Queen to leave her mark on Hilly Fields

Brockley tree planters

Nicola from the Brockley Society has emailed to let us know about a forthcoming addition to Hilly Fields tree population courtesy of the Tree Council's Jubilee Diamond Trees programme. As keen planters of trees ourselves we like this sort of activity and Hilly Fields is big enough to accommodate more trees.

The Jubilee tree donated by the Tree Council will be planted at Hilly Fields (very near the cafe)

on Wednesday May 22nd, gather from 12.45 at the cafe.  Old folk from the Brockley social club and girls from Prendergast school will plant the tree in a short ceremony at 1.15. A digital record will be made which along with the other 59 Jubilee trees will make up a digital book to be presented to Her Majesty in June. It would be great if as many groups and local tree lovers could  be represented. Friends of Hilly Fields and Brocsoc have chosen a disease resistant Elm tree - an American cultivar Princetonia for which Barchams has the exclusive license. Please do come and spread the word to others.

For those that aren't aware the Brockley Society has its own tree wardens who pay close attention to the areas trees and you can find out more about their dedication to the cause here.

Hedge Planting & Guided Tree Walk - Saturday 16th March

Nicola from the Brockley Society has emailed to let us know about a planned hedge planting happening in Hilly Fields adjacent to the orchard we planted this Saturday (16th). If any transitioners would like to help with the planting please go along. Additionally there is also a guided tree walk around the park from 1pm. See poster below for more details:

'appy New Year!

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.

Transition Snippets...

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

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.

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

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.

Hilly Fields Mini-Meadow Update

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.

Hilly Fields Orchard Planting *UPDATE*

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.

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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.

Today is National Apple Day...

...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.”

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

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.

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

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.

Hilly Fields Orchard Update

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!