlight the contribution that food makes to our carbon footprint (around 20%) and ensure that the harvest from local fruit trees doesn't go to waste by organising groups of volunteers to go and pick from people's back gardens or trees overhanging the pavement.

If you've got a fruit tree, donate part of your tree's harvest for distribution to the local community (you get first share).
Or volunteer to be an urban harvester and have fun getting involved with picking, distributing and / or processing the fruit.

We expect our first picking afternoon to be sat 20^th August (fruit availability permitting!). We plan to combine this with being at the Brockley Common Community garden (see below), as follows:

1 - 2.30pm : Harvesting
2.30pm - 4pm : Gardening
4-5pm : Winter garden planning (in a local cafe)

Last year fruit was distributed amongst volunteers and handed out at the community garden by the station and some went to a local refugee group.

If you have a fruit tree you would like picked or would like to volunteer to pick, please email: Brockleyharvest@yahoo.co.uk

Other projects you might be interested in include:

Garden Share – Are you looking for a plot of land to grow fruit and veg on? Or do you have a garden which is neglected and would be happy for someone to use part (or all) of, to grow food? Transition Brockley are investigating matching up available plots with growers. If this might suit you, please contact Fran: fr2rogers@gmail.com

Brockley Common Community Garden, next to the Station – planted with a mixture of edibles and flowers. If you're interested in getting involved please contact: joynerca@googlemail.com

Brockley Common Community Garden

2011-07-17T13:37:00.000+01:00

This year's garden is looking very colourful and people and already finding food to pick!

The latest plan is now available for perusal.

Brockley Assembly Funding Secured!

2011-07-16T17:09:00.001+01:00

Proposed trees opposite the Brockley Barge

This morning the local assembly voting event saw a plethora of very worthy local projects bidding for funding, one of which was our project to plant 6 new trees along a pretty bleak stretch of Brockley Road. The good news is that we were successful in our bid and the project will now continue with further consultations with local stakeholders and consultation with the relevant authorities. This project is great example of the good work that local groups can do when working in partnership with the Brockley Cross Action Group and the Brockley Society all involved in the planning of this project.

Alongside our project we were also supporting a bid from the Brockley Cross Action Group to install a new set of steps on Brockley Common alongside the earthy bank that has become a highly-used access point to the station from the northern end of the site and this also received full funding. There were other projects with food growing and planting at the core of their aims which received funding too so in summary a great success for those with green fingers!

Set out below is a description of the proposal and some conceptual images of the proposed trees (please note the trees shown are conceptual! Some ideas on the different tree varieties can can be viewed on our Flickr site which also has other images of the project alongside our other work.

The proposal

The council’s recent work to widen the pavement and provide a parking bay along the parade of shops situated on Brockley Road between Cranfield and just beyond Harefield Roads sadly did not include the provision for any trees. As a result there is now a vast expanse of pavement which looks bleak and desolate.

This project aims to enhance the new pedestrian pavement adjacent to the shops by planting an area of 4 trees along the eastern side of Brockley Road (2 each side of the pedestrian crossing), one tree outside the Post Office sorting office towards the corner with Harefield Road and one tree on the western side of Brockley Road on the new widened pavement on the corner of Coulgate and Brockley Road.

Tree planting is a priority of the London Mayor's office as well as the government and is in line with Ward residents’ Assembly priorities. The effects of global warming make the planting of new trees in the capital all the more imperative. Although street tree management is the responsibility of Lewisham Council, the resources available for planting new trees are unfortunately very limited. Most of Lewisham Council’s ‘Green Scene’ tree budget has to be spent on risk management and maintenance of existing stock, consequently there is little left to satisfy the increasing community demand for new trees.

Members of Transition Brockley and Brockley Cross Action Group have already greatly improved and enhanced the area around Brockley station. The aim of this project is to achieve a further enhancement of the Brockley Road retail area which will benefit all local residents.

We will liaise with Lewisham Council's 'Tree Department at Green Scene' who have agreed to acquire, plant and maintain the trees. We will work together in subsequent years with other interested groups mentioned above to further enhance the tree pits by underplanting bulbs, perennials and small shrubs.

In consultation with Lewisham council’s Green Scene department, the precise planting location and type of the 6 trees will be agreed. The work will then be scheduled by Green Scene with onsite co-operation from local volunteers.

Initial indications are that the suitable sites are: 1 tree outside Toad’s Mouth café.1 tree to be sited to continue the line of trees outside the Post Office sorting office towards the corner of Harefied and Brockley Road. 2 trees to be sited on the wide section of pavement beyond the pedestrian crossing towards Cranfield Road and 2 trees to be planted before the pedestrian crossing on the new widened section of pavement. In consultation with Green Scene the tree pits will of a large enough area to allow for shrub and perennial plantings.

Site Plan of the Proposed Sites

With help from committed local environment groups, the area adjacent to the Station has been transformed from a run down, neglected and unwelcoming part of Brockley to a pleasant green environment. The new pavement area is not yet welcoming or green. It is crying out for trees. Brockley residents who have already expressed their appreciation of the greener environment around the station will all benefit from the addition of trees along this stretch of somewhat desolate pavement. At present cars can and often do mount the pavement to park. Trees with guards will have the added benefit of protecting children and disabled pedestrians from such inconsiderate parking.

Trees opposite the Brockley Barge

Proposed tree on the corner of the Royal Mail sorting office

Proposed tree outside Toads Mouth Too

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

2011-07-15T22:58:00.001+01:00

At the recent Hilly Fields Fayre we took the opportunity to go and visit the orchard at Hilly Fields and see how the trees are progressing. We're happy to report that all is well and there are even apples on some of the trees. The apple trees have also been supplemented by a couple of pear trees organised by the Friends of Hilly Fields.

Brockley Assembly Voting Event

2011-07-15T22:52:00.000+01:00

Just a reminder that Saturday 16th July sees the Brockley Assembly Voting Event where we will presenting our Brockley Road Pavement Enhancement Project.

The event takes place at the Leander Community Centre on Ship St. from 11:30am - 1:30pm. To vote you must live in the Brockley Ward and you must arrive before 11:30am.

We are bidding for funds to plant 6 new trees along a short stretch of Brockley Rd from the Royal Mail Sorting Office down to the parade of shops opposite the Brockley Barge pub. The project has been developed with the Brockley Cross Action Group and the Brockley Society.

There are many other worthwhile projects being presented tomorrow including the Brockley Cross Action Group's bid for funds to build some steps in adjacent to the wildflower meadow / community garden at the station which we are of course in support of!

If you wish to have your say and make your vote count then please do pop along tomorrow!

Hilly Fields Mini-Meadow Update

2011-07-11T21:24:00.000+01:00

Fran has emailed us some photos of the mini meadow at the orchard site on Hilly Fields which includes a couple of poppies and is generally looking very healthy which bodes well for a potentially larger meadow area in the future.

The meadow was planted in early May and is part of Transition Brockley's own contribution to the River of Flowers project which aims to increase biodiversity and improve wildlife corridors. For more information on the overall project go to the River of Flowers website. Transition Brockley have been mapping the existing meadows within the borough of Lewisham as part of a much larger project within London and nationwide.

TT New Cross to launch Food Group

2011-06-20T13:09:00.000+01:00

Our friends from Transition New Cross are co-ordinating a meeting to discuss the possibility of a 'people's supermarket' type project alongside the creation of a new food group. More details can be found here

Adrian writes:

Hi All,

We all need to eat and wholesome affordable food is getting harder to
find. What can we do?

How about growing your own food or helping with a People's
Supermarket? Come along to the Transition New Cross Food Group and
find out more!

Launch meeting: June 21st at The Hill Station cafe (Kitto Road by
Telegraph Hill Park), SE14 5TY - 7.15pm (7:30pm sharp start) until 9.00 pm.

Explore ideas for how our community can make our food more
sustainable, local, healthy and fair for all. Promoting local food
growing, food Co-ops and a Peoples Supermarket for New Cross are just
a few of the ideas we'll be exploring. Join us and help make it
happen! Everyone welcome!

Web: http://transitionnewcross.org
Twitter: @TT_NewCross

Best wishes,
Adrian

The BIG Lewisham Grow It Day @ Mayow Park

2011-06-11T17:22:00.003+01:00

Our friends from Sydenham, Grow Mayow have been in touch with regard to community gardening. They are hosting The BIG Lewisham Grow It Day on Saturday 18th June 12 noon - 4pm. So if you fancy going to both the Hilly Fields Fayre and this event please see more details below:

Including community garden funding workshops,

( If you like to attend a workshop please book your place as space is limited)

'Further to the notification of the Big Lewisham Grow It Day, to ensure a place, please could you register your interest in attending the Community Gardens funding workshops direct with Katy Delaney -katy.delaney@lewisham.gov.uk

Tel: 020 8314 2277
The funding workshops will take place at 12.30 and 2pm

Please give your full name and state which session you would like to attend

Composting workshop outside 1pm

Also Master gardeners advice, Capital Growth information, School gardening advice, Plant stall or bring one to swap. Growing in small spaces, kids activities, refreshments & raffle.

Community Gardening down at the Common

2011-06-11T17:18:00.000+01:00

Brockley Cross Action Group chair, Rupert has been in touch to tell us of the next planned gardening session down at the station which is happening on Sunday 12th June from 2-6pm. We've recently been discussing details of watering and maintenance going forward for both our garden and the adjacent beds and it looks like we'll be helping out with their watering and vice versa. Details below:
The planting beds and the edible garden are looking very well and appreciated the recent rainfall. The new meadow is only just beginning to shows signs of life and will need a lot more work to get it established. We are due another community planting day to carry out the following activities:

1. WATERING. As from next week we will be organising a weekly watering rota to water the main planting beds, the 2 new Cherry trees, the edible garden and the new meadow. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! Watering equipment will now be stored at Turning Point on Coulgate Street and the proposal is for a pair of nominated volunteers to carry out watering in each week up to the end of August. The watering will take about 3 hours to complete each time BUT with a load of volunteers (we have about 20 already!) I doubt volunteers will be asked to water more than twice in the summer. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER FOR THE WATERING ROTA PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I will be preparing a list of volunteers this week to let Turning Point know (for security reasons etc). We will go through the watering arrangements this Sunday so if you want to know the score come along!

2. REPLACEMENT PLANTING. BXAG have purchased some replacement plants to fill in the spaces where we lost a few plants last winter. I have been waiting to put these in but needed the weather to break first - it looks like it has for now.

3. WEEDING. The weeds never rest despite all the mulch!

I therefore propose we meet up at 2.00 this coming SUNDAY 12th JUNE to carry out another afternoon of community gardening. We will be on site from 2.00-6.00.

As before just bring stout footwear. BXAG will provide tools, gloves and refreshments at the Broca Cafe.

Hope to see you on Sunday!

Bank Holiday Gardening

2011-05-29T10:42:00.000+01:00

Brockley Common Community Garden co-ordinator, Caroline has been in touch to tell us about the planned session on Bank Holiday Monday. She writes:

Hi All

You may be heading to the coast for bank holiday, but in case you have a spare morning, we are down at the Transition Brockley plot to finish planting, do some weeding/clearing, and hopefully some picking!

The plot is looking good and we already have Batavia lettuce, Salad leaves and spring onions for people to pick if you are at the plot with suitable tools ! Peas will also be available soon.

We hope to see you down there on Monday 30th May from 10 - 12pm

Please bring your own tools, including hoes, any final things you want to plant, and we also need some sticks to label plants

Thanks to all those who have been watering. The ground is still very dry so do please pop along and water the plot if you have the time. We are sorting out storage of a nearby hose but for now we are relying on bringing our own watering cans / water bottles

Going forward we will be arranging for a weekly weed / water / picking rota, to maintain the garden come rain or shine ! Let me know if you would like to be one of the team.

Alex will finalise the map after the 30th so we can put up a sign showing people what's growing where. We hope to stick pins on the map where things are ready to pick!

See you on the 30th !

Local gardening events coming up...

2011-05-11T20:48:00.003+01:00

Those of you with green fingers who fancy a spot of gardening outside of the confines of your own home will be pleased to know that are 2 events coming up where you can get your fingernails dirty. The first event is this weekend at Brockley Common and BXAG chair Rupert has been in touch, he writes:

Dear BXAG members and volunteers,

Well the weather has been very kind to us humans, especially with the passing of two gloriously sunny bank holiday weekends, but alas this weather is no good at all for our beloved plants! The main planting down at Brockley Common is looking rather wonderful at the moment but the ground is very dry and we need to do a thorough watering, along with some weeding. The new meadow is also looking rather sad. But just add water - and a change of weather please - and who knows what might happen!?

I therefore propose we meet up at 1.00 this coming SUNDAY 15th MAY to carry out another afternoon of community gardening and general horticultural TLC. We will be on site from 1.00-5.00.

As before just bring stout footwear. BXAG will provide tools, gloves and refreshments.

Hope to see you on Sunday!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile Ruth who set up the community garden at St. Saviours Church has this to say:
St.Saviour's permaculture gardening session & plant sale - Saturday 21st May
Please drop by from 10-11:30am for light gardening, maybe harvesting and if you have a plant or two to sell then please bring along!
Leyla will be selling a few home grown offerings too (tomatoes, cucumber, melons, sugar snap peas) with a portion of the proceeds to Christian Aid...
Hope to see you there!
Gloves and tea provided!

Open Garden - Sunday 22nd May 1-5pm

2011-05-11T20:41:00.000+01:00

A quick plug for friend of Transition Brockley and regular Lewisham green drinks participant, Jon, who is hosting an open garden in aid of a good cause with the promise of many delights both floral and sugary. Jon writes:

Scrumptious home made cakes, fair trade tea and coffee all for a small donation of £1 in aid of the Able Child Africa Charity.

Jon also has this disclaimer for any potential visitors:

Please take care! narrow side alley, uneven paths, steps,overhanging branches, high calorie cakes!

The address of the event is: 9 Brockley View SE23 1SN - white house on hill, entrance via side alley

Mini Meadow in Hilly Fields

2011-05-08T11:53:00.004+01:00

Saturday saw the planting of small test area of wildflower seeds at the site of the orchard in Hilly Fields. We have planted this area as a tester to see how this area of the park takes to wildflowers. If it is successful then there are plans to plant a much larger area of wildflowers which will become part of Lewisham's 'River of Flowers' which we talked about here.

Fran, who co-ordinated yesterday's event had this to say to the volunteers who helped out:

A huge thank you to all who worked so hard today - it was really tough going but you managed it and I attach some photos (see above and on Flickr) of the digging, seeding and enjoyment of the job completed! Just as well it was only a small area...let's hope we have a good display.

If the weeds encroaching are a problem I'll either mulch round the plot or pin down some membrane. Any help with watering and picking out the odd weed would be great.

Permaculture Kids Club @ Mayow Park

2011-05-05T13:14:00.001+01:00

Ruth has been in touch to tell us about the Permaculture Kids Club that she helps to run in Mayow Park. She writes:

Bored of being indoors on a Sunday morning? Come and learn about your world, grow things, make stuff without waste and have fun at Permaculture Kids Club.
Hosted by Ruth, Matthew and Suriya at Grow Mayow Community Garden, Mayow Park, behind the pavillion.
For kids aged 8 to 12 - only £2 each (to cover cost of materials).
Parents welcome to stay and relax in the gardens , drink tea and buy plants.
Booking for workshops essential, maximum number 15 children.
Fourth Sunday of the month (except June 19th) from 10.30 to 12pm.

We look forward to seeing you there!

River of Flowers

2011-05-02T14:37:00.001+01:00

We've briefly mentioned the River of Flowers project before as something we have been discussing at our meetings so here's a bit more information about it and what we're doing locally:

The 'river' in River of Flowers is an evocative way of describing the planting of urban meadows in 'pollination streams' or 'green corridors' in order to help our pollinators, bees, butterflies and hoverflies, find forage in the city. It describes the flight path of the pollinators as much as it does the flow of wildflowers. Having started in north London, River of Flowers is expanding rapidly through London. It has contacts in east London via its connections with the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and The Golden Company, with west London via the Kensington& Chelsea Meanwhile Wildlife Garden and Living Medicine and with south London via the Walworth Community Farm and Roots and Shoots.

Our transition group is mapping the current wildlife areas in the borough and we have signed up to join the London branch of the River of Flowers. This is part of a nationwide campaign supported by The Co-operative who state that "the UK has lost an alarming 97 per cent of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s and this has had a major impact on pollinator numbers. The number of honeybees in the UK has halved in the last 25 years, and three quarters of butterfly species and two thirds of moths have seen population declines since the 1970s". Unless this habitat is reinstated there could be disastrous consequences on our production of food.

Here in Brockley we're running a sample wildflower meadow at the orchard site on Hilly Fields which we're planning to plant later in May (more details below) - something which, if successful will be of benefit to both the orchard and the parks diversity. There is also the recently planted wildflower meadow adjacent to the community garden at Brockley Station. These projects will be included in a mapping of Lewisham's wildflower sites which we are undertaking which will be added to the London wildflower map and is effectively a new 'stream' to the 'river'.

Meadow Flower Pilot
Would you like to join us to plant a very small area of the orchard site with wildflowers?

This is the background....Our Transition Group, Friends of Hilly Fields and a couple of orchard 'carers' have been discussing how we can help to increase the planting of wildflower meadows in order to provide more habitat for pollinating insects, and thought a good way to start would be to pilot a small area at the orchard site.

This is the plan.......

1. Time and venue: Sat 7 May 2.00 to 3.00 at Orchard Site on Hilly Fields.

2. Remove turf from an area approx 6' x 5' (site agreed with Glendale). Rake ground and scatter meadow flower seed. Cover with chicken wire (pegged down well) to avoid disturbance from foxes and dogs (and to be taken up once plants start to grow through and cover the ground).

3. 'Plant' small sign to tell people what's growing.

4. Water plot at regular intervals as needed.

5. In the autumn, cut the flowers to let seeds set and after 4- 5 days rake up the cuttings to compost elsewhere (meadow flowers thrive on poor soil).

All hands will be welcome! Bring gloves and (if you have one) a spade. Can you join us?

Brockley Common - Update

2011-05-02T14:09:00.000+01:00

Following Friday's successful festivities chief co-ordinator, Caroline has this to say about the next action for the garden:
Thank you for the fabulous turn out for Royal Weeding Day ! A great effort all round, & the garden is looking much livelier, & full of promise ! Special thanks to Rupert and Fran for getting / bringing the lavender, and for people who bought seedlings and essentials such as the hose!

Our next date is Monday 30th May 2011, 10am - 12pm ( Bank Holiday )

We have a few gaps left to fill, plus there will be general tidying up / possible thinning / redistributing some plants, as well as planting a few more.

So far we have a rich mix of ( in no particular order ); spring onions, butternut squash, courgettes, sweet peas, marigolds, cornflowers, lavender, crocosmia, calendula, runner beans, decorative peas champion of england, camomile, rainbow chard, turnips, gem lettuces, globe artichokes, potatoes,provencale mixed salad leaves, perpetual spinach, strawberries, parsley, mind, climbing french beans, and sunflowers!!

Please come along on the 30th with gardening tools, watering cans, seedlings, and we could also do with some more sticks for labelling

Thanks again, and maybe see you on the 30th!

And most importantly, if you are passing the plot and are able to water it, ( and the meadow directly down the bank from the plot ) this would be much appreciated. For now we are relying on the local cafes for water ( bring your own watering can / bottle ! ) , or local people carrying the odd bottle of water down , as we are having a pretty dry spring so far !

Brockley celebrates the Royal Weeding!

2011-04-29T16:48:00.001+01:00

Weeders in action

This morning members of the local community came together to plant and weed the community garden at Brockley Station in what was billed as Royal Weeding Day in Brockley and beyond. The plot is now full of many different types of vegetables, herbs, salads, wildflowers and more which we hope to flourish in the same manner that they did last year. We also watered the wildflower meadow that was planted last weekend and this will hopefully make a good addition to the main beds at the station which are looking fantastic. The Royal Weeding reception was held at the Broca where much tea and cake was had!

Group photo after a successful 'ceremony'!

More photos are on our Flickr site!

Alongside this blog and the Flickr site you can also follow our projects via our Twitter feed @TTBrockley

Royal Weeding Day

2011-04-28T23:06:00.000+01:00

Transition Brockley would like to thank all those who have wished us well for the big day tomorrow and look forward to seeing those who choose to participate in Brockley's alternative celebrations. Preparations have been going well and all last minute security checks have been carried out.

Earlier today during a full dress rehearsal details were released of the future maintenance of Brockley Common whereby it was stated that the community would endeavour to: "love, comfort, honour and keep" the vegetation to the best of its abilities.

One of the attendees at the rehearsal had this to say in reply to a question on any last minute nerves: "All I've got to do is get the lines of the furrows right."

In a blow to locals who have been eagerly awaiting to see the head gardeners dress it now looks like the local community won't get the chance to see it until they step off the train at Brockley Station.Yesterday, in an interview with the Times, TV gardener, Carol Klein ruled herself out of the running to design the dress.

You can follow all the action on Royal Weeding Day around the country on Facebook and Twitter and of course check back here for a full report on the day's events at some point during the bank holiday weekend!

Wildflower Meadow - Brockley Common

2011-04-15T13:34:00.002+01:00

Just a reminder that this weekend sees the first session in creating a wildflower meadow at the northern end of Brockley Common. BXAG chair, Rupert writes:

Work has already started on the new 2011 Edible Garden - it's time to start work on the creation of the wildflower meadow! This will be located mainly on the steep bank right at the north end of Brockley Common, below the Edible Garden and next to the railway bridge.

The bank is currently overrun with weeds. The plan is to grub out all of the existing weeds, prepare the soil and sow a flowery wildflower meadow that will attract bees, butterflies and other insects while also creating a very visible splash of colour for everyone to enjoy at the junction of Coulgate Street and Brockley Road.

The idea is to sow a mix of annuals and a meadow mix together. The annuals will provide a quick splash of colour later this year while the meadow mix will develop into a more permanent feature in subsequent years - well that's the plan!

But it is going to need a lot of work just to prepare the site, so we need lots of volunteers! Can you come and help us?

The key dates are as follows:

PREPARATION DAY: SUNDAY 17th APRIL, 1.00-6.00pm.

PLANTING & SEEDING DAY: GOOD FRIDAY 22nd APRIL, 1.00 - 5.00pm.

Depending how we get on other evening gardening get togethers may be added in the w/b Monday 18th April.

As always BXAG will provide tools, gloves and refreshments. All you need to do is wear stout footwear and some warm clothing! I do hope to see you on one or both of the days - there will be various other maintenance chores on the Common as well, so the more the merrier! Note: no previous gardening experience necessary!

*UPDATE*
Transition member John will also be building some compost bins on the site so that we can properly compost the green waste which is already there and needs sorting for future use. If you would like to help then please come along from 1pm on Sunday.

Royal Weeding Day - Friday 29th April Updated

2011-04-09T10:27:00.004+01:00

First coined by the Brockley Cross Action Group's chair Rupert King at a recent gardening event at Brockley Station this planned event is starting to gain pace via Facebook and beyond as the country prepares itself for a right ol' royal knees up on the 29th April. Here in Brockley we're encouraging the local community to join us at the community garden for our own special day by helping out at the garden so, remember weeds are just plants in the wrong place and if you're not sitting in front of a tv or a big screen in a royal park or even helping put up bunting in your street then do drop by even if it's just to say hello and greet us with your best curtsey.

Brockley Common Community Garden - Update

2011-04-09T10:10:00.001+01:00

Volunteers tending to the garden

Last weekend saw the first planting action of the year at the garden while the sun shone. It was good to see new people helping out and many passers-by commenting on the good work being done.

Alongside some of last years plants which have survived the harsh winter so far in the garden we have:

Jerusalem Artichokes - Runner Beans - Rainbow Chard - Turnips - Camomile - Crocosmia - Sweet Peas - Marigolds - Wildflowers - Cornflowers - Mixed Salad Leaves - Sunflowers - Carrots

The next session at the gardening will be the joint project with the Brockley Cross Action Group where we will be clearing the bank next to the community garden and planting a wildflower meadow. This will be on the weekend of 16th/17th April (10am-5pm) with equipment and refreshments provided.

Planted and ready to go!

See more images on our Flickr site

Lewisham Green Drinks: Richard Reynolds

2011-04-03T11:04:00.001+01:00

Lewisham green drinks - Monday 4th April 7:30pm onwards. Talk to start around 8:15pm.

Speaker: Richard Reynolds

"[Reynolds] is quickly becoming both a subculture celebrity and a public intellectual, challenging ideas about what it means to live in a city." New York Times, 8 June 20

April's Lewisham green drinks event sees internationally-renowned guerrilla gardener, Richard Reynolds speaking about his adventures in London and abroad.

Richard is the founder of guerrillagardening.org, author of the influential book 'On Guerrilla Gardening-A handbook for gardening without boundaries' and a member of the 2010 assembly of London Leaders. Guerrilla Gardening currently features very prominently at London department store, Selfridges' shop window displays. He has spoken widely about his and others' exploits of illicit gardening around the world.

A bit about Richard from the London Leaders website:

Richard began guerrilla gardening in 2004 - that is he started cultivating the neglected public flowerbeds and roadside verges in his South London neighbourhood. His focus is on enriching neglected public land with more uplifting and bio-diverse habits and encouraging more people to do the same near where they live in a way that is environmentally and socially positive. Richard is now one of thousands of guerrilla gardeners around the world and as a face within a loose movement he has done a lot to inspire through his website GuerrillaGardening.org. Richard has a gardening qualification from the Royal Horticultural Society and geography degree from Oxford University. He has gardened since his childhood in Devon, was Head Gardener at Exeter Cathedral School and his first paid job was weeding an organic strawberry farm.

"Reynolds has done more to inspire planting in public spaces
than anybody since the sixteenth-century Diggers"
John-Paul Flintoff Sew Your Own June 2010

Brockley Common Community Garden

2011-03-12T17:51:00.002Z

Saturday morning saw members of the local community come together to carry on the good work that the Brockley Cross Action Group began last week by weeding and mulching the community garden at the end of the ramp around Brockley Station.

Quite a few of last years crop have survived the harsh winter and the plot currently contains plants such as: Crocosmia, Spinach Beet, Carrot, Hungarian Rye Grass, Field Beans, Artichokes amongst many more.

As previously reported there is some money to put into the garden this year and this week will see both our own group and the BXAG come together to discuss ideas on what shape the garden will take this year.

Caroline from Transition Brockley is leading the team developing the garden so if you would like to get involved please contact us at transitionbrockley (at) hotmail (dot) com and mark for the attention of Caroline.

More images from Saturday's session can of course be found on our Flickr group.

Going over old ground - Part 2

2011-03-11T13:31:00.001Z

Following last weekends successful clean up of the flower beds at Brockley Station by members of the Brockley Cross Action Group and Transition Brockley this weekend sees the attention turned to the community garden plot that was initiated by our group last year.

We've reported previously that we put in a successful localities fund bid for some money to improve the garden and now the time has come to prepare the site and start thinking about the design of this years garden. Now we're not garden designers* but we like to think we can string something together that will look half-decent!

This year Caroline from the group will be leading the group for the garden. She writes:

There is a meeting at Transition Brockley plot next to the station this saturday at 10.30am. The purpose of this meeting is to weed, rake, clear up the plot / create a vision for this year's garden and put some planting dates in the diary

Please bring your own tools, particularly gardening gloves / forks & trowels. If anyone has a rake that could be useful too! Once we have done a clear up, we will go for a coffee, look at last year's plan, & decide what we want to focus on this year. Ideas already suggested include: fruit trees / sunflowers / pathways / willow arches / beans / new signage.

We do have a budget, whilst contributions of seeds etc are always welcome however this Saturday we will not planting as such but preparing the plot for the coming months and impending planting session.

I will be meeting with Rupert (BXAG) next week to discuss the shared areas , all ideas welcome.

We look forward to seeing you there !

*The author has tenuous links to one of the gardens at this years Chelsea Flower Show...

Going over old ground...

2011-02-20T16:38:00.003Z

Rupert from the Brockley Cross Action Group has been in touch to tell us of a planned spring clean-up event down at Brockley Station. He writes:

Spring is getting closer and the worst of winter is behind us. That can only mean one thing: time for our first community gardening event down at Brockley Common!

We need to give all of our community planting beds a thorough clean out, to remove rubbish, cut back & remove last year's dead growth, a bit of weeding and mulching. We also need to do our once a year foray into the wildife area to remove the rubbish and do some pruning, before the birds start nesting.

If we get enough people we might also send a gang across the road to Mantle Road to clean up our other 2 beds over there.

So please put the following date in your diary: SUNDAY 6th MARCH, 1.00 - 5.00pm. Meet outside the Broca Cafe. As ever BXAG will provide all tools and gloves etc (but feel free to bring your own) so just bring warm clothing and stout footwear. BXAG will provide refreshments for all at the Broca at 4.00.

I hope you can make it! Lets kickstart spring and get everything ready for summer!

During the day we will also tell you about the exciting plans that BXAG and Transition Town Brockley have for the north end of the site. We submitted a successful joint bid for funding from the Lewisham Localities Fund so very soon we will start planning some more improvements on the Common!

See you in 2 weeks time! Posters will be going up around the site. Please tell your friends - there's a lot to do!

Free Transition Training

2011-02-16T13:15:00.002Z

Our good friends from New Cross recently informed us that they are holding a transition training event soon. Details below:

Free Transition Training on outreach and engaging people.

When: Sunday 6th March 2011

Where: Greenshoots Community Garden, Besson Street, SE14 5AS

Time: 12 – 5pm

Bring lunch to share. The workshop will be based on the national Transition Training that Transition Town New Cross member, Adrian went on earlier this year and includes lots of fun excercises and a minimum of him talking. It will be lively, engaging and above all, of immediate practical use to you.

The training is primarily for Transition New Cross but is also open to people from other Transition initiatives.

Booking essential. To book, email TT New Cross

Wæs hal! An old tradition returns to Brockley

2011-02-06T22:20:00.001Z

A mild Thursday evening saw the return of an ancient tradition to the green hills of Brockley with a wassail at the new orchard in Hilly Fields park. Around 10-15 members of the community joined in the fun with the singing of songs, blowing of whistles, shaking of tamborines and much cider and toasting of the new trees. Could this be the start of an annual event at Hilly Fields?

More photos of the evening can be found on our Flickr site.

After the wassailing Transition Brockley held their first meeting of the year at Mr Lawrence's in Crofton Park. Lots of new ideas were discussed for the forthcoming year including the continuation of the Brockley Community Garden at the station, possible involvement with the River of Flowers project and setting up an energy group to inform and help people in their homes.

Hilly Fields Wassail and meeting reminder

2011-02-02T21:42:00.000Z

Just to remind everyone that tomorrow night sees us celebrate and give blessing to the new orchard on Hilly Fields. Wrap up warm, bring a drink (cider or apple juice would be appropriate), maybe a torch and join in the fun. Most of us are pretty new to all this however there should be at least one person who knows what they're doing! Meet at the orchard next to the stone circle at 7pm.

If we haven't all frozen and got a bit giddy from drinking cider* and singing to trees then we will be heading off to Mr Lawrence around 7:45pm for our first general transition meeting of the year to discuss activities planned/unplanned for the forthcoming year.

Hope to see as many of you there as possible!

*I should stress that this won't bear any resemblance to any visions you may have of drunken Brockleyites in a park, quite the opposite I should imagine!

Funding success for Brockley Common

2011-01-29T13:42:00.001Z

Following last years successful transformation of the land next to Brockley Station we are delighted to announce that a joint bid to the Localities Fund by the Brockley Cross Action Group and Transition Brockley has been successful in gaining funds to continue the project at the station.

The project has two distinct elements, which are linked by their location alongside each other at the northern end of Brockley Common, the community-inspired public open space between Coulgate Street and Brockley Station.

1. A community wildflower meadow on the bank above Coulgate Street, at the north end of the site next to the railway bridge.

2. A community fruit & vegetable garden on the level area above and adjoining the bank, at the north end of Brockley Common.

Both elements will be created and maintained by members of Transition Brockley and BXAG and gardening volunteers from the local Brockley community.

The land is currently unused – though the level area was the site of an initial community garden in the summer of 2010 – and is earmarked as the site of the final phase of Brockley Common, comprising a circular performance & seating areas and steps back down to Coulgate Street. At present no funding has been identified for this work so rather than leave the site as wasteland the two Groups wish to combine to create a temporary garden space that will benefit local people and enhance the local environment.

The aims of the project are as follows:

COMMUNITY FRUIT & VEGETABLE GARDEN

• To promote awareness of the importance of locally grown organic food.
• To put into practice Transition Brockley’s commitment to develop ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and promote a more sustainable low carbon community.
• To implement organic principles to minimise damage to the environment.

WILDFLOWER MEADOW

• To create a beautiful, colourful & flowery feature in a prominent location that will enhance the local environment for both residents and passing commuters on what is a heavily used road.

Both projects will also encourage local wildlife and in particular attract bees by providing much needed nectar plants. For local volunteers it will provide opportunities to get involved in healthy gardening activities, learn about the growing and harvesting of fruit & vegetables and find out about the principles that underpin the project.

More news on when this gets going on the blog!

Orchard aftercare meeting

2011-01-29T00:09:00.003Z

Saturday 26th February 2pm Hilly Fields Orchard Site

For all who would like to be involved in helping with the tree and orchard care, we're planning on meeting at the orchard to discuss maintenance.

Watering will be the first priority in dry weather, and we can talk about ground cover planting. There is funding available for a trolley to carry water bottles, so it would be great to identify a committed group of people who can share the 'looking after' together with those who are happy to 'adopt a tree'.

Bring a waterproof to sit on, and if it looks like rain, an alternative venue will be given. More details on that in the reminder email.

Looking forward to seeing you.

We've also got some more pictures sent in by Caroline and Fran some of which can be seen above and others on our Flickr site!

Wæs hal!

2011-01-28T23:56:00.003Z

Apple-tree, apple-tree,

Bear good fruit,

Or down with your top

And up with your root.

(19th century rhyme from South Hams area)

On Thursday 3rd February 7-7:45pm as a first celebration of the orchard and to wish the trees good health (wassailing) is a custom we'd like to embrace. As we are novices, all ideas are welcome and apart from the description at the end of this email (which probably has the main elements of a good wassail), there is a lot of information and YouTube videos on the internet if you google "wassailing orchards" to find out more. Some people have very elaborate celebrations but I think we can mould our own particular Brockley version. If anyone wants to write a suitable wassail song for new trees (to a familiar tune), that would be great!

Send us your ideas. We're all new to this, so it'll be a fun event to create as a group.

Initial thoughts are for people to bring some warm (apple type of) drink (in thermos) and pieces of toast and something to make a bit of noise (drum, whistle etc), and then we can toast each tree with a splash of warm cider/apple juice, wedge a piece of toast in the wire mesh for the birds, and then have a bit of a bang to scare away any evil spirits or pests which might cause disease. However, we'll collect your ideas and send an email nearer the date with any specifics.

We're meeting up at 7.00pm so that it isn't too late for children to come along.

Waissailing

Each year in January the people of Somerset, Devon, Worcestershire, Sussex and Kent, the traditional cider making areas of England wassail their apple trees to ensure a fine crop of cider apples in the summer ahead.

Apple tree wassailing is an ancient custom that involves drinking to the health of the apple trees. The Anglo-Saxons used the phrase Wæs hal! as an everyday greeting. Wæs is a form of the verb "to be" related to modern English was. Hal is the ancestor of the modern English words whole and hale. Thus, wæs hal literally meant "Be healthy!".

Traditionally the custom involved the local farm-workers visiting the orchard after dark with shotguns, horns, food and a large pail or bowl of cider. Usually the best tree would be selected to represent the whole plantation. Cider would be poured over its roots and pieces of toast, or cakes soaked in cider would be placed in the forks of branches, or impaled on twigs; The wassail song would be sung or chanted as a blessing or charm to bring fruitfulness or even in admonishment not to fail in the coming year.

Following the wassail we will have our first meeting of the year...

...at Mr Lawrence Wine Bar at 8pm to have an informal and open chat/discussion about initiatives for 2011. Topics could include the River of Flowers project (creating Lewisham links to the planned interconnecting chain of meadow and wildflower habitat to help reverse the decline in pollinating insects ), energy saving, recycling, ban on plastic bags or anything that people are passionate about and would like to discuss and/or take action on.

Permaculture Kids' Club

2011-01-27T21:43:00.000Z

Long time Transition Brockley member Ruth has emailed to tell us of a new monthly workshop that is starting next month. Details below:

Come to Mayow Park (Grow Mayow Community Gardens SE26 ) on the last Sunday of the month for some Kids’ Permaculture, starting this February 27th 2011.

Suriya and Ruth will show you how to ….

…make birdfeeders, plant an edible hedge, grow your own food in fun ways, learn from nature, make useful stuff, play nature games and much more!

Suitable for 8 to 12 year olds. Parents also welcome!

For info email Ruth on impermaculture@gmail.com or ring /text her on 07766 596600

Hilly Fields Orchard Planting

2011-01-16T22:43:00.002Z

The long-awaited orchard planting finally took place on Saturday with around fifty members of the local community participating. The London Orchard Project with their tree expert, Russell Miller and a couple of assistants from Hackney Harvest brought the trees and equipment and members of Transition Brockley and the Friends of Hilly Fields provided refreshments and support.

Planting in full action

In all seven apple trees were planted, the varieties of which can be found here and they now sit happily on the lower ground alongside the Stone Circle. The next stage of the orchard will be to develop the orchard management plan and set up a meeting to discuss how to go about the watering and maintenance duties. A few people expressed an interest in adopting a tree and any others wishing to do so can email us and we will get back to you with details.

One group with their completed tree

Thanks to those who helped make the day run smoothly:

The London Orchard Project and their helpers; Prendergast Hilly Fields College for lending us some tables to set up the refreshments on; Keith, the park keeper for letting us use his facilities to heat up refreshments and Glendale for providing the mulch; Erin from the Broca for lending us some equipment to heat up the soup and drinks; the refreshment crew who made apple soup, hot spiced apple juice, cakes, dried apple rings and for serving them up to hungry participants!

Finally a big thank you to all who came whether you watched or took part it was fantastic to see so many of the local community coming together to do something positive and hopefully very rewarding.

The refreshments went down very well!

The completed planting

There are lots more photos of the day on our Flickr site. In the meantime we will keep you updated on the progress of the trees on this blog and add more photos as they come.

We briefly discussed an informal wassailing event to celebrate the orchard sometime in February so do look out for details of that in due course.

Orchard Planting on Saturday

2011-01-13T23:08:00.001Z

Everyone is welcome to join in with the planting of a small apple orchard on Hilly Fields (next to the Stone Circle) from 11.00am to 1.00pm on Saturday 15 January. This will be the first community orchard in a major park in the borough of Lewisham and we, from Transition Lewisham/Brockley are delighted to be initiating this project, together with the Friends of Hilly Fields and the London Orchard Project, with funding from Capital Growth and support from Lewisham Council and Glendale.

The orchard is being planted to promote the growing of fruit locally (in an area which previously had many fruit orchards), to provide habitat for wildlife, and for people to enjoy.

It will be a family activity day, and as well as the digging, planting, composting, mulching and treeguard staking, apple-themed refreshments will be available (mulled apple juice, apple soup and apple cakes).

We will be looking for volunteers to help maintain the orchard after the planting so if you are interested then please speak to one of us on the day. We look forward to seeing you there!

Brockley in transition: the year in review

2010-12-28T22:57:00.003Z

So as the year draws to an end and the seemingly endless cycle of freezing temperatures and snow carries on it seems like a good time to reflect on some of the things that the group have been up to throughout the year. Note, there's a deliberate slant towards the things we've been up to rather than talking about Brockley generally but if you do want to read about that then take a look at a good round up on Brockley Central.

Hilly Fields Orchard

We were hoping to have planted the orchard by now but we had to postpone the planting due to the recent weather however, Saturday 15th January is the new date for your diary so please come along between 11am – 1pm.

Members of the group have also undertaken orchard management training organised by the London Orchard Project and will be looking to train others up to help with maintenance after the planting.

Fruit Harvesting

Inspired by projects such as Sheffield’s Abundance project where unwanted fruit is collected and distributed we decided to map and collect Brockley’s unwanted fruit and redistribute to local people and refuge centres. A number of harvesting events took place and the whole project was very successful. Time Out online even featured us as one of London's best harvesting projects! Plans are afoot for next years harvesting where hopefully Brockley's fruit may manifest itself in a more preserved form...watch this space!

Brockley Common Planting

We held working days to transform a barren piece of wasteland into something more productive which could be used by the local community. This culminated in being part of the Brockley Cross Action Group's tenth anniversary celebrating the hard work done by the local community in transforming the area around the station.

Hilly Fields Fayre

This year we decided to take a slightly more proactive role in the Fayre by helping to organise a number of stalls alongside our own with organisations that have environmental interests at heart such as Global Action Plan, Frendsbury Gardens and Lewisham Waste Initiatives.

Other things we've been up to...

Alongside Transition Westcombe we took part in discussions with local supermarkets to discuss how they could cut their carbon footprints. We also got Brockley's local Costcutter shop to take part in Plastic Bag Free Day.

Continued to support such initiatives as 9 Carrots culminating Mr Lawrence Wine Bar becoming the first 9 Carrots project to reach its target; Frendsbury Gardens who continued to blossom with their useful workshops; St. Saviours Community Garden which keeps on growing and helped to stem the plight of Brockley's bee population following the workshop we had with Capital Bee last year.

Finally, we hope you've enjoyed taking part in any of the activities we've been involved in this year and hope that you will continue to support us as we will continue to support the local community by being as proactive and educational as we can!

Have a happy new year!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T11:11:00.001Z

From all at Transition Brockley have a happy Christmas!

Orchard update

2010-12-17T21:04:00.000Z

Following the cancellation of the planned orchard planting in December we're now able to tell you of a new date which is Saturday 15th January 11am - 1pm. We also have more information about the varieties of apple we're planting below:

If you are interested in helping out with the planting or even adopting a tree to help with the aftercare and maintenance then please do come along. If you can't come but are interested in the orchard and the potential it offers then please feel free to contact email us.

Carina from the London Orchard Project has emailed to tell us about the varieties of tree will be planting at the new orchard. There's a mixture of eating and cooking apples and also 1 variety suitable for the cider lovers!

Egremont Russet
'The definitive English russet apple, with the charateristic sweet/dry "nutty" flavour.'

Lord Lambourne Apple
'Popular garden variety, many uses, good balance of sweet and sharp.'

Kidd's Orange Red Apple
'One of the best Cox-style apples, and adds some of the scented flavour of Delicious. A good apple for the gardener as well.'

James Grieve Apple
'A versatile cooking apple, excellent for juice, and widely used in breeding programmes.'

Saturn Apple
'An excellent modern English apple variety, developed at the famous East Malling research station.'

Arthur Turner Apple
'Attractive flowers and a versatile apple for cooking.'

Somerset Redstreak Apple
'A solid cider variety, the Somerset Redstreak is the apple behind Thatchers Redstreak Cider, which won the 2007 International Cider and Perry Competition.'

Hilly Fields Orchard Planting UPDATE

2010-12-01T13:24:00.003Z

Sadly the weather beat us and we have had to postpone the planting until the new year. It is likely to be sometime in January where hopefully the weather will be a bit kinder to us!

Keep checking for more updates or sign up to the email list.

-----------------------------------------

Planting is still going ahead as measures have been taken to keep the tree plots from freezing and our arboriculturalists have advised that there should not be a problem with the planting. The forecast is good for Saturday, so come and join us!!!!

Everyone is welcome to join in with (or just watch) the planting of a small apple orchard on Hilly Fields (next to the Stone Circle) from 11.00am to 1.00pm on Saturday 4 December (see poster above). This will be the first community orchard in a major park in the borough of Lewisham and we are delighted to be initiating this
project, together with the Friends of Hilly Fields and the London Orchard Project, with funding from Capital Growth and support from Lewisham Council and Glendale.

The orchard is being planted to promote the growing of fruit locally (in an area which previously had many fruit orchards), to provide habitat for wildlife, and for people to enjoy.

It will be a family activity day, with digging, planting, composting, mulching and treeguard staking.

Come along for some warming spiced apple juice, hot apple soup and apple-themed sweet things.

Lewisham Green Drinks

2010-10-25T21:33:00.002+01:00

Lewisham Green Drinks is a social event that takes place every first Monday of the month at Mr Lawrence Wine Bar in Crofton Park. Everyone is welcome and it's a great opportunity to meet people from all walks of life - local allotment holders, real ale afficianados, Lewisham Cyclists, trade justice campaigners, Lewisham Council officers, Friends of the Earth, Christian Aid, World Development Movement, Lewisham & Greenwich CND, Sydenham Society, Forest Hill Society, the occasional politician and of course fellow transitioners!

The monthly event has been running for around 3 years and has a healthy turn out each month supplemented by the fine food and drink that Mr Lawrence has on offer.

If you've never been before then give it a go! It's a great way to meet interesting new people and share your thoughts on the world.

The next event is on Monday 1st November from 7:30pm. Drop in any time from then on. The night usually sees people coming and going at various different times so if you find yourself feeling lonely don't panic people will come!

If you would like to subscribe to the email list to receive updates on the events please visit this website and join up! You can also join the Facebook group and see who's coming and who's not.

On a separate but related note if anyone would like to talk about a particular topic at any of the forthcoming Green Drinks events then please send an email to this address and we will get back to you with some details.

Venue Details:
Mr Lawrence Wine Bar
389 Brockley Road
Crofton Park
SE4 2PH

Today is National Apple Day...

2010-10-21T13:07:00.001+01:00

...so it would seem apt to tell you about the forthcoming plans for the new orchard at Hilly Fields.

11am, Saturday 4th December is the date to put in your diary when members of Transition Brockley, Hilly Fields Park User Group, The London Orchard Project and as many members of the public as possible will descend upon the land next to the stone circle to plant the new trees. Almost a year in the making what started out as a passionate speech at one of our meetings by Rowena from the London Orchard Project is now just over a month away from becoming reality.

Carina from the London Orchard Project (LOP) was hoping to be able to tell us which varieties of tree we could expect by now but for this particular planting LOP and their tree expert, Russell have decided to take stock of the existing orchards they have planted, not just LOP orchards but ones that Russell has worked on over the last 10 years, so that they can get a sense of which varieties work well in London soil. Hopefully Carina should be in a position to give us a list of suggested varieties by the end of October.

If you want to find out more about National Apple Day then please visit this website which gives details about events going on around the country, not just today but at the weekend too. Organised by a group called Common Ground the annual event has been running for 21 years. Sue Clifford from Common Ground says:

“Apple Day is not a marketing device, its creation has been impelled by altruism and idealism for living better with nature – the apple and the orchard are symbols of hope. They demonstrate how we can have our trees, bees, bats, butterflies, birds and badgers whilst growing good fruit to eat and drink.”

Apples and Pears...

2010-10-13T21:35:00.000+01:00

Here's some more images of the fruit harvesting project. This time apples and pears were harvested by members of the public alongside Transition Brockley's fruit harvesting team. Fran has invested in a telescopic fruit picker which seems to be proving very useful to reach fruit that is out of reach by hand or on a ladder.

For more info on how to get involved with the fruit harvesting please contact Katie at:

brockleyharvest@yahoo.com

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

2010-10-12T13:38:00.001+01:00

As most readers will be aware this year we have been planting herbs, vegetables and fruits at Brockley Station to complement BXAG's flower beds and have been trialling the harvesting of local fruit. Our last field major field activity of the year is the planting of the new orchard in Hilly Fields Park. Having spent most of the last year planning this in co-ordination with the London Orchard Project and the Park User Group we now have a date for your diary for the actual planting of the orchard: Saturday 4th December

All are welcome and we'll have a more detailed schedule of events closer to the time.

Frendsbury aims to break bulb planting record

2010-10-12T13:28:00.001+01:00

Stella from Frendsbury Gardens has been in touch to highlight a potential world record event taking place at the end of the month. She writes:

The Friends of Frendsbury Gardens in conjunction with The Rotary Club and Brockley Cross Action Group, will be planting 2500 crocuses at Frendsbury Gardens and other SE4 locations on 31st October 2010 as part of a bulb planting record attempt. This is also an opportunity to raise awareness about immunising children against polio, which is an objective of the Rotary club.

They aim to beat the current record of 331 people planting 5 bulbs each in an hour so need as many people as possible to come and support the attempt .

You are invited to join them in this attempt and the details for registration can be found here. If you are interested in participating, please contact : friendsfrendsburygarden@gmail.com

Transition Brockley mentioned as one of London's best harvesting groups!

2010-10-02T13:54:00.002+01:00

From time to time we like to let people know when a well-known organisation or publication decides that our group is worthy of some coverage so here's a link that Time Out London ran recently on its website with regard to our fruit harvesting project.

We're not actually aware of the criteria for judging the 'best' harvesting groups in London so can only assume that the author of the article has sound judgement when it comes to assessing fruit hauls. It's good to see other groups also participating in harvesting unwanted fruit and perhaps in the future we can hook up with them...

Brockley Common - A Post Celebration

2010-09-09T00:42:00.004+01:00

For anyone that made it down to Brockley Station on Saturday they had a treat as the Brockley Cross Action Group and Transition Brockley alongside many volunteers and some of Brockley's very talented people came together to provide visitors with food, drink, musical entertainment and hopefully a bit of inspiration! The Brockley Cross Action Group have done wonders in transforming the area around the station and it will only get better as time goes on with plans for a performance space and hopefully new station facilities sometime in the future providing a welcome gateway into Brockley for residents and visitors.

It's early days in our quest to harvest Brockley's unwanted fruit and we're quickly finding out about the logistics of such an operation but I'm pleased to report that it's proving to be very rewarding and great fun!

Our first harvest of the day began at a house in Breakspears Road, Brockley where we were confronted by the most wonderful site of huge pear trees, likely to have been a part of Brockley's past heritage and many different varieties of Apple. We were tasked with picking Bramley cooking apples from a very well-trained tree which has obviously had a lot of love and time given to it over the years. The pictures below show the tree and volunteers in action. We tried out our new fruit picker with its handy prongs and basket which allow you to pick the apples easily and collect them in one move without straining too much. In all we picked around 10 boxes of apples of which 4 were to go down to Brockley Common to be given away to passers by.

The Apple Tree

Using the new apple picker

The second harvest at a house in Algiers Road by Katie and Caroline in the afternoon provided eating apples to compliment what we had on offer but we didn't just have apples though as we also gave away the damsons picked earlier in the week alongside fruits picked at the station from our own plot and also the hedgerow nearby.

One of the highlights of the day was one of our visitors who took it upon herself to take some of the apples and bake a pie only to come back within an hour and allow us to sell it to very willing customers! A prime example of how quickly fruit can be transformed from the point of picking to something different but very tasty.

Our stall in front of the garden we created and some keen customers tuck into the apple pie that one very generous and enthusiastic visitor made after taking some apples frm our stall.

At the end of the day we managed to give away all the fruit we picked which was great and make people more aware of the things we do and promote the fruit harvesting and new orchard underway this autumn.

You can view more photos of the day here

Thankyou to all that helped out!

Dam good harvesting!

2010-09-02T01:25:00.001+01:00

Tonight saw the first harvesting event of the year as two members of Transition Brockley made their way to a home in nearby Grove Park to pick Damsons which will be given away to visitors to the event at Brockley Common on Saturday.

When the offer of harvesting Damsons was first suggested by a friend we lept at the chance to use it as a bit of a trial run before the major harvests of the autumn. With tarpaulin, boxes and our new handy apple picker we managed to pick around 200 Damsons.

Picking Damsons

Our damson haul and a couple of apples

Brockley Common - A Celebration

2010-08-24T20:35:00.000+01:00

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

2010-08-24T20:17:00.004+01:00

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]

2010-08-14T21:16:00.002+01:00

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

2010-08-07T16:45:00.001+01:00

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

2010-08-01T07:43:00.009+01:00

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)

Performance Planting > Take 2

2010-07-08T23:15:00.004+01:00

This evening members of Transition Brockley spent some time tending to the temporary performance space planting on Brockley Common which was started back in June. As well as weeding the plants we also gave the site a good water along with the main beds planted by the Brockley Cross Action Group.

We picked our first vegetables with some rather large radishes having grown extremely quickly! Also progressing well are the tomato plants, sunflowers, various lettuce varieties and more radishes!

Hilly Fields Fayre

2010-06-27T21:58:00.000+01:00

Last weekend saw the annual fayre at Hilly Fields take place and Transition Brockley was there alongside other environmentally orientated organisations such as Lewisham Waste Initiatives, Frendsbury Gardens, Global Action Plan, and Sustainable Energy in Lewisham. Fran kindly took some pictures which you can see below:

Hilly Fields Fayre - just days away!

2010-06-17T20:26:00.006+01:00

This years Fayre at Hilly Fields organised by the Brockley Society is just days away! This year Transition Brockley have been co-ordinating a 'green' themed area with a number of local environmentally-themed participants including Global Action Plan, Lewisham Waste Initiatives, Lewisham Sustainable Resources Team, Frendsbury Gardens and 9 Carrots alongside our own stall which will have information on all the things we have been involved in. You can find out more details about the Fayre and view the programme here Come along and say hello!

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

2010-06-16T18:20:00.003+01:00

Carina from the London Orchard Project has sent through details of the proposed orchard and we've now prepared a plan of the site with proposed trees shown (see below).

Carina writes:

We are proposing to plant 7 fruit trees on the level patch of grass at the bottom of the slope with the stone circle. Semi-mature trees on the patch will be retained, and planting will be amongst the existing trees.

The proposal is to plant 7 apple trees, including a mixture of common and heritage varieties, with fruit of different colour and cropping at different times throughout the harvest season. Some of the varieties are known for their hardiness, making them more likely to succeed, or are doing particularly well on our current sites.

The proposed varieties are as follows.

1. Egremont Russet: Late Victorian English variety, most important commercial Russet, good frost tolerance, nutty flavour ripe in mid-September.

2. Tydeman’s Late Orange: variety raised in 1930s in Kent, rich aromatic flavour, firm and sweet, orange to red in colour, picking time mid October. A cross between a Laxton Superb and a Cox Orange Pippin, but a lot easier to grow than a Cox Orange Pippin. Picking time mid-October.

3. Greensleeves: green to yellow mid-season apple, popular with children as it is a cross with a Golden Delicious, picking time mid-September.

4. James Grieve: Received an Award of Merit from the RHS in 1897, produces juicy and tangy fruit and crops heavily and regularly.

5. Sunset: Raised in Kent in 1918, produces golden fruit with red stripes, with a firm, crisp texture and an intense cox like flabour. Picking time late September.

6. Arthur Turner: Cooking apple, excellent for baking and famous for its outstanding pink blossom. Picking time is August to September. Raised in Berkshire in 1912.

7. Kingston Black: Cider apple, producing small conical fruit, maroon colour. The flavour is bittersweet and aromatic, ideal for making cider.

Varieties will be finalised after the Hilly Fields Fayre where people will be allowed to vote for their preferred choices, and depending on our suppliers’ availability closer to the time of the planting.

Two of the trees will be grafted on MM106 rootstock resulting in trees that will grow up to approximately 4 metres after 10 years, and produce 90-110 lb of apples. These trees are “semi-vigorous”, and will be placed closer to the side of the ditch. It will be easy for passers by to help themselves to the fruit.

The remaining five will be grafted on M25 rootstock, which will produce a standard tree, over 5 metres high. These bigger trees are the ones found in traditional orchards, and their larger size will make them more in keeping with the other semi-mature trees in the area, although fruit collection will be more difficult. These trees will be placed amongst the existing semi-mature trees.

The trees will be double staked and double guarded, to minimise the risk of accidental or deliberate damage.

It is suggested to hold the planting event on 27th November, with training of park users and Transition Town members planned for the 6th or 7th November (to be confirmed).

We'll keep you updated on progress.

Performance Planting

2010-06-14T19:19:00.002+01:00

You might have noticed the new planting beds at Brockley Station recently completed by the Brockley Cross Action Group. This site has been in planning for many years and with the new London Overground arriving in Brockley it is a timely improvement to the area. In addition to the beds is a planned performance space at the end of the ramps at the Brockley Cross end of the site. Due to funding issues this has had to be put on hold so BXAG approached Transition Brockley to see if we would like to co-ordinate the temporary planting of this area.

With no set budget and the group appealed for plants and people to help spruce up the barren patch of earth and in just a few hours the hardwork of 5 or 6 people turned the space into a productive and more beautiful patch of land. The plan below shows the different types of plant that have been planted. Many of them have been planted from seed so you might not see much for a little while!

The job is not finished though as careful nurturing and watering of the plants is required and a joint effort between the Brockley Cross Action Group and Transition Brockley members will carry out maintenance. The planting in this space is not yet finished so if you would still like to contribute any plants or seeds then feel free to plant them; all we ask is that you avoid planting where any plants or seeds have already been sown and continue to help with the maintanance of the site.

Transition hits Hilly Fields Fayre!

2010-06-04T22:37:00.003+01:00

This years Hilly Fields Fayre will be graced with an environmentally themed area with Transition Brockley leading the way by co-ordinating other like-minded people such as Global Action Plan, 9 Carrots, and Frendsbury Gardens to join up and raise environmental awareness in Brockley.

Also expected is home-made ice cream using eggs from some of TB's members' own chickens alongside a wide range entertainments, activities and other stalls.

The Fayre is on Saturday 19th June and is one of the highlights of the local calender so do come along!

Fruit Harvesting in Brockley

2010-06-01T20:18:00.001+01:00

Inspired by Grow Sheffield's Abundance project and in conjunction with Transition Brockley's own attempts to recreate Brockley's strong history of orchards Katie recently hosted an evening of tasty snacks and chat about the potential of fruit harvesting in Brockley.

As we found at the meeting fruit harvesting can be quite a daunting task with plenty of logistics to overcome before the first fruit is plucked from a tree. However, as can be seen in Sheffield with the Abundance project it is possible to do and can produce many benefits for local groups. Helpfully the group in Sheffield have now produced a handbook which will no doubt prove invaulable to harvesters.

The next stage for the group is to establish some key parameters for the project:

- Who will benefit from the fruit?
- Which areas to target?
- Mapping Brockley's fruit trees
- Sourcing equipment required for harvesting

If you're interested in harvesting or have fruit trees which don't get harvested then please contact Katie

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

2010-05-21T21:34:00.003+01:00

Back in February Rowena from the London Orchard Project (L.O.P.) came to one of our meetings to talk about a new London-wide scheme with the aim of increasing London's orchards and to see if we would like to be involved in setting up a new orchard somewhere in Brockley. One of the aims of Transition Brockley is to improve the area's self-sufficiency and awareness of the abundance of food freely available to us. Brockley has a long history of market gardens and orchards with some very old trees still surviving in back gardens so it seems quite apt that Brockley should once again house more orchards.

On Saturday 15th May Carina and Rowena from L.O.P. came to Brockley, firstly to check out the orchard that they helped to start at Lilac House which is reported as doing very well, but also to check out the site at Hilly Fields in preparation for a new orchard to be planted in November 2010. Carina and Rowena brought Russell Miller (L.O.P. principle tree expert) with them to assist in deciding on suitable positions for new trees. Also present were Rachel from the Hilly Fields Park User Group and Alex from Transition Brockley.

There was plenty to discuss including siting of the trees, potential varieties, funding, maintenance, protection etc. The site of the new orchard is planned to be on a lower part of ground next to the stone circle which is sheltered and would be ideal for new trees. After a walk around the site Russell suggested we could probably look at about 7 new trees on the site. We discussed what type of fruit trees to have and it seems that Apple varieties and possibly Pear or Plum look likely. Carina will narrow down our (very long) list of choices and we'll put it to the vote at the Hilly Fields Fayre.

Funding is also looking positive with £1000 already received in grants and another application to the Forestry Commission just going in. It is hoped that the orchard will be used by local school children and enjoyed by all. Fruit harvesting is unlikely to take place for the first couple of yearsd while the trees develop but when they are established Brockley's chances of feeding itself will increase just a bit!

Transition Brockley is a year old!

2010-04-16T09:56:00.003+01:00

Today is a momentous occassion for the group as we have reached our first birthday. We think we've achieved a fair bit in the first year and hopefully we've managed to wet peoples appetities for more of the same and made the people of Brockley just a little more conscious about the local environment we live in and the impact we have on it.

9 Carrots comes to Brockley!

2010-03-20T17:35:00.005Z

Throughout the last year we've been working in conjunction with 9 Carrots to help sign up businesses in Brockley to take part in an iniative aimed at improving local businesses' environmental impact.

To find out more about what 9 Carrots is and how it works see here

Already signed up in Brockley are:

Mr Lawrence Wine Bar - aiming to replace all light bulbs with low energy light bulbs
The Shop on the Hill - aiming to replace current lighting with low energy lighting
EXP Chinese Takeaway - aiming to replace halogen light bulbs in main restaurant area
Royal Tandoori Indian Takeaway - aiming to buy an electric car to replace their current petrol-powered car

So if you're using one of these shops then remember to ask your 9 carrots receipt!

Welcome!

2010-02-19T15:25:00.003Z

Welcome to Transition Brockley's new blog where you can find out about all the latest events and conversations the group is having with regard to reducing our energy consumption and working towards a healthier future for all.

You can join up to the mailing list via our Yahoo Group here and receive updates on events and conversations within the group.

Transition Brockley

Orchard Planting in Mayow Park

It's time to wassail again!

'appy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Notes from the last meeting...

Events coming up...

Meeting Update

Apple Days

Winter gardening session at Brockley Common

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

24 Hours of Reality

WHEN IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

WHERE IS 24 HOURS OF REALITY?

Transition Brockley feature on Time Out website

Transition Snippets...

Mini Meadow in Hilly Fields

Fruit Harvesting & Gardening - Sat 20th August

Brockley Common Community Garden

Brockley Assembly Funding Secured!

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

Brockley Assembly Voting Event

Hilly Fields Mini-Meadow Update

TT New Cross to launch Food Group

The BIG Lewisham Grow It Day @ Mayow Park

Community Gardening down at the Common

Bank Holiday Gardening

Local gardening events coming up...

Open Garden - Sunday 22nd May 1-5pm

Mini Meadow in Hilly Fields

Permaculture Kids Club @ Mayow Park

River of Flowers

Brockley Common - Update

Brockley celebrates the Royal Weeding!

Royal Weeding Day

Wildflower Meadow - Brockley Common

Royal Weeding Day - Friday 29th April *Updated*

Brockley Common Community Garden - Update

Lewisham Green Drinks: Richard Reynolds

Brockley Common Community Garden

Going over old ground - Part 2

Going over old ground...

Free Transition Training

Wæs hal! An old tradition returns to Brockley

Hilly Fields Wassail and meeting reminder

Funding success for Brockley Common

Orchard aftercare meeting

Wæs hal!

Permaculture Kids' Club

Hilly Fields Orchard Planting

Orchard Planting on Saturday

Brockley in transition: the year in review

Merry Christmas!

Orchard update

Hilly Fields Orchard Planting *UPDATE*

Lewisham Green Drinks

Today is National Apple Day...

Apples and Pears...

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

Frendsbury aims to break bulb planting record

Transition Brockley mentioned as one of London's best harvesting groups!

Brockley Common - A Post Celebration

Dam good harvesting!

Brockley Common - A Celebration

Transition Snippets...*UPDATED*

Summer fruits [updated]

9 Carrots help Mr Lawrence see the light

Brockley Fruit Harvesting

Performance Planting > Take 2

Hilly Fields Fayre

Hilly Fields Fayre - just days away!

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

Performance Planting

Transition hits Hilly Fields Fayre!

Fruit Harvesting in Brockley

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

Transition Brockley is a year old!

9 Carrots comes to Brockley!

Welcome!

Royal Weeding Day - Friday 29th April Updated

Hilly Fields Orchard Planting UPDATE

Transition Snippets...UPDATED